# Worst band names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2007, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888 "2007-11-27T05:54:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/101 "2007-11-28T22:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=sandytravis] !!! [/QUOTE] Pronounced _chk-chk-chk_, which is cool. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/102 "2007-11-28T23:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=nameless] Pronounced _chk-chk-chk_, which is cool. [/QUOTE] Yeah, all their fans are cicadas. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/103 "2007-11-29T02:16:04Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Several bands are named as words for penis or semen. [/QUOTE] Lovin’ Spoonful, 10cc ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/104 "2007-11-29T03:00:39Z")
Strawberry Alarm Clock ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/105 "2007-11-29T03:00:40Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] I love everything about it - except the sound. When I say the word Beatles it sounds the same as beetles. Bugs. Reading it is a whole 'nother matter - that keeps the magic intact…if that makes any sense… [/QUOTE] Makes complete sense because “magic” shows you see it too. Would you use “magic” so casually in the same sentence with any other band name? And magic just means it’s a thing able to be contemplated, an _objet d’art_. Rotating the object, so to speak, while gazing at it, is our attempt to get around it, to understand it. The fact we never succeed is the magic, the art, in the creation. We all perceive differently. It has always surprised me Beatles does not call to _my_ mind beetles. The ‘e’ to ‘a’ cleanses it. I assumed it’s that way for everyone. (We all know what happens when we ass-ume.) I liked **Thudlow** ’s suggestion, though: try always hearing it as if spoken in Liverpudlian accent. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/106 "2007-11-29T03:04:33Z")
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you [. . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck_%28band%29) ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/107 "2007-11-29T03:31:18Z")
[QUOTE=Ichbin Dubist] The Inalienable Right to Eat Fred Astaire’s Asshole. [/QUOTE] I’ll waive my rights, thank you. :dubious: I do, however, call dibs on Eleanor Powell’s labia minora. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Reclusive\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@The\_Reclusive\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Reclusive_One)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/108 "2007-11-29T03:53:15Z")
As a musician of many years experience, I’ve run across many a stupid/ offensive band name. Some of the worst, off the top of my head: Screaming Monkey Boner (now Screaming Mechanical Brain) Mary’s Cunt Anal Cunt (already mentioned) The Motherfuckers (hilariously offensive stickers though!) Follen Garde Truck Damidol (pronounced “damn it all”, but they were so bad we called them Da Midol, as in give me some for this headache.) Urge Overkill 1910 Fruitgum Company The Bob Band Then again, maybe I shouldn’t cast aspersions, as I’ve been told more than once my current (main) band’s name is pretty dumb. On the plus side, I didn’t come up with it. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/109 "2007-11-29T05:04:59Z")
Allow me be the first to mention two local, pretentious, and very very bad bands: **Dappled Cities Fly** , with an honourable mention for **Architecture In Helsinki**. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/110 "2007-11-29T05:09:32Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Ladies and gentlemen, I give you [. . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck_%28band%29) [/QUOTE] At first I thought the band was actually named … , e.g. an ellipsis. The link cleared up that misconception. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/111 "2007-11-29T05:18:13Z")
_Foo Fighters_ is a dumb name. Then again, Foo fighters is a dumb band. OK, flame away … ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/112 "2007-11-29T05:18:31Z")
From the boring names file, there’s Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. That’s a name for a law firm, not a rock band. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/113 "2007-11-29T05:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Several bands are named as words for penis or semen. Seems like there’s some girl groups named for vaginas, but I can’t recall them right now. [/QUOTE] Steely Dan was named after a steam-powered steel dildo in _Naked Lunch._ (Why does the spellchecker underline “dildo?” It’s a fucking legitimate word, right?) I hate most jam band names. (Along with most jam bands.) **String Cheese Incident** - STUPID! **moe.** - stupid pretentious lowercase name with a stupid pretentious period at the end. **Leftover Salmon** - ugh, disgusting. **Umphrey’s McGee** - stupid (although I can actually enjoy some of their music.) Such unbridled silliness…I don’t like it. I like my band names to be either mysterious sounding or clever. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/114 "2007-11-29T05:36:04Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus] _Foo Fighters_ is a dumb name. Then again, Foo fighters is a dumb band. OK, flame away … [/QUOTE] Hey, to each their own. No flaming necessary. However, it’s not as dumb as it sounds. The name is a relic of World War II: [QUOTE=Wikipedia] The term foo fighter was used by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II to describe various UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over Europe and the Pacific theatre. Contemporary witnesses often assumed that the foo fighters were secret weapons employed by the enemy, and it was not until after the war that it was discovered neither side had anything to do with them. Despite these fears, foo fighters (whatever they might have been) were apparently never reported to have harmed or tried to harm anyone. To this day the case remains unexplained. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/115 "2007-11-29T06:06:20Z")
[QUOTE=42fish] From the boring names file, there’s Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. That’s a name for a law firm, not a rock band. [/QUOTE] Do you feel the same way about **Medeski, Martin and Wood?** I don’t, because those three names flow together way better than your example, and there are only three guys and not four. Also, the guy named Wood plays the upright bass, which I find very fitting. You probably wouldn’t like **Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds** either. And yes, that’s Joe Frank, not Joe, Frank - the guy’s name was Joe Frank Carollo. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/116 "2007-11-29T06:23:10Z")
[QUOTE=42fish] From the boring names file, there’s Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. That’s a name for a law firm, not a rock band. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it’s boring, but you know, it was 4/5 of Yes. They couldn’t call themselves that, as there was already a band working under that name and recording contract. But the names were recognizable as the guys who used to be in Yes, and it was a darn sight easier than trying to come up with an alternate identity, no? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/117 "2007-11-29T06:31:31Z")
Not a band name, but a rapper: Chamillionaire. I HATE that name with a passion. What the hell is it supposed to be? Why does it make me so angry? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/118 "2007-11-29T06:45:04Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Yeah, it’s boring, but you know, it was 4/5 of Yes. They couldn’t call themselves that, as there was already a band working under that name and recording contract. But the names were recognizable as the guys who used to be in Yes, and it was a darn sight easier than trying to come up with an alternate identity, no? [/QUOTE] They should have just made it an acronym of their surnames: BWAH! ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/119 "2007-11-29T07:20:26Z")
[QUOTE=Subterraneanus] Then again, Foo fighters is a dumb band. [/QUOTE] The thing you don’t understand is that their first album was _awesome_. You can’t hear “X-static,” “Exhausted,” or “For All The Cows,” and not love it. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888/120 "2007-11-29T08:06:24Z")
Assuck. The u has an umlaut but I don’t know how to do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-band-names/427888.md?page=7)