When you start a band, one of the biggest challenges is choosing a name; you want something that makes you stand out and that people will remember, something that sums you up as a band but hasn’t been used before. Bands such as The Beatles, The Stones, Oasis, Nirvana; Queen, The Clash, The Doors, U2 and Take That are all instantly recognisable years after they recorded anything new, even if you’re not into their music.
A good name can really make a difference with regards to how seriously you’re taken as a band; by your potential fans, your peers and the music industry. However, not all bands got this memo – we’re looking at you, Army of Prawns – and while some bands have a hilarious name as their USP (we particularly like the Scottish Ceilidh band ‘Ceilidh Minogue’ and the wedding band who specialise in cover songs ‘How I Met Your Cover’) there are some that just have us wondering what they were thinking, and others that make us wish we’d thought of it ourselves.
We thought we’d take a look at the stories behind some of the more unusual band names.
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Formed in the late 80s in the US, this alternative rock band has sold 30 million albums worldwide and are well-known for their cinematic music videos. Despite the frontman, Billy Corgan, claiming the name was ‘sent from God’, or that it came to him in a dream involving Gene Simmons from KISS, it’s more commonly accepted that in this instance, the word ‘smashing’ is an adjective rather than a verb; so it’s not referring to a squashed pumpkin, just a really brilliant one!
THE GOO GOO DOLLS
This US rock band started out in the 1990s as a covers band, before developing more of a punk rock sound. They are well-known for their 1998 hit, ‘Iris’ which held the record for the most weeks on the radio for 22 years. They’re said to have got their name from an advert in True Detective magazine for a toy called The Goo Goo Doll. While the name may not come across as very rock and roll, it’s a slight improvement on their previous name – The Sex Maggots.
PANIC! AT THE DISCO
Formed in the early 2000s when they were still at school, Panic! At the Disco changed lineups over the years until they split in 2023, after producing hits such as High Hopes, I Write Sins Not Tragedies and Hallelujah. Their name was widely thought to have been inspired by The Smiths song, ‘Panic’ which contains the typically cheery line ‘burn down the disco’, but it’s actually from a more obscure band, the 90s emo band ‘Name Taken’, who also had a song called ‘Panic’. And that exclamation mark isn’t just randomly stuck in there for effect, they had to add ‘…! At the Disco’ after a legal dispute.
MOTT THE HOOPLE
This British glam rock band were on the verge of splitting up in the early 70s until David Bowie produced their 1972 album and gave them one of his songs, ‘All the Young Dudes’ which went on to be a huge hit. The band were originally called ‘The Doc Thomas Group’, and later ‘Silence’ but then they changed to Mott the Hoople which was taken from the title of a novel by Willard Manus, in which the main character, Norman Mott, refers to himself as a ‘hoople’ – a slang term for a fool.
CHUMBAWAMBA
Formed in the 80s, but more well-known for their late 90s hit, ‘Tubthumping’, Chumbawamba (who feature in our one hit wonder blog post) were an alternative punk/rock band with political leanings. Their songs tackled everything, from feminism and Marxism to anti-fascism and the class struggle, which makes their choice of a ‘nonsense’ name even more interesting. They apparently chose it from a character in the children’s book ‘The Animals of Farthing Wood’ from the late 70s, but this isn’t as random and off brand as it might seem. The book is about a group of animals who are forced to leave their woodland home when the wood they live in is being bulldozed to make room for a housing estate.
All of these bands were successful, despite the unusual names, or maybe because of them, and with so many bands out there, any band that can capture our attention deserves recognition.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
We feel we can’t finish without mentioning some of the bands who didn’t hit the big time; we can’t speculate on whether that’s because of their band name, we just know that these would have been very amusing band t-shirts:
- The Band Formerly Known as Sausage
- Lung Mustard
- Stinky Binky
- Concrete Octopus
- Armpit
Let us know if you’ve heard of any more!
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