# Why so few "The \_\_\_" bands anymore?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 4, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923 "2002-09-04T05:40:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/1 "2002-09-04T05:40:11Z")
Has anyone noticed that few new bands these days go by a name such as “The \_\_\_”. For instance, there’s The Beatles, The Doors, etc. but most of these acts are from the 60s to the 80s. If there are any newer acts that use this naming convention, I have not seen very many of them. Did this practice just seem to fall out of favor in recent years or have all the cool-sounding “The \_\_\_” names been used? Is the “The” somewhat optional, that is, some people include it and some people don’t [e.g. (The) Deftones] ? I realize that “The” isn’t always used anyway. For example, I wouldn’t say “My friend found his The Doors CD in the closet.” I would simply say that he found his Doors CD.
---
### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/2 "2002-09-04T05:51:43Z")
There was a lull, but this practice is coming back. Current examples include “The Hives”, “The Vines”, “The White Stripes”, and “The Strokes”.
---
### Author:  [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/3 "2002-09-04T06:09:48Z")
Yeah, I was wondering about that, I was thinking there are way too many “the” bands these days.
Erek
---
### Author:  [@j\_kat\_251](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_kat_251)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/4 "2002-09-04T06:19:10Z")
Notice all the new “The” bands suck ass, whereas for the most part, the 60s and 70s “The” bands were good.
---
### Author:  [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/5 "2002-09-04T06:25:43Z")
j\_kat: yeah, i was thinking that all these bands really wished they were “The” Stooges.
Erek
---
### Author:  [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/6 "2002-09-04T07:54:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by j\_kat\_251 \*
> \*\*Notice all the new “The” bands suck ass, whereas for the most part, the 60s and 70s “The” bands were good. \*\*
That’s a rather pointless statement, since ALL new bands suck these days. 😃
---
### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/7 "2002-09-04T10:48:54Z")
All new bands have always sucked 😃
---
### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/8 "2002-09-04T12:38:16Z")
True fans of one particular band will recognize that they were usually billed as “The Pink Floyd.” The band went downhill when they stopped using “the.”
And someone should bring up “The The.”
---
### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/9 "2002-09-04T14:13:34Z")
…also that Talking Heads weren’t THE Talking Heads, but Talking Heads.
---
### Author:  [@Ich\_Bin\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ich_Bin_s)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/10 "2002-09-04T16:39:34Z")
And Jesus Lizard was always “the Jesus Lizard” but the Cows were always just “Cows”.
---
### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/11 "2002-09-04T17:39:49Z")
At least the trend lasted longer than the crop of “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_[someone’s name] and the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ [bandmates]” trend, ala Bob Seger, Tom Petty, Joan Jett and the Silver Bullet Heartbreaking Blackhearts.
---
### Author:  [@New\_Improved\_Scott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Improved_Scott)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/12 "2002-09-04T19:35:57Z")
I actually like The Strokes, The Hives, and The White Stripes. I’m sorry that The rest of you prefer The boybands and The pop tarts and The ego driven shock-rockers and shock-rappers out there today.
---
### Author:  [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/13 "2002-09-04T20:34:30Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the reasons for the dropping of the “The” was the overuse of the word by the advertising world during the 70s and 80s, starting with “Le Car”. I think it was done in an attempt to mark their product as the definitive example of the product.
I remember shopping for a bicycle seat, and they had one named “The Seat”. There were a host of other products like that, however I have fortunately (or unfortunately for this discussion) forgotten most of them.
---
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [September 4, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/14 "2002-09-04T23:43:25Z")
Of course, there was (is?) a band called [the The](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B6srp281c054a), which makes up for a lot.
I think this really started in the 70’s, or even the late 60’s, with groups like Cream and Led Zeppelin. Rock was evolving at a frenzied pace in those days, and I suppose “The \_\_\_s” type names were seen as somewhat hokey. Maybe they didn’t want to be just “another group, the \_\_\_'s out of wherever, who want a demo listened to”. Remember, also, that was the time when even the term _rock and roll_ began to be denigrated and ghettoized to refer only to 1950’s veteran and revival acts like Sha-Na-Na. _Rock_ was hip, but _rock and roll_ was greasy teenager music from the 50’s. (Fortunately, _rock and roll_ has just about completely recouped its rightful role in denoting the entire genre.)
Actually I usually didn’t mind odd group names, but I did hate the ones from the 70’s that sounded more like space programs or law firms, like The Alan Parsons Project or Emerson Lake and Palmer (though here again I always liked ELP’s work).
[Brief aside]Just to show how clueless I am these days, I thought the name _Mudhoney_ was supposed to be a clever spin on the name Mahoney, and hence was pronounced “mud-HOE-ney”, and not “mud-honey”. God, I’m getting just like my dad, who once picked up one of my Genesis records and looked at it, and thought the name was “Se-NEE-sis”!!
[/brief aside]
---
### Author:  [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/15 "2002-09-05T00:23:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MisterThyristor \*
> \*\*I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the reasons for the dropping of the “The” was the overuse of the word by the advertising world during the 70s and 80s, starting with “Le Car”. I think it was done in an attempt to mark their product as the definitive example of the product. \*\*
Like _The Band_ 😃
I always thought that was a pompus name. (love the music though!)
---
### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/16 "2002-09-05T00:36:17Z")
Personally, I don’t like band names with “the” in them. It makes it harder to calogue my cds…I know there are others here that anal, so don’t laugh at me. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/17 "2002-09-05T00:50:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mswas \*
> \*\*j\_kat: yeah, i was thinking that all these bands really wished they were “The” Stooges.
>
> Erek \*\*
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
---
### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/18 "2002-09-05T00:55:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mswas \*
> \*\*j\_kat: yeah, i was thinking that all these bands really wished they were “The” Stooges.
>
> Erek \*\*
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
---
### Author:  [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/19 "2002-09-05T07:23:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by javaman \*
> Of course, there was (is?) a band called [the The](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=B6srp281c054a), which makes up for a lot.
[Is](http://www.thethe.com)
---
### Author:  [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)
#### Post date: [September 5, 2002, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923/20 "2002-09-05T07:50:43Z")
I was watching an old clip from British TV in the 60’s, and the announcer introduced the featured band as The Cream. Seemed a bit odd to me. Sort of like, “Now ladies and gentlemen, welcome, Beatles!” Not right. Some bands need the “The” (Beatles, Cars, Rolling Stones) some don’t (The U2, The Led Zeppelin, The Fuel, The Boston) some can go either way (Electric Light Orchestra, Damn Yankees, Velvet Underground, Blue Oyster Cult).
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-the-___-bands-anymore/126923.md?page=2)