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A Good Name for a Rock Band: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{Examples Need Sorting}}
{{quote|'''Attacking Tucans:''' "We should form a musical group."
'''[[Josh Jepson]]:''' "No we shouldn't. That sounds like a horrible idea."
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{{examples|Examples of Good Names for Rock Bands include:}}
{{TOCright}}
== "The" Bands ==
The most timeless of band names, this style of band naming transcends genre and is enduringly popular. Probably because of The Beatles. You can't usually tell a lot about how a band will sound if its called The Whatever. Sometimes a joke will be made about someone being out of touch with modern music by having them add a "The" to a band name that does not usually take a "The," such as "The Led Zeppelins" or "The Alkaline Trio." (In a case of [[Truth in Television]], Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Scorpions, Ben Folds Five and others often suffer this. Inverted by [[The Prodigy]], as many people think the band name is Prodigy.<ref>The front cover of their most popular album, ''Fat of the Land'', and the subsequent ''[[Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned]]'' showed only the word "Prodigy." However, Liam Howlett stated that the band's name has always included the article.</ref>) Band names that follow the "The Plural Nouns" style are something of a [[Dead Horse Trope]] and more modern "The" band names tend to be more of a "The Abstract Noun" or "The Adjective" style. Talking Heads were aware of this, and went to great lengths not to be called 'the' Talking Heads, including naming an album, "The Name of This Band is Talking Heads".
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An inversion: [[Pink Floyd]] was known as The Pink Floyd during the Syd Barrett year(s).
===
* The Kindly Ones from ''[[The Sandman]]''
=== Film ===
* Marty McFly's band, The Pinheads, from ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]]''
* In ''[[Light of Day]]'', Joe Rasnick's band is called The Barbusters.
* The One-ders of ''[[That Thing You Do]]!''
* The Lone Rangers from ''[[Airheads]]''.
=== Literature ===
* The Paranoids (a Beatles ripoff) from [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s ''[[The Crying of Lot 49]]''.
* The Weird Sisters, from ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', said to be one of the most popular wizard bands out there, and booked to play at Hogwarts at the Yule Ball in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)|Goblet of Fire]]''. ([[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|The film]] made them punk rockers.) Nymphadora Tonks is a fan.
* The Band With Rocks In, from ''[[Soul Music (novel)|Soul Music]]''. Also The Whom, The Blots and The Surreptitious Fabric, all names briefly used by a wannabe band (and not coincidentally all puns on the names of real bands).
* ''[[The Commitments]]''. Chosen deliberately, and explained in the book and film that "all the great sixties bands were 'the somethings'".
** And naturally, there are at least two bands called "The Somethings".
* The Stillborn (from one of [[George Carlin]]'s books)
* The Last Days, from the book of the same name.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* From ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', [[The Blues Brothers]].
* The Worthless Peons, Ted's band on ''[[Scrubs]]''.
=== Theatre ===
* The Dreamettes from ''[[Dreamgirls]]''.
=== Video Games ===
* The Gavinners, from ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]''.
** Of course, the band was originally called Garyuu Wave in the Japanese version, ''[[Gyakuten Saiban 4]]''...
* The Knights of Rockville, Achmed and Amir from ''[[Backyard Sports]]''{{'}}s band
* The Midnight Riders from ''[[Left 4 Dead|Left 4 Dead 2]]''.
** They actually have a few songs. If you're wondering, they are in the the game as well as on the band's [[YouTube]] page.
=== Web Original ===
* The Negative Adjectives, from punk webcomic ''[[Nothing Nice to Say]]''
=== Web Comics ===
* The Plural Nouns, of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' forum.
* The Crotchmen (who even print bumper stickers that read "Who Watches The Crotchmen?" to sell at their shows) from the webcomic ''[[Sacred Heart]]''.
=== Western Animation ===
* The Baljeetles from the ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode of the name name.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
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This one is a little rarer than the "The" band. It was most popular in/is most associated with the 1950s, what with Bill Haley & The Comets, but Ted Leo & The Pharmacists prove it is still popular today. However, most modern bands that follow this style don't play it straight in a "Frontman & The Musicians" style, but will just use funny words instead, like Me First & The Gimme Gimmes. The primary exception is [[Country Music]], particularly alternative or self-consciously "old-timey" country, where it retains an air of respectability and old-fashionedness. However, it still occasionally turns up in fiction.
* One of the band names suggested by Yui during the band-naming session in ''[[K-On!]]'' is "Hirasawa Yui and Her Happy Friends". Ritsu is less than happy about having the rest of the cast suddenly be nothing but extras.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* Crash and the Boys in ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]''.
* Dennis and the Dinmakers -- the British [[Dennis the Menace (UK comic strip)|Dennis the Menace]]'s band.
=== [[Fan Works]] ===
* At one point in ''[[Drunkard's Walk|Drunkard's Walk II]]'', Doug Sangnoir refers to [[Bubblegum Crisis|the Knight Sabers]] as "Lady White and the High-heel Gang" in a deliberate invocation of the trope.
* ''[[My Immortal]]'': Voldemort and the Death Dealers, anyone?
** And while we're at it, [[Hagrid and the Skoolgurlz]].
* Johnny Mushroom and the Kingdoms from ''[[Stupid Mario Brothers]]''
=== [[Film]] ===
* [[Eddie and the Cruisers]]. (The name of the movie, and the artist the soundtrack was credited to. And the name of the original book, as well.)
* In ''[[Grease]]'', the band playing at the dance contest was named Johnny Casino And The Gamblers.
* Firgin D'an and the Modal Nodes, aka the Cantina Band from ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* "Drimble Wedge and the Vegetation" in the original ''[[Bedazzled (1967 film)|Bedazzled]]''.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* "Sativa and the Tripouts" from ''[[The Butterfly Kid]]''.
* Sick Dick and the Volkswagens from ''[[The Crying of Lot 49]]''.
* Pugilism and the Third Autistic Cuckoo, from ''[[The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul]]'' by [[Douglas Adams]]
*
* Eddi and the Fey in Emma Bull's ''[[War for the Oaks]]''.
* Johnny and the Contusions in Dave Barry's ''[[Tricky Business]]''.
* Vitaly Chernobyl and the Meltdowns in [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[Snow Crash]]''
* Clark Kent and his Supermen (from ''[[Illuminatus|The Illuminatus! Trilogy]]'')
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]],'' the main character Harry jokingly regards the local werewolf gang's name (Billy and the Alphas/Werewolves) as a bad 70's band name.
** He later gives Nicodemus and the Denarians a similar name in ''[[Turncoat]]''—Nicky and the Nickelheads.
* Little Tommy and the Underhill Gang from [[Esther Friesner]]'s suburban fantasy novel ''[[Elf Defense]]''.
*
*
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' has a real musician with a fake band: William Hung and His Hung Jury.
** That's kind of stretching the definition of ''"real musician"...''
** Arrested Development is also the name of a real life rap group that formed before the show.
* Parodying the big band example below in ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]'', Trapper once introduced Hawkeye as "Hawkeye Pierce and His Orchestra."
* Jesse and the Rippers from ''[[Full House]]''.
* Smeg and the Heads from ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.
* ''[[Mr. Show]]'' has a skit involving an inspirational band named Indomitable Spirit (whose members pretend to have disabilities ranging from being a disembodied head to being a woman), but a former band member (who is actually missing an arm) reveals their name was originally Flat Top Tony and the Purple Canoes.
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''. When Anders says that Cylon Leoben might have been right about Starbuck having a special destiny, Starbuck replies that "Kara Thrace and Her Special Destiny" sounds like a bad name for a cover band.
* Fictional band Larry David and the Hipsters from ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]''.
* "Wexford and the Unbelievers" on ''[[Sanctuary]]''{{'}}s episode "Firewall"
* ''[[The Wire]]'': Cool Lester Smooth and The Bunk.
** Strangely appropriate considering the actors who played Lester Freamon and Bunk Moreland are now on ''[[Treme]]'' as a Mardi Gras Chief and a trombone-player, respectively.
* [[Stephen Colbert|Stephen and the Colberts]].
=== [[Music]] ===
* Bennie and the Jets from the [[Elton John]] song of the same name.
* A rather hard to place example, Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars, a fake band who exist only on an album by a [[David Bowie|real musician]].
{{quote|...became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band}}
* Robbie Wilson and Sedgley Park, a Robbie Coltrane alter-ego band.
=== [[Puppet Shows]] ===
* Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem from ''[[The Muppet Show]]''.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* Some combinations of units and squad leaders in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' end up sounding like this. Maugan Ra and the Dark Reapers, for instance.
=== [[Toys]] ===
* [[Barbie]] and the Rockers; this line inspired a two part TV special (which predates the modern DVD movies by 14 years), where in part two they were inexplicably renamed...
** [[Barbie]] and the Sensations
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Razor and the Scummettes from ''[[Maniac Mansion]]''
* Silent Alex and the Unspeakables from ''[[Visions and Voices]]''.
* A ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' band called themselves [[The Problem with Pen Island|Pen and The Islands]].
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* [[Thomas Fay Syndicate|Thomas Fay]] and the [[Danny Phantom]] Band
* [[AlternateHistory.com]] has "[[Barack Obama|Obama and the Republicans]]", inspired by the fact that U.S. political discussions commonly used the phrase.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[Josie and the Pussy Cats]]''.
* Jeremy and the Incidentals from ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''.
** Also Phineas and the Ferb-Tones.
* [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]]
* ''[[South Park]]''{{'}}s Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld (who also appeared in the Rock Band franchise)
* ''[[Regular Show]]'': Mordecai and the Rigbys (There is only one Rigby. They also discussed other cool names for rock bands)
=== [[Real Life]] ===
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* Katrina and the Waves.
* [[Tim Rice]] formed a band with some friends called ''Wang & The Cheviots''. At reunions they still can't decide which one of them is Wang.
*
** X and the Ys is the template for nearly every [[Harry Potter (novel)|wizard rock]] band in existence. E.G., Marietta and the Sneaks, and their hit single "Hermione Granger is a Bitch."
*** Draco and the Malfoys... It's more like First Name and the Last Names.
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* ENOZ from ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. It uses the first letters of the last name of each band member. Mai Zaizen, Mizuki Okajima, Takato Nakamishi, and Miyuki Enomoto. Of this, this is ''also'' a tribute to ZONE.
* DMC ([[Detroit Metal City]]) also counts as a referential name to KISS's song "Detroit Rock City."
=== [[Literature]] ===
* AKT (All Kindly Toes) from the ''[[Jack of Kinrowan]]'' stories by [[Charles de Lint]].
=== [[Video Games]] ===
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=== Literature ===
* ''[[
=== Real Life ===
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=== Wacky Word/Referential Bands UNSORTED Examples ===
* ''[[My So-Called Life]]'' had Frozen Embryo.
* We're Certainly Dwarfs from ''[[
* Most of the nonsense phrases Dave Barry said "would make a good name for a rock band" (which tended not to be so nonsensical when viewed in context).
** ''[[The Federal Duck]]'' in particular is a truncation of the real-world "Federal Duck Stamp Program."
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== [[Heavy Metal Umlaut]] ==
=== Film ===
* [[Spinal Tap]] is usually spelled with an umlaut over the n.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* In an episode of ''[[Reaper]]'', a wannabe rocker/Dreadful Musician whose great idea of a stage name is just "Ryan" almost does a literal [[Deal with the Devil]] and becomes the even-more-ludicrous-sounding "Ryän".
=== Newspaper Comics ===
* One story arc in ''[[Bloom County]]'' had Steve Dallas form a glam-metal band called Deathtöngue with Opus, Hodge-Podge, and Bill the Cat, who performed songs like "Let's Run Over Lionel Richie With a Tank." After a run in with [[Moral Guardians]], they changed their name to "Billy and the Boingers".
** Before they were known as Deathtöngue, Opus wanted to call the band {{spoiler|The Osmonds}}.
=== Video Games ===
* Roughly related is ''[[Brütal Legend]]'', a heavy-metal themed game by [[Tim Schafer]].
=== Web Comics ===
* Deathmøle from ''[[Questionable Content]]''. (The ø isn't an umlaut, either, but counts as a Scandinavian letter)
** The trope itself is also a [[Running Gag]] in the comic.
* When the ''[[PvP]]'' guys formed a band, they named it Dj̈ork (the umlaut's over the j)
=== Web Original ===
* Also roughly related is an article from ''[[The Onion]]'': "[https://web.archive.org/web/20100219021734/http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32404 Ünited Stätes Toughens Image With Ümlauts]".
=== Western Animation ===
* [[Metalocalypse|Dethklok]] uses both umlauts & the o thing, considering the origins of some of the band members.
* [[Phineas and Ferb]] give us "Love Händel" [[Phineas and Ferb/Radar|Getting More crap past the Radar since 2008!]] Also a [[Parental Bonus]] if you assume "Händel" is a reference to the guy who wrote "Handel's Messiah"
=== [[Real Life]] ===
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=== Literature ===
* Trollz, in ''[[
=== Live-Action TV ===
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"I was thinking maybe The Ui Hirasawa Rhythm All-Stars," Ui countered, grinning.
"The Western Empire Ballet Company," said Jun.
"Student Drivers," Ui replied.<ref>An idiomatic translation of their band name in the ''K-On! High School'' manga.</ref>
"Orangebender," Jun declared.
"Ooh, that one's not bad," said Ui.
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== Other ==
For bands and band names that just don't fit anywhere else.
=== Fan
* In the ''[[Glee]]'' [[Slash Fic]] [http://archiveofourown.org/series/8386 Story of Three Boys], when a homophobic pastor talks about "wayward youth" and "vandalism", Finn says that he's going to start a band called Wayward Youth. Their first album will be called 'Vandalism' and have naked dudes go-go dancing on the cover.
=== Literature ===
* In the books and movies of ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'', Gregory's older brother Rodrick's band combines 3 of the common naming conventions into Löded Diper. Though Greg remarks that Rodrick probably can't spell "Loaded Diaper".
=== Real Life ===
* [[wikipedia:Revelstoke, British Columbia|Revelstoke]] sounds like a loud 80's heavy-metal hair band.
* Mr.Bungle fronted by [[Mike Patton]], they take their name from an educational film in a Pee-Wee Herman special, yep their name is as clowny as their music.
* Frightened Rabbit, in that it contains none of the naming conventions mentioned above. Both words are perfectly acceptable alone and together, the name doesn't have the word "the," no "ist" suffix, it isn't a complete sentence, it isn't one word, it isn't a list of members, it isn't a lyric, album or song title of theirs and both words are rather soft.
* It's a common misconception that Green River are named after the [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]] album, or its title track. In fact they're named after Gary Ridgway, a [[Serial Killer]] who was known as "The Green River Killer" because his first five victims were found in the Green River in Washington.
=== Generated ===
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Name for a Rock Band, A}}
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