Kitchens of Distinction - great band, bloody awful name.

Live Kitchens... "Mad as Snow"

My favourite band for the last 11 years also have the worst name.....Mogwai.

Even the band themselves admit it's a terrible name.

Mogwai sounds like a kids TV character.

Belle and Sebastien is a pretty funny name when you realise it also refers to a stupidly twee scottish kids TV program.

Modeselektor sounds like something you call your techno band because "technotronic" was taken, but in actual fact are as far from the po-faced cliches of electronic music as you can get.

There's a case to be made for the Smashing Pumpkins having one of the all time worst names ever too. All the more surprising when you consider how pretentious Billy Corgan is ( and I say that as a Pumpkins fan ).

names don't matter

It is kind of asking for the classic Spinal Tap album review - "Shit Sandwich"

Apart from a band's music, probably the most important asset of a band is it's name - whether it's considered daft or cool is probably irrelevant though. There was a study done a few years ago (can't remember where to find it) that concluded that bands with two words in their name sold better than bands with one word in their name.. something to do with one word band names being less memorable & more easily confused.

this is a silly thing to say, i'm afraid...

define "matter"

I knew a geezer once who played in a band called "Apathy"..

unfortunately that was the very sentiment ppl showed towards the band...

One of my fave groups is Hoovers and Sledgehammers...now thats a band name

Im sure what Una means is that names 'shouldnt' matter.
Unfortunately they do have a huge effect on how much of a chance the average person first gives a band, whether it be conscious or not. I know that the band that I played in (no need to name it) picked a pretty unwise name that gave off the impression we were probably a punk band (not at all!).

But I actually like Ham Sandwich, Belle & Sebastion and Mogwai as names so I suppose it can be a matter of taste as like with anything.

i know that's what she means...

i'll stop here otherwise i'll have starbelgrade calling me abstruse again...

Ridiculous statement.

I'm thinking of starting a band and we are going to call ourselves 'The All-New Mongolian Oversized Purple Diabetic Chicken Dancing Troupe Band Of Doom. On Acid'. We're sticking to it cos 'names don't matter'.

George Bernard and the Hardchaws

names don't matter though. If the music is good, then it doesn't matter what you're called. Also, if the music is s**t, it doesn't matter what you're called either.

"There was a study done a few years ago (can't remember where to find it) that concluded that bands with two words in their name sold better than bands with one word in their name" - that's just a fashion thing. (PS: is that why you're called 'Star Belgrade'?)

of course names don't matter una...

...none of us (apart from starbelgrade it seems) for a moment thought that they did...

...doesn't stop a thread entitled "worst band name ever" having its place at the top table... doesn't warrant a three word response saying "names don't matter" which has nothing to do with it...

look at that - i can be clear when i want to be... seems like i have to be...

And if the music is good, people will look past the ridiculous name and just call you The Mongolians or something a little easier. I think she has a point (within reason). The Beatles is a s**t pun as band name. An in-joke that they probably laughed at for about 2mins. Does it matter now? No. If the music is good, you get over the trivial band name and just get on with it. If the music is good. You might be a little less enthusiastic recommending them to your friends though.

The Beatles wasn't a bad name for the time, considering other people round them had names like The Crickets, Hermans Hermits, etc.

Now it would seem silly, but pretty normal for a 60s pop band.

I don't think it's just a fashion thing.. the study was done over a 40 year period, from the early 60s to the late 90s - pretty much the history of popular music. Obviously done by someone with WAY too much time on their hands! I do agree with you though - if the music's good, that's what's important, but (I thought) it was an interesting point when I read about the study. (Still can't remember where though!)

I wanted a 2 word band name coz a lot of the bands I like have 2 words in their name (Massive Attack, Cocteau Twins, New Order, Aphex Twin, Velvet Underground, Simple Minds) and picked the name Star Belgrade so if I ever got a Cd into the record stores, it'd be in the 'S' section near my beloved Sonic Youth. Sad or what.