"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." haha - good a reason as any!

Returning to topic; I think the worst name for any band ever is Crispy Ambulance.

I know nothing about that bunch of ne'er-do-wells other than:

1) A reference in a Half Man Half Biscuit (excellent band name) song that goes: "You're going on after Crispy Ambulance".

2) The lead singer "appears" briefly in the recent Joy Division (suitably joyless name for a suitably joyless band, I guess) movie.

'Pugwash' is pretty s**te but sure that's all my fault anyway!! I look at it this way.....if you can possibly try and detach your mind from the wonderful careers of certain mega-bands and go back to the day someone said to someone else "How about Radiohead??" or "I think it has to be Coldplay no?" or "Lads come on.....it's GOT to be The Arctic Monkeys!! It says everything about our style" or "I agree with Frank. It's Cactus world news for me!!".....

I've known potentially good bands who have split up because they couldn't agree on a name. The simple answer is 'pick anything', it rarely comes back to haunt you though I'll never forget the time an American fan e-mailed me to say that in some parts of America 'Pugwash' means the first s**t after anal sex!!

I still thought "it's better than Pearl Jam".....

T.

good band though, crispy ambulance... classic early 80's factory records...

T.

First class...that final thought is gonna hang!

man-o-man-o

Simon

I do think band names are getting worse and more pretentious, ok, a lot of it may be down to the fact that all the good ones are probably already taken, but whats with the trend for indie bands using entire sentences as names? "I love you but I've chose darkness", "get cape, wear cape, fly" etc.

haha!...and here's me thinking that those sentences were the new "cool"...

i've just named my band "my wife can't wrestle but you should see her box"... would you come and see us?

if I could have a ring side seat

Hey Vandala...just wanted to pull you up on your Joy Divison remark. First of all...the band didn't just pick the name out of the air. There's irony in there.

Second of all...Joy Division were not a joyless band. It really pisses me off when people say that. Even Ian Curtis' wife Deborah, had a go at the critics in her book 'Touching From A Distance'...saying that 'Closer' was not the depressing album that people try to make it out to be. And look at 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', not many artists have the ability to make such a lyrically sad song sound so euphorically joyful. 'Band of Gold' by Freda Payne being another I can think of right now.

There's way too much emphasis put on Ian Curtis' depression and suicide. Lots of other musicians and artists have taken the same path as Ian without it reflecting as much on how their music is judged. Joy Division recorded some of the ballsiest punk/rock n roll ever made. Please don't be another one of the sheep who tar Joy Division with the 'depressing' tag.

Ithink they are sh*te. have the warsaw bootlegs etc etc and tried my best to get into them a number of years ago..
he couldnt sing and is revered because he died young and tragically.....

New Order were far better but thats just opinion....

That band "Walter mitty and the realists" thats a great name

yeah but he wrote some cracking lyrics and his voice was wracked with emotion... what d'you want?... mariah carey?...

the last few years have gone a bit mad for this joy division revivalism and all that malarkey unfortunately ends up with the man being put up on a pedestal... i hate the way that happens to dead people... joy division were a great band though, helped along by a great producer......

..as were new order in the 80's... in fact, my favourite band of the time... we won't talk about everything post 'technique'...

"Get Ready" was good, "Republic" and "Waiting for the Sirens Call" not so great, but still New Order and even when they're treading water they're still better than half the bands out there.

actually, i'll agree with everything you said there...

...it's just that they were so magnificent in the 80's... power, corruption and lies, low life, technique and the singles especially... everything about them, from the media shy no publicity stance to the artwork to the contrary attitudes to the actual music was just cool as you like...

Groovy Stee: That's all well and good. I still think they were crap. I mean, I liked them when I was seventeen, and bought all their albums, but I'm twice that age now and they don't wear well. I think they're hugely over-rated; it's got nothing to do with them being "depressing"; it's more like I just find them dull. And I'm aware of the "irony" of the name. Cheers.

I'm not far behind you vandala and a long time fan...they still do it for me. Fair enough...they have become quite fashionable to say the least in the last year or so. But I wouldn't let that stop me liking a band. The kids will get bored with it soon but their music will stand the test of time. Anyhoo my problem was with them being labelled depressing which is a tag they are too easily labelled with.

I actually like names like that. And You Shall Know Us By the Trail of Dead is another. Bit of a mouthful but at least it grabs your attention. I'd feel a lot less embarassed telling someone I was going to see a band called Get Cape etc. than telling them I was going to see Ham f*cking Sandwich !

The should have called themselves "I'd kill for a hang sangwich and a cup o' tae" so.

Or 'Ham Fucking Sandwich'.. cool in a 'Man Bites Dog' kinda way

I think ham sandwich are only brutal....but they have everbody talking about them...so crap name or no crap name ppl know who they are....

I have to say the all time worst band name- in terms of trying to purposely offend and also as its rate of shock value is in direct proportion to their talent (generic, gutteral metal nonsense)- is A**l C**t... absolute rubbish. Also, what about bands whose members come up with wacky monickers? The Young Knives, for example. I'm not a huge fan of their late 70s post-punk aping, though they don't bother me too much- but they all have 'kerrazy' names...can't remember all of them but I think the bass player is called 'The House of Lords'. He's just your typical nerd with Rivers Cuomo style specs and a shirt that marks him out as someone who works in the IT dept. No doubt it's meant to be ironic-weird names/terribly sensible look...still crap though.