We can all imagine how hard it is to come up with a name for a band. It has to be something clever, imaginative and rock ‘n roll at the same time. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a group of young people who can barely manage to string a couple of words together. They have to pick something that they like and will like for possibly five, ten, twenty and maybe even forty years. Some are great while others are utter failures. Yes, a band name is hard to pick but there is not excuse for the stupidity of some band’s names. Here is my list of the ten worst band names in music history.
Chumbawumba – What could be sillier than a band name that doesn’t mean anything? The band with the name that doesn’t mean anything got together in England in the eighties. They explained the name in stating that they did not want something that became dated. Unfortunately the band did and they broke up in 2012.
Hootie and the Blowfish – Despite what a lot of people believe lead singer Darius Rucker is not Hootie and the rest of the band are not the Blowfish. Hootie came from a childhood friend of Rucker’s who had big eyes hence the nickname and Blowfish was another nickname of a big cheeked childhood friend. When it came time to think of a name for the band in college they chose to combine the two nicknames as a joke. Turned out the joke was on them.
Goo Goo Dolls – Really? How could they ever think this was a good idea? Even the band regrets their choice. One day when they were flipping through a True Detective magazine and fell upon an ad for a doll called…you guessed it Goo Goo Doll. As they had a gig that night, needed a band name and quick so being young and part of a rock band it seemed like a good idea…at the time. Their manager had already shot down their other option, The Sex Maggots, so Goo Goo Dolls it was. They discovered the hard way that a band name once you become famous is a hard thing to change.
Butthole Surfers – This band didn’t have a name when they started playing together and maybe they should have kept it that way. I have to think that the No Name Band would have been better than Butthole Surfers. But come to think of it Butthole Surfers might be better than earlier names they played under like Fred Astaire’s Asshole and Ed Asner is Gay. The name Butthole Surfers came about purely as a mistake and they liked it so it stuck.
The The – They would take first prize for lazy, wouldn’t they? And maybe another gold medal for unoriginality. It also just leaves you with the feeling that they band is made up of a bunch of pretentious jerks. Also, though they couldn’t have known it at the time, the ironic name also makes it next to impossible to Google these guys.
!!! – It’s not even a word. Who even knew how to pronounce it the first time you saw this band’s name. For the record they are called Chk-Chk-Chk (the sound). I will say no more as the stupidity is self-explanatory.
Limp Bizkit – I think this is the name you select if you want to let everyone know right from the beginning that you are a group of posers. One look at lead singer Fred Durst and you’ll think that the name is actually quite fitting. It comes from a “game” that male teenagers reputedly played in which they would whip out their member and attempt to masturbate in front of each other with a biscuit somehow being involved…and well, you can figure it out. Oh yeah, and the misspelling of the second word, now that makes it even worse.
Kajagoogoo – What’s with goo goo being in band names? Were they going for the phonetic spelling of what it sounds like babies are saying? Was there any thought behind it at all or did their brain cells get damaged by all the hairspray they used in their eighties hair? I guess we should not expect anything different from a band with a lead singer with the name Limahl.
Toad the Wet Sprocket – Sounds more like a kid’s toy or television series, doesn’t it? Apparently it comes from something Eric Idle said on a Monty Python recording. Hard to believe as the Monty Python troupe is actually funny.
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies – I don’t even want to know where this came from. It is just wrong on so many levels.
