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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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* [[The Protomen]]
* [[The Rasmus]], Finnish rock band (they added the article to differentiate themselves from a Swedish DJ of the same name)
* [[The Residents]] (notable because that wasn't their original name, their initial demo got sent out accidentally unlabeled, so they took their new name when a record company sent the demo back marked as 'to: residents')
* [[The Rotted]]
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*** Can—because it's a common word (with two completely different meanings)--so any match is unlikely to be related to the obscure German prog/art rockers.
*** The rapper A+ was widely reported to have named himself thus ''precisely'' to make it a hard search term (specifically on [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|Napster]]).
*** And then there's [https://web.archive.org/web/20130807031359/http://bash.org/?514353 this], of course...
* [[The Thrills]]
* [[The Trammps]]
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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]]''
*
* 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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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724083612/http://www.philntheblanks.net/ Phil 'n' The Blanks] ([[Punny Name|groan...]])
* The country pop group [[Punny Name|Jump 'n The Saddle]] had a novelty hit with ''The [[Three Stooges|Curly]] Shuffle''.
** As of 2022, Jump 'n' The Saddle lead singer Harry Reinhart is part of a Chicago-based electric-blues-jazz-swing-rock band called [http://www.skiptowne.com/ Skip Towne and the Greyhounds].
* Eric and the Informers; Eric Bogle's short-lived rock band, memorialised in his song of the same name.
* Morris Minor and the Majors; parody band responsible for ''[[Stutter Rap]]'' and ''This is the Chorus''.
** Not to be confused with Morris and the Minors, who later changed their name to Madness.
* Tony Orlando and Dawn; possibly an aversion as the group was initially named just "Dawn", but was rebilled as "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando" and eventually
* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Disco+Dream+And+The+Androids Disco Dream and the Androids]
* Four Hits and A Miss, from the big band era, inverts the usual order.
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* Marina & The Diamonds. [[Word of God|Marina herself]] has said that "the Diamonds" are not her backing band, but her fans (it also refers to her full name, Marina Diamandis).
* Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
----
== "Band": Monosyllabic Names ==
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The small size of the name is often compensated by the huge size of the font.
About the coolness of monosyllabic names here is someone who thinks that, in general, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121130003828/http://blogcritics.org/music/article/the-worst-band-names-ever
Anyways, monosyllabic band names have been around since at least the 60's ([[Cream]], [[Love (band)|Love]]).
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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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* ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (though they usually go by just "Trail of Dead")
* And And! And from ''[[The Commitments]]''.
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] wrestler Jeff Hardy, in his spare time, fronts a band called Peroxwhy?gen.
* Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. Both a band name, and sound advice for any wannabe superhero. Supposedly taken from a walkthrough for one of the [[Batman]] games for the [[ZX Spectrum]] in a computer mag.
* Does It Offend You, Yeah?
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* 3OH!3
* On! Air! Library! (Possibly also the only instance of [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!]] in band name form)
* [[
* Attack! Attack!
** Not to be confused with Attack Attack!, a completely different band.
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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."
* Dingoes Ate My Baby, from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
** This is almost certainly a reference to [[wikipedia:Azaria Chamberlain disappearance|this strange case]].
* Everybody put your hands together for... [http://www.xkcd.com/119/
* Glamdring the Foehammer ("it's from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', man"), who perform at an Isle of Wight Festival knockoff in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Past Doctor Adventures]] novel ''[[The Devil Goblins From Neptune]]'' (which is ''also'' a good name for a band...)
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' had "Sloshy".
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** Reincarnage Karmication Snuff Tape
* Sex [[Super Mario Bros.|Bob-Omb]], [[Scott Pilgrim]]'s band. His ex is the lead singer of The Clash at Demonhead.
* In ''[[F Is For Family
** His favourite band is called "Lifted Riffs", and obvious parody of [[Led Zeppelin|''Led Zeppelin'']].
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* Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
* Jack Kervorkian And The Suicide Machines (later shortened to just The Suicide Machines)
* A local{{where}} pop punk band named [[Freaks and Geeks|Sam]] [[Bones|Weir]]. They recently broke up and reformed with much the same lineup as a hardcore band, calling themselves Claire Danes.
* Don Knotts Overdrive.
* [[Joy Division]] (from a book they read about [[World War Two]] history-- "joy divisions" were groups of Jewish or Gypsy women that the Nazis kept for... certain purposes)
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* [[Death Cab for Cutie]] took its name from an Elvis Presley spoof from a Beatles movie.
* The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (who, incidentally, performed the song "Death Cab for Cutie") are named after a cartoon dog named Bonzo. The "Doo-Dah" part refers to their fodness for old music-hall songs, but is also apparently a pun on "Dada", an art movement.
* The [[Foo Fighters]] are named after the [[WWII]] fighter
* Biffy Clyro
* Infocalypse (named for the term used in Snow Crash to denote the fall of Babel)
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* Toad the Wet Sprocket (a [[Monty Python]] reference. The Python context was a fictional band with an intentionally ridiculous Wacky Word Combo name, which makes this practically [[Meta Fiction|meta]].
* [[They Might Be Giants]] was named for the play/film in which a man believes that he's Sherlock Holmes. The title refers to the famous scene in ''[[Don Quixote]]'' when Don Quixote mistakes windmills for giants.
* [[Fine Young Cannibals]], named after the 1960 [[Robert Wagner]]/[[Natalie Wood]] movie ''All the Fine Young Cannibals''.
* The band Fozzy started as a cover band called Fozzy Osbourne (both references should be obvious if you think about it).
* Save Ferris
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* Fu Manchu. [[Yellow Peril|Take a wild guess]].
* Uriah Heep, named for a character from [[Charles Dickens]]' ''[[David Copperfield (novel)|David Copperfield]]''.
* [[Kyuss]], named after
* [[Rasputina]], named after...[[Captain Obvious|Rasputin]].
* Felix Da Housecat, named after cartoon character Felix the Cat.
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* The [[Velvet Underground]] is named after a porn novel, specifically one about BDSM.
* [[Rammstein]] (from the Ramstein airshow disaster)
* Blackened grindcore horrors Anaal Nathrakh are named after a spell in the movie ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]''.
* Vampire Weekend is named after a film made by frontman Ezra Koenig
** This is probably very obscure, but I always thought it referred to an episode of ''[[Get Smart]]'' entitled "Weekend Vampire". I wonder if the film's name had anything to do with it.
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* The Toasters are named for the Jamaican tradition of DJs "chatting" or "toasting" over instrumentals, not the kitchen appliance. One of the earliest lineups included a pair of toasters, the Unity Two, and later lineups usually include at least one member skilled in the tradition.
* [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]], named after a [[My Bloody Valentine (film)|Canadian slasher flick]], itself inspired by the song "My Funny Valentine".
* Dixie Chicks (after the Little Feat song "Dixie Chicken"); now just "The Chicks" in reaction to Trump-era pro-Confederacy crazies.
* [[Iron Maiden]] (after the Medieval torture device, one of which Steve Harris had seen in the film ''[[The Man in the Iron Mask (1998 film)|The Man in the Iron Mask]]'')
* ''Belle and Sebastian'' is the title of a French children's novel and two TV series based on it.
** Which nearly led to legal action. Headed off by diplomatic negotiations and apologetic disclaimers printed in the liner notes of some B&S releases.
* Minus the Bear (after
* [[Catherine Wheel]] (either a spinning firework or a medieval execution device)
* Saint Etienne (English band, named after the French football team)
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* Godspeed You! Black Emperor takes its name from a film about a Japanese biker gang called the Black Emperors.
* The Kentucky Headhunters. Taken from the word "headchopping", a term that blues musician Muddy Waters used when he had replaced another gig. After finding other bands already were called The Headhunters, they added "Kentucky" to the name. The band was first known as "Itchy Brother", which as random as it sounds, was actually a real cartoon character.
* The band that [[Dave Barry]] plays in (along with several other authors) is called the Rock-Bottom Remainders, a remainder being a book that was printed in excessive quantity, and usually is sold back to bookstores cheaply as 'bargain' or 'clearance' merchandise.
** Also a member: [[Stephen King]].
* The Decemberists, named after the 1825 Russian revolt, they take this further by having songs referencing historical events and settings.
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** Except they say that it was originally named after a racing horse, Archduke Ferdinand, but they liked the implications the Archduke's death made as per starting the First World War.
* [[Daft Punk]], whose name comes from a review of their previous (completely different) band, Darlin', dismissing their music as "a bunch of daft punk."
* Los Amigos Invisibles took their name after the
* Ska Band Desorden Público. Their name is a pun in the prhase "Orden Público", a concept related with social peace and order.
* The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a side project by Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill and some members of Crowell's former backing band The Cherry Bombs. "Notorious" was added due to a copyright claim by a member who refused to join the project.
* School Of Seven Bells named themselves after a mythical school of South American pickpockets that may or may not have existed in the 1980s, which they heard about while watching a documentary on PBS at 3 in the morning.
* Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth take their name from [[The History of Middle-earth|the Tolkien mythos]], the name meaning "Mount Doom" in Tolkien's constructed language Sindarin.
** Several black metal bands also take their name from the Tolkien mythos, most notably black metal bands Gorgoroth and Burzum.
*** Burzum's sole member, [[wikipedia:Varg Vikernes|Varg (meaning "Wolf/ Outlaw") Vikernes]], originally went by the name Count Grishnackh, another Tolkien reference - in this case, the name of an orc. Vikernes spent 16 years in prison for murdering his former friend and bandmate Euronymous, who was named for a Greek demon... one whose name, incidentally, had been misspelled by [[wikipedia:Anton Lavey|Anton LaVey]] in ''[[Laughably Evil|The Satanic Bible]]''.
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* Kasabian (Named after Manson Family cultist and getaway driver Linda Kasabian.)
* Aiden, named for the character from ''[[The Ring]]''.
* Little My, (presumably) named after the character from ''[[The Moomins]]''.
* Pinback are named for the character of the same name in ''[[Dark Star]]''. Some of their earlier material sampled dialogue and sounds from the film.
* Gogol Bordello
* Veruca Salt, named after one of the children in ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]''.
* Punk band Kermit's Finger named themselves after the punchline to the old joke "What's green and smells like ham?".
* Does It Offend You, Yeah? is a partial quote from ''[[The Office]]''
* Crystal Castles, derived from something to do with the series ''[[She-Ra: Princess of Power]]''.
* Cabaret Voltaire, whose name is a reference to [[Dada]].
* [[Coil]] and [[Current 93]] were both named for obscure occult references (the latter to [[Aleister Crowley]]).
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* Mudhoney, after a Russ Meyer film. They'd never actually ''seen'' the movie, they just saw the title somewhere and thought it sounded cool.
* [[Rob Zombie|White Zombie]], after a somewhat obscure film starring Bela Lugosi.
* Ned's Atomic Dustbin got their name from a skit from ''[[The Goon Show]]''.
* Bishop Allen are named after Bishop Allen Drive, a street in Cambridge, Massachusetts that two of the band members used to live on together.
* In what could be considered a variation on Song/Album/Lyric band names, Whirlwind Heat are named after another band's album ''artwork'': The cover to [[Sonic Youth]]'s ''Goo'' includes the text "I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind heat, and flash. Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road.".
* ChChCh HaHaHa named themselves after the [[Leitmotif]] from ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the
* The Airborne Toxic Event take their name from a disaster that occurs in Don DeLillo's novel ''[[White Noise]]'', which also serves as the name of one of the sections of the book.
* Chiodos, named for the directors of ''[[Killer Klowns From Outer Space]]''.
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* Ugly Kid Joe's name parodied that of [[Hair Metal]] band Pretty Boy Floyd. Pretty Boy Floyd themselves were of course named after the famous bank robber.
* Boss Hog is biker slang for "cool motorcycle". No connection to [[The Dukes of Hazzard|Boss Hogg]].
* Don Caballero named themselves with an obscure ''[[SCTV]]'' reference: Don Caballero was a character Joe Flaherty played in
* Tiger Trap are named as a ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'' [[Shout-Out]]. It's a common misconception that they're named after the [[Beat Happening]] song, but they were formed before that song came out, though their debut album came out after.
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=== Western Animation ===
* Member listing bands are easy to parody by changing members, such as ''[[Futurama]]'''s "[[Battlestar Galactica
=== [[Real Life]] ===
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* [[Van Halen]]; similar to the Bon Jovi example, though named after ''two'' members rather than one (the van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex; ''much'' later, Eddie's son Wolfgang would also join the band).
* Subversion: [[Pink Floyd]] was named after two ''blues'' musicians, neither of which were ever in the band. Although that didn't stop journalists asking them early on, [[Did Not Do the Research|"So which one's Pink?"]].
* A more recent use of this is by the Canadian duo [[Tegan and Sara]].
* ''[[Fleetwood Mac]]'', named after their drummer (Mick Fleetwood) and bass player (John McVie). Sort of an aversion - Fleetwood and Peter Green decided to call the band this to ''persuade McVie to join'', not because he was already a member.
* Obfuscated by the band Good Old War. Good for Goodwin, Old for Arnold, and War for Schwartz.
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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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== Any and All of the Above ==
=== Fan Works ===
* In chapter 9 of the ''[[Undocumented Features]]'' story ''[http://www.eyrie.net/UF/FI/OOTR/TXT/12-federation/ch9.html The Order of the Rose: "The Federation Lives Forever!"]'', [[K-On!|Ui Hirasawa and Jun Suzuki]] discuss names for the band they have decided to form:
{{quote|"Oh yeah, we'll need a ''name'', too. I'm assuming you're not gonna go for The Jun Suzuki Project," [Jun] added with a smirk.
"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.
"What? Seriously? It's lame. I was trying for lame. ... Hmm! Trying For Lame."
"That actually ''is'' lame. What about The Above Average?"
"The Junior Varsity."
"That's a little bit on the nose, don't you think?" Ui wondered.
Jun eyed her. "Oh, and 'Student Drivers' wasn't? I know! Media Blackout!"
"Void Where Prohibited..."}}
:They eventually settle on "Frame Shift".
== 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.
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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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