Band name.?

[chris_b]

45 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I wanted to call our Madness trib, I Can't Believe It's Not Madness. Incorporating the margerine tub font and everything. I was so pleased with myself. 

They just stared at me. 

That works on several levels. Why is it that the bass player is always the clever one in the band?

dictionary definition: clever - quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

Edited June 29, 2020 by chris_b

[stewblack]

8 minutes ago, chris_b said:

That works on several levels. Why is it that the bass player is always the clever one in the band?

dictionary definition: clever - quick to understand, learn, and devise or apply ideas; intelligent.

I know. It was when the I Can't Believe stuff was at the height of its popularity as well. 

[Nail Soup]

52 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I wanted to call our Madness trib, I Can't Believe It's Not Madness. Incorporating the margerine tub font and everything. I was so pleased with myself. 

They just stared at me. 

A band name needs to work for people of all intellectual persuasions. 

That's why it's good to have guitarists in the band to provide a check of the lower percentiles 😉.

[Monkey Steve]

On 28/06/2020 at 01:52, PJ-Bassist said:

Evening Chaps,  rather than start a new band name thread I figured I'd jack this one that Bubinga5 started last year.

I've been missing playing with a band in recent months and earlier this week I had an idea for a new project I'm really excited about.  I came up with a name for it this evening that I really like and think works well for this thing but when researching it I found a band up north formed last year with the same name.

What are the collective thoughts on just going with it anyway?  After all they are up North and I'm in the South East, musically we'dbbe reasonably different and I'm not looking to start the next big thing touring the UK and Europe, low key and local is really all I'm looking for.

I feel your pain

The last time I had to look into this was when a band had agreed on a name which Google told us was in use by about half a dozen other bands worldwide.  We'd never heard of any of them, none had released any records, none played the same type of music, and none of them were local to us, so we were pretty confident that we'd never get sued.  IIRC the test is whether anybody can complain that you having the same name is taking advantage of their reputation and having an impact on their income.

We then thought of a better name which got the Google all clear, so the problem went away.  In your scenario, I think the issue isn't necessarily whether you have ambitions to be the next big thing, but whether the northern band are going to take off.  But for the moment I can't see an issue with it and wouldn't lose any sleep.

In my opinion, a bigger issue to consider is whether this makes it difficult for people to track down your band - I've sometimes struggled to get info on bands (like gig dates) when Google/Facebook/YouTube/etc have got several to choose from, and it's much easier to promote the band if your lot are always top of the search results.

 

[BassTractor]

1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said:

In my opinion, a bigger issue to consider is whether this makes it difficult for people to track down your band - I've sometimes struggled to get info on bands (like gig dates) when Google/Facebook/YouTube/etc have got several to choose from, and it's much easier to promote the band if your lot are always top of the search results.

Good point.
Norse band Pope was untraceable. When they finally changed their name, it was to the title of a Doors album IMS. Still untraceable. One shakes one's head in disbelief.

Edit: yup! Strange Days.

Edited June 29, 2020 by BassTractor

[chris_b]

Status Quo were called Traffic until that Steve Winwood guy came along!!

[Frank Blank]

Lemmy wanted to call his new post-Hawkwind band Bastard, after due consideration he settled on Mötorhead.

I was once in an early synth band called Batrachophrenoboocosmomachia, we didn't get far.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Frank Blank

[Nail Soup]

On 28/06/2020 at 10:20, chris_b said:

Just name the band after a fictitious band member.

The Alf Sprog Band, The Tim Smith Band, The Johnson Boris Band, The Harold Wilson Funkateers etc etc.

This has the additional advantage that each band member can secretly imagine that they are 'Alf Sprog'.

..........OK, the singer  and lead guitarist can!

[Nail Soup]

7 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

Lemmy wanted to call his new post-Hawkwind band Bastard, after due consideration he settled on Mötorhead.

After the demise of Motorhead, long-time Guitarist Phil Campbell formed  new band - Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons... named in reference to the Lemmy proposed name, and the fact that 3 of Phil's sons are in the band!

[Stub Mandrel]

51 minutes ago, Nail Soup said:

After the demise of Motorhead, long-time Guitarist Phil Campbell formed  new band - Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons... named in reference to the Lemmy proposed name, and the fact that 3 of Phil's sons are in the band!

Wearing a PC&TBS tour shirt right now 🙂

Dest advice is choose a band name like Yes or Genesis, that way you are guaranteed loads of google hits...

[BassTractor]

1 hour ago, Frank Blank said:

Batrachophrenoboocosmomachia, we didn't get far.

You simply forgot to cast occult magic on the market - an oft-occurring beginners' mistake, and easily forgiven.

Edited June 29, 2020 by BassTractor

[Frank Blank]

31 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

You simply forgot to cast occult magic on the market - an oft-occurring beginners' mistake, and easily forgiven.

Yes, that alongside sitting crosslegged on cushions in front of a Korg MS10 and an ARP Odyssey, it was highly unlikely to catch on.

[BassTractor]

2 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

Yes, that alongside sitting crosslegged on cushions in front of a Korg MS10 and an ARP Odyssey, it was highly unlikely to catch on.

Ah! Make that an MS-20 instead of the MS-10 and you've described my lack of success to the dot - - even though our band name, Quaars-Liebrechts, promised large amounts of LPs sold.

Edited June 29, 2020 by BassTractor

[SpondonBassed]

3 hours ago, Frank Blank said:

Lemmy wanted to call his new post-Hawkwind band Bastard, after due consideration he settled on Mötorhead.

I was once in an early synth band called Batrachophrenoboocosmomachia, we didn't get far.

I liked "Chub" better.

[T-Bay]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Wearing a PC&TBS tour shirt right now 🙂

Dest advice is choose a band name like Yes or Genesis, that way you are guaranteed loads of google hits...

But that can be a pain. I saw an Irish band called the Touts a couple of years ago. It’s nigh on impossible to find info about them which is frustrating as you just get a million pointless hits.

[chris_b]

In Sydney, Oz, in the lase 70's there was a band called Free Beer. They upset so many landlords because punters thought the pub was giving the beer away. To keep being booked they had to change their name and became The Free Beer Band.

[elom]

40 minutes ago, chris_b said:

In Sydney, Oz, in the lase 70's there was a band called Free Beer. They upset so many landlords because punters thought the pub was giving the beer away. To keep being booked they had to change their name and became The Free Beer Band.

Wasn’t this also the idea behind the Bare Naked Ladies?

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, T-Bay said:

But that can be a pain. I saw an Irish band called the Touts a couple of years ago. It’s nigh on impossible to find info about them which is frustrating as you just get a million pointless hits.

Err that was an attempt at humour...

[T-Bay]

44 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Err that was an attempt at humour...

Really? Wow, hope the day job is going well 😉

[pete.young]

1 hour ago, elom said:

Wasn’t this also the idea behind the Bare Naked Ladies?

Similarly, there was a band in the Suffolk/Norfolk area called 'Topless Barmaids'. Very unpopular with the bar staff.