# Why the obssesion with band names? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095 "2004-07-21T00:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/1 "2004-07-21T00:16:55Z")
I can’t understand this. Somebody will say something witty and somebody else will chime in saying “That would make a great band name”. Is it an American thing? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/2 "2004-07-21T00:26:58Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I can’t understand this. Somebody will say something witty and somebody else will chime in saying “That would make a great band name”. Is it an American thing? 😕 It started in the newspaper column of American humorist Dave Barry. He first made the joke of a humorous phrase being a “band name!” Also, this would be better suited for GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/3 "2004-07-21T00:29:26Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > American thing Dare I say it? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/4 "2004-07-21T00:50:10Z")
I don’t know what band names are like in your neck of the woods, **Dog80**. Here on this side of the pond, though, a huge percentage of indie rock bands have names that sound like nonsense phrases that could only be created with a random band name generator. Here’s a small sample of real band names from this week’s _Cleveland Scene_, an alternative weekly newspaper. New Invisible Joy Waiting for Evangeline Still Life Projector Pigmy Love Circus Starlite Desperation Thievery Corporation Furnace St. Saturday Ahara ad Jimson Lo-Fi Atomic Bitchwax Black Cabbage Dead Peasant Insurance Charlie in the Box Dead Guy Eek a Mouse July for Kings Lynyrd Skynyrd Fast Chester This Moment in Black History Forever Falls Tomorrow Hold Steady and the New Grenada Circles Over Side Lights Lobster Clause Kill Memory Crash Post a thread with a title that ounds like a North American indie band name, and someone will inevitably chime in with “BAND NAME!” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/5 "2004-07-21T01:26:57Z")
To expand on what **brianjedi** said, Barry’s columns would frequently contain passages like “…so Mr. Fernald was now faced with the prospect of 7 angry weasels covered in mustard screaming through his bathroom. And I’d just like to mention here that ‘Screaming Mustard Weasels’ would be a great name for a band.” The practice spread here, abbreviated to simply quoting the relevant passage and adding “Band name!” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/6 "2004-07-22T00:14:10Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > the relevant passage And as you’ll see, you can actually find great band names in virtually any text. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/7 "2004-07-22T06:13:55Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I can’t understand this. Somebody will say something witty and somebody else will chime in saying “That would make a great band name”. Is it an American thing? 😕 I dunno… are garage bands a uniquely American phenomona? I think it’s more that, well, a lot of cool names are taken, and if you want a cool band name you need to stand out and have it sound funky. (and at heart, almost every American wants to be a movie star, or a rock star, or president, or filthy rich, or some such… [fight club anybody?]) On a total side note: Bastardfish Band name! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/8 "2004-07-22T18:19:41Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Here’s a small sample of real band names from this week’s _Cleveland Scene_, an alternative weekly newspaper. > > … > Lynyrd Skynyrd > … > > Post a thread with a title that ounds like a North American indie band name, and someone will inevitably chime in with “BAND NAME!” You don’t really expect me to believe that someone named a band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, right? I mean, July for Kings I can believe, but Lynyrd Skynyrd? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/9 "2004-07-22T18:26:12Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I can’t understand this. Somebody will say something witty and somebody else will chime in saying “That would make a great band name”. Is it an American thing? 😕 It’s a stupid thing. It annoys the everliving shit out of me. Perhaps it was funny the first hundred times, but now I swear every third thread on the SDMB has some jackass chiming in with “BAND NAME!!!” everytime an incongruous and unusual grouping of words occurs. Dammit, it’s not funny, clever, or original. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/10 "2004-07-22T19:36:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s a stupid thing. It annoys the everliving shit out of me. Perhaps it was funny the first hundred times, but now I swear every third thread on the SDMB has some jackass chiming in with “BAND NAME!!!” everytime an incongruous and unusual grouping of words occurs. Dammit, it’s not funny, clever, or original. Is, too. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/11 "2004-07-22T19:47:35Z")
I agree with **pulykamell** , I find it really annoying but then again I find most of these reoccurring ‘in jokes’ to be annoying, ‘1920’s style death rays’ anyone?. I am a bit of a cantankerous old bugger though… ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/12 "2004-07-22T20:00:50Z")
Ah, so it’s a 1920s style cliche ray? ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/13 "2004-07-22T20:05:20Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > You don’t really expect me to believe that someone named a band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, right? I mean, July for Kings I can believe, but Lynyrd Skynyrd? You’re kidding, right? Lynyrd Skynyrd have been an internationally-known band for _decades_. Ever heard Freebird? ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/14 "2004-07-22T20:17:14Z")
I think that was the joke **Shrinking Violet** , that he couldn’t believe that the one really famous name wasn’t fake. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/15 "2004-07-22T20:20:30Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > I think that was the joke **Shrinking Violet** , that he couldn’t believe that the one really famous name wasn’t fake. :smack: One of those days … :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/16 "2004-07-22T20:22:00Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > cantankerous old bugger Damn, this is soooooo tempting… ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/17 "2004-07-22T20:28:28Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > :smack: > > One of those days … :rolleyes: Doh! I know the feeling, here have a nice hot cup of cocoa my dear - I’ll bring some biscuits up shortly. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Ninja\_Pizza\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Pizza_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/18 "2004-07-23T04:40:43Z")
And speaking of band names… I’ve had this stuck in my head all fucking day, so I’m going to exorcise it by sharing with all you nice people: _You give love - a **band name** _ ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/19 "2004-07-23T04:48:20Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > Ah, so it’s a 1920s style cliche ray? No, I think it’s a 1920s style done-to-death ray. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095/20 "2004-07-23T05:00:30Z")
> [@WILLASS](#): > > I think that was the joke **Shrinking Violet** , that he couldn’t believe that the one really famous name wasn’t fake. > [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > 1920s style cliche ray? 1. That should have been a … _WHOOOOSH!!!_ 2. Hey, another band name! 3. Hi Opal! 😃 D [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-obssesion-with-band-names/256095.md?page=2)