Music Blogs

The Top 10 Most Ridiculous Band Names Ever

Posted Tue Jun 9, 2009 7:07pm PDT by Robert of the Radish in The Y! Music Playlist Blog

There are a lot of seriously bad band names floating out there in the cosmos. Although you would probably find the very worst of them among the throngs of unsigned garage bands, groups who've had success in the music business have not escaped the pull of the pathetic name. Some vomit-inducing band names have been overcome only by the quality of the music behind the name. Case in point, The Beatles. The name The "Beetles" was suggested by Stuart Sutcliffe as a tribute to Buddy Holly & The Crickets, but the second "e" was replaced by an "a" as in "beat" generation. Oh, how clever. Now, I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I will no doubt take abuse for daring to say anything negative about the fab 4, but the Beatles name is lame at its core. However, the music was so good that the name became insignificant in comparison to the music it represented. 

Although bad, "The Beatles" is not the worst name in rock and roll history. In fact, it's probably not even in the top 100.  In my view, the following 10 band names are the most ridiculous in rock and roll history. You will see that the list includes the critically acclaimed,  the middle of the road and shooting stars. No one is immune from the bad band name, and if you do pick one, you better pray you become as big as The Beatles. It's the only thing that can cover your sin.

What would you add to the list?

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Band Names Ever

10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

9. I Am The World Trade Center

8. Hootie & the Blowfish

7. Archers of Loaf

6. Mr. Mister

5. Bowling For Soup

4. Enuff Z'Nuff

3. Arctic Monkeys

2. Test Icicles

1. Limp Bizkit

 Follow what Robert is listening to on Twitter.
390 Comments

41. mr ut fan -
How about Mother Thumb & Her Forefingers? Or, Turn me Loose Bruce, I Can't Stand the Juice?? Or, Antlers in the Treetops?? Or Attention, Shoppers?? Or, The Swishing Cowtails?? But, the best may be "Sticks & Stones May...."

42. Yahoo! Music User -
Alien Sex Fiend, Gaye Bykers On Acid, Suave Fxckers, Hitlers Lampshades, The Vibrators, The Pork Dukes, The Electric Chairs and The Virgin Prunes!

43. Yahoo! Music User -
I would say the Meat Puppets

44. Vince -
limp bizkit and bowling for soup rock

45. Josh T -
lest we forget "Gay Bikers on Acid" and "Sheep on Drugs"

46. Aretha -
these are such stupid names

47. Dead Inside -
Why is Arctic Monkeys on there. What about Sniff'n' the Tears? There's a whole bunch of bad names out there..

48. Cathy -
A band from B-more....... Suburban Flesh Eaters

49. Yahoo! Music User -
How about Toad and the Wet Sprocket?

50. ralph -
good list, mine is1)The Atomic Rooster. 2)10cc.3)Pizz Wizards.4) Them.5)Flock of Seagulls.6)Oingo Boingo.7)Flutter.8)Squrriel Nut Zippers.9)Meatloaf.10) Smooch and Mooch.

51. Amber -
There's a few I love with pretty bad names. Reel Big Fish, Alien Ant Farm, Barenaked Ladies, pretty much anything out of the 1980s, probably a thousand others I can't think of right now. Gotta love 'em.

52. Michael -
Limp Bizkit? Are you kidding me? You don't listen to many bands if these are the "worst" you've found.

53. Ron P -
Can't we all agree that Bananarama rates at least an honorable mention?

54. john -
Gaye Bykers on acid

TRUE! saw them in London several years ago - I think he's still gigging in the UK

55. Yahoo! Music User -
As Tall As Lions and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are pretty ridiculous names

56. Yahoo! Music User -
Don't forget: Thunderclap Newman, Strawberry Alarm Clock, It's a Beautiful Day, 31st of February, & Bubblepuppy!

57. josie -
Oyo Bongo???

58. Yahoo! Music User -
Oingo Boingo, perhaps?

59. Shaun -
swing out sister

60. Yahoo! Music User -
Ultimate Spinach
Page:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 
Leave Your Comment
You must sign in to leave a comment
Select a Blog Posts
And The Winner Is...
by Paul Grein
30
As Heard On...
by Lyndsey Parker
48
Chart Watch
by Paul Grein
145
Framed
by John Kordosh
122
GetBack
by Shawn Amos
342
Hip-Hop Media Training
by Billy Johnson, Jr.
234
List Of The Day
by Rob O'Connor
337
Maximum Performance
by Lyndsey Parker
167
Musictoob
by Andy Pemberton
194
New This Week
by Dave DiMartino
126
Reality Rocks
by Lyndsey Parker
601
Rock's Backpages
by Barney Hoskyns
196
Stop The Presses!
by Lyndsey Parker
87
That's Really Week
by Billy Johnson, Jr.
127
The Blender Burner
by Blender Magazine
27
The MOJO Blog
by James McNair
91
The NME Blog
by Luke Lewis
49
The Spin Blog
by David Marchese
80
The Y! Music Playlist Blog
by Robert of the Radish
525
Video Ga Ga
by Lyndsey Parker
72
Viva NashVegas
by Wendy Geller
64

Michael Jackson estate administrators seek payment

AP
Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:42am PST

AP - The administrators of Michael Jackson's estate and a cadre of attorneys are seeking millions for managing the King of Pop's affairs after death, court documents filed Tuesday show. It's unclear how much exactly wi… More »

More Music News