My Friend The Chocolate Cake
Oh, and: Not Drowning Waving
The Spazzys run a close third!
Or Spın̈al Tap.
My vote goes to Cradle Of Filth.
They were originally The Bangs, but there was another band out there with the name so their label recommended they go with adding a couple of letters. But they never really liked it either, especially the Petersen sisters…
And, boy - you really like the name Beatles don’cha? 
Don’t get me wrong - I love the name and the ingenuity behind it - how the “a” makes is more music-focused, but it still evokes The Crickets, etc. 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…
The Beach Boys. It was horribly misleading and limiting, considering what the band became. Their magnum opus, Pet Sounds, doesn’t contain a single song about surfing, fast cars, or being true to your school. I sometimes wonder if their name caused them to not be taken as seriously as they deserved to be, or not receive the respect they should have.
I’m all right with Beach Boys because the surfing and car songs were the time of their greatest energy. “Pet Sounds” influenced Paul McCartney but only in the sense of putting into his head the idea of a theme album and so being precursor to Sgt. Pepper. The pure energy of Surfin’ USA and Fun Fun Fun, IMHO, is the Beach Boys’ legacy.
Bangles is unfortunate, no doubt. Not much difference between Bangles and Beatles by letter count and first and last three letters.
Try saying it in a heavy Liverpool accent.
I think The Beatles and The Beach Boys both kinda fall into the category of “Bands who outgrew their names, but by then it was too late to change.”
Buddy Holly’s Crickets weren’t called that until they played back their first garage demos, and they heard a cricket that was hiding in the garage.
For a while, it was funny to say that Def Leppard was Sir Raymond Leppard’s son.
Hoobastank is allegedly the band’s name for the rank wine at the bottom of a water pipe, after a lot of smoking. Now that you know that, it’s still pretty disgusting.
Caterwaul was an accurate name for that band. I must have been pretty loaded the night I heard them on USA network and decided they sounded good.
Dirty John’s Hot Dog Stand was an album a friend dragged home just because he liked the name. The band name was the best thing about the album.
Butthole Surfers have had a good run, despite a name few 13-year-olds could say to their parents.
Some band names are just intentionally icky. Garbage and **Meat Puppets ** come to mind.
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.
i’ll try and do this without letting the actual music of the bands bias my opinion…
Nickelback
!!!
Panic! At the Disco
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Goo Goo Dolls
Eminem
Pearl Jam
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Trapt
Hootie and the Blowfish
Nashville Pussy
The The
Sum 41
Iron & Wine: I really like his music, but that name sucks. Especially since, in my opinion, he had an obvious option that sounds much cooler: “Sam Beam”. At least he didn’t go with “Beef, Iron & Wine”, which would have been far worse.
There is a local band here called Shout Out Out Out Out. I find that name really irritating. I don’t know if their fans have a nickname for them, but I would get pissed off if I ever had to talk to anybody about them.
Dayglo Abortions: Another example of shitty name, even shittier music.
Maybe The Slits?
The Slits
Hole
The Breeders
PATD would be a much better name if they got rid of that useless !
Arriviste bastards!
More comedy act than band - they don’t count.
Don’t get me wrong, I like both bands when in the mood, but the only post-BÖC bands that get a pass are Hüsker Dü and any Scandiwegian non-metal bands. It doesn’t make you look hard, or Teutonic, or portentous. Pretentious is more like it. Devoid of originality. Don’t get me started on y’s for i’s…
Also: The Muffs
Boy, this is a looong way into this thread for me to be the first to mention:
Scraping Foetus off the Wheel
That’s the correct spelling, by the way.
Isn’t there a Doper by that name?
Not anymore. He changed it to Scraping Linguistics Off the Wheel.
Another vote for Hoobastank–ugh!
Red Hot Chili Peppers. :rolleyes: My brother calls them the Dead Cold Silly Peckers, which is a better name, IMO!
And then there’s Was (Not Was). Too much trying to be clever with a band name only winds up making them sound stupid.
Driving home one weekend through New Orleans, the radio station was listing what bands were playing where locally.
The one I will remember forever?
Dick Delicious and the Tasty Testicles
I remember thinking to myself, yep, that’s something I want on my resume. From 95 to 98 I was a testicle…