6 posts tagged “band names”
We just got back from going out with our neighbors, a couple of
just-turned-30-somethings who are getting married tomorrow night.
They've decided to have -- I kid you not -- a full-blown '70s roller
disco wedding at a local rink.
(You can catch their web site about it here http://www.mikendes.com/ in case you need more evidence).
While they have the usual pop culture attunement one might expect of a couple of hip wired kids of the 21st century, they also have absorbed mostly sense and not detail, and so have asked Maura and I over a couple of times to help them pull together the most "authentic" music mix from that era -- which we were more than happy to DJ for them.
Then, as we were out tonight, "My Sharona" came on at the bar we were at -- and instinctively I knew they wouldn't know the band (you remember, The Knack? The "next Beatles"?) -- so I threw the question out in an instant pop quiz. They all agreed they should know who it was, but didn't. Even though I was right, I was still stunned they didn't know the answer.
As my wife rightly pointed out, why should they know the name of what was essentially a one-hit wonder band that came out the year they were born? (Though to be fair, neither did she.) It wasn't just that the answer made me feel a little old: this was THE KNACK after all, and for years you couldn't escape from My Sharona, so in my mind how could anyone not know who it was.
In some ways you still can't escape it, as evidenced by the fact it was playing in the bar tonight.
It's like some pop cultural black hole, where I am just over this side
of the event horizon and will forever know who did "My Sharona" --
while they, on the other side, will only ever know there is this
massive thing over there that never goes away and ... what was the name
of it again?
This one reminds me of an old girlfriend from a January long ago ...
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies
Considering I have a cat named "Molly Millions", I can't fault anyone for taking their inspiration from William Gibson's writing. So, this week I give you:
Straylight Run
With all the election fun last night, I forgot to post this week's band:
Dom Casual
Let's see ... what other fonts would make a good band name ... Eurostyle Bold Extended? Zapf Chancery? Chicago? (Oh wait, never mind)
First, a little history ...
I love band names. For years I used to pickup PA Musician and other music magazines just for the band names. My wife and I would read the best and most ridiculous ones outloud over beers at the Midtown. Even now, when I can't get out to the bars and shows as much as I used to, I still read all the club ads to see who's playing.
A few years after college I had seen enough groups to know that if a band had the words "frozen", "moon" or "youth" in their name, they more than likely sucked. When I mentioned this to my brother, he pointed out that the worst band name of all time then would have to be "Frozen Moon Youth." This became a running gag in our family, and henceforth the baseline against which all (real) band names were measured.
Imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I came across the real-life equivalent of FMY, in the form of a local electronic group. I even contacted the music editor at the Indy to confirm it wasn't a joke, and he assured me it wasn't.
So without further ado, I give you ...
NAUSEOUS YOUTH FUTURE
