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Band names that suck

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WonderSalve

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Jul 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/30/99
to

Geert <ge...@piens.be> wrote in message
news:7nshv2$bsr$1...@news3.Belgium.EU.net...
> Hi !
>
> Just mailing this to let you know that Beyond The Labyrinth
> (http://www.users.skynet.be/btl/btl.html) have released 3 songs in mp3
> format on http://www.mp3.com/BeyondTheLabyrinth
>
> The songs are called "Shine", "Dare !" and "(Who holds) The Key"
>
> Enjoy !
>
> Geert

this got me thinking... it seems like every neo (and sometimes non-neo)
prog group popping up these days chooses a sucky band name
that sounds like 50 neo bands before 'em. I guess
old prog bands started it and Marillion picked
up the torch so many years ago, with
bands like Pendragon making it even worse...

The prog metalish bands do an equivalent amount of sucking.
with names that all sound like Dream Theather (which sucked
in the first place--I'm talking about the NAME here...I enjoy DT's music)
and shout pretentious wanker:

Shadow Gallery
Royal Hunt
Enchant
Spiral Architect
Divided Multitude
Wuthering heights

(thanks to Magna Carta and Sensory for these titles)

I think dumbass band names are just one reason
that prog gets negative press & reponse from
listeners. It instantly negatively biases most people.
it's pretty easy to get labelled a dork
if you listen to "The Magic Elf - Elf Tales" (actually
a really good fusiony album which isn't neo and
the title is tongue in cheek).

But who am I to rock the boat. I offer up the following
sucky names to any up and coming neo or prog metal band that wants 'em,
free of charge. You may use them as your band name
or as song/album titles.

The "olden days" titles:

Shadow Jester
Royal Toadstool
Dragon's Dilemma
Troubled Minotaur
Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle (an explorer - any will do
but sea faring variety is best)

The Math & Science titles:

Fractal Labyrinth
Differential Equation
Division by Zero
Noble Gasses
Newtonian Symphony

The dreamy titles:

Theater of Enigmas
Gallery of Destiny
Tragic Banquet
Crystal Pliers
Mind Martyrs
Inpenetrable Parallax
Tormented Valkyrie
Perspicacious Void
Eternal Unicorn
Transcendent Pilgrimage
Enigmatic Paradox of Chaotic Dreams (but you'd better have an epic 73
minute track if you use this one)

Or, build your own. Just take a prog adjective and hook it up to a prog
noun. You really can't go wrong. Maybe I'll write a program to generate
prog titles one of these hours...

-steve

Robert Carlberg

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Jul 30, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/30/99
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Steve The Transcendent Epiphany wrote:

>Maybe I'll write a program to generate
>prog titles one of these hours...

Do it!! You've got a good start, and a wide open market.

Josh Kortbein

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Jul 31, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/31/99
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WonderSalve (wondersalv...@hotmail.com) wrote:
: Or, build your own. Just take a prog adjective and hook it up to a prog
: noun. You really can't go wrong. Maybe I'll write a program to generate

: prog titles one of these hours...

Hint: all these crappy names seem to be ~2 words strung together,
use that. Often abstract adjective + abstract or uncommon noun.

Strangely a bunch of the things I've been buying lately have cool
names. None of them seem to have that sort of form, either.

Josh
NP: Bob Dylan, _Highway 61 Revisited_

--
In such an ugly time the real protest is beauty.


SkyHarmony

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Jul 31, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/31/99
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>>Maybe I'll write a program to generate
>>prog titles one of these hours...
>

Do it!


NP: Le Orme, "Uoma di Pezza"

¸__¸,.-·´¨¯¨`·-Jon Dharma·-.,¸__¸,.-·´¨¯¨`·-.,¸__
Hippie for Christ

http://members.aol.com/skyharmony/
(REMOVE "khenta" to e-mail)


Martyn

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Jul 31, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/31/99
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WonderSalve wrote:
>
> this got me thinking... it seems like every neo (and sometimes non-neo)
> prog group popping up these days chooses a sucky band name
> that sounds like 50 neo bands before 'em. I guess
> old prog bands started it and Marillion picked
> up the torch so many years ago, with
> bands like Pendragon making it even worse...
>
I think IQ is one of the most stupid prog rock names of all time.
Emerson, Lake and Palmer is dull too.

Ville V Sinkko

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Jul 31, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/31/99
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SkyHarmony <skyha...@aol.comkhenta> wrote:
> >>Maybe I'll write a program to generate
> >>prog titles one of these hours...
> >

> Do it!

Methinks you could use the same program to generate lyrics
for the next 15 Yes albums.

Something I noticed in the latest Record Heaven catalog:
The album "Diary of a Blind Angel" by Black Jester. Whoever
started this thread must have sensed the feeling of sheer
... (gee, i can't think of a word to fit here) that hit me
when I saw that title. .)

--
65
Zn NP Havergal Brian - 3rd symphony
30

--
65
Zn
30

Jeremy S.

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Jul 31, 1999, 3:00:00 AM7/31/99
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In article <37A340B5...@palm.a2000.nl>,


I ws just reading in Entertainment Weekly about a website that can
generate band names. The last line gave me a smile: "Sorry, the Shamu
Afterbirth Orchestra is taken."

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
Martyn wrote:

>Emerson, Lake and Palmer is dull too.

Yeah, but it would've been cool if Hendrix had joined. Wadda minute, was it
Hendrix? Dang, maybe it was Holdsworth. Didn't Jimi die before ELP formed?
Oh drat.

Anyway, you get the idea (maybe).

StoOdin101

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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Worst band name I can think of right off the top of my head is Van Der Graaf
Generator. I love the band, but that's an awful name, not least because they
managed to get it spelled wrong (Robert J. Van de Graaff was the inventor of
the electrostatic device named after him).

" The one test of the really weird is just this -- whether or not there be
excited in the reader a profound sense of dread, and of contact with unknown
spheres and powers...." --- H.P. Lovecraft


Noah Samuel Lesgold

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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rcar...@aol.communicate (Robert Carlberg) writes:

>
> Martyn wrote:
>
> >Emerson, Lake and Palmer is dull too.
>
> Yeah, but it would've been cool if Hendrix had joined. Wadda minute, was it
> Hendrix? Dang, maybe it was Holdsworth. Didn't Jimi die before ELP formed?
> Oh drat.

I recall that Emo had at least approached Hendrix about joining, but I
don't know much more than that. Definitely would've made the band
completely different. It's wild to imagine Jimi playing on "Tarkus",
tho.

noah

--
Noah Lesgold http://www.cif.rochester.edu/~nlesgold
nles...@cif.rochester.edu | WRUR AM DJ - 640 AM Rochester
Treasurer, UR Sim. Gaming Association - http://www.sa.rochester.edu/ursga/

CountV

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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stood...@aol.com (StoOdin101) wrote:

> Worst band name I can think of right off the top of my head is Van Der Graaf
> Generator. I love the band, but that's an awful name, not least because they
> managed to get it spelled wrong (Robert J. Van de Graaff was the inventor of
> the electrostatic device named after him).

Still nothing on X-legged Sally. If ever there was a band mentioned here
that I just plain have no interest in because of the name, that would be it.

CV

--
Intuition has wiggle room.
design by Coercion; http://www.m-ideas.com/coercion

StoOdin101

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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>Still nothing on X-legged Sally. If ever there was a band mentioned here
>that I just plain have no interest in because of the name, that would be it.

I'd forgotten about that one. And I'm not sure Guigou Chenevier made a good
career move when he named his latest trio VolApuk, either. Even though I love
'em.

Inspiral Carpets. Butthole Surfers. The Magic Elf. Magnog. Renaldo and the
Loaf. Atomic Rooster. There are just too many to name. To LIST, actually,
since someone else has already done the Dread Naming Part.

MinServ93

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
>Worst band name I can think of right off the top of my head is Van Der Graaf
>Generator.
> not least because they
>managed to get it spelled wrong (Robert J. Van de Graaff was the inventor of
>the electrostatic device named after him).

Of course, during the strange periods called the 60's and 70's, this was not
exactly a crime. Largely, I think, because if they did manage to get it spelled
wrong then they succeeded in doing what they meant to do - stand out and be
different. Getting people to print it as desired without "correcting" it -
that's hard!

The Beatles?
Led Zeppelin?
The Byrds? (Not including the Admiral)
The Trammps (No, I'm going Disco! Stop me from falling! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!)

But I agree. I want to call them Van De Graaff too. But just think - if they
hadn't done this, could we have Def Leppard today? I think not!

DWJ

CountV

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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mins...@aol.com (MinServ93) wrote:


>>Worst band name I can think of right off the top of my head is Van Der Graaf
>>Generator.
>> not least because they
>>managed to get it spelled wrong (Robert J. Van de Graaff was the inventor of
>>the electrostatic device named after him).
>
> Of course, during the strange periods called the 60's and 70's, this was not
> exactly a crime. Largely, I think, because if they did manage to get it
spelled
> wrong then they succeeded in doing what they meant to do - stand out and be
> different. Getting people to print it as desired without "correcting" it -
> that's hard!
>
> The Beatles?
> Led Zeppelin?

The difference with these two at least, is the fact that the misspelling was
deliberate (unlike VDGG, I gather) and for a specific reason. In the first
case to show that they were a 'beat' band, and in the second case, so that
people would call them 'leed zeppelin'.

CV

NP: Yes - Tales...

James Chokey

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
In article <19990801012443...@ng-fd1.aol.com>,
stood...@aol.com (StoOdin101) wrote:

>
> Inspiral Carpets. Butthole Surfers. The Magic Elf. Magnog. Renaldo and the
> Loaf. Atomic Rooster. There are just too many to name. To LIST, actually,
> since someone else has already done the Dread Naming Part.

When you get down to it, aren't pretty much *all* band names-- prog or
not prog-- really stupid? The Beatles? The Rolling Stones? The Who?
Black Sabbath? Deep Purple? Pink Floyd? Queen? The Bee Gees? Parliament?
Def Leppard? KC and the Sunshine Band? The Sex Pistols? The Police?
A Flock of Seagulls? The Cramps? Queensryche (with an umlaut over the
y, no less),Pearl Jam? The Presidents of the United States of America?
The Flying Burrito Brothers? Public Enemy? Lynyrd Skynyrd? The 4th
Dimension? Garbage? The Beach Boys? The Supremes? Counting Crows? UB40?
Three Dog Night? As StoOdin points out, there are far, far too many to name

Indeed, one might well ask whether there are *any* band names out
of any genre there that aren't extremely dumb from one perspective or
another. I can't think of a single one except for those bands that
follow the old jazz/folk tradition of naming the band after its members
(or its most pre-eminent member(s): The Charlie Daniels Band, The
Allman Brothers Band, Ben Folds Five, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the
Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc. And I'm sure there's some folks
who can find something stupid even in that-- indeed the fact that
a few folks have complained about Emerson Lake and Palmer as a band
name seems to prove that.

And frankly, if you really want to think about it, isn't the very
idea of having a 'band name' a fairly silly thing in the first place?


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Amenophis, _Amenophis_


==========================================================================
| James A. Chokey jch...@leland.stanford.edu |
| |
| 'Do you think that the sciences would ever have arisen and become |
| great if there had not been magicians, alchemists, astrologers, |
| and wizards who thirsted and hungered after hidden, forbidden |
| powers?' |
| -- Nietzsche |
==========================================================================

Alexandre A. S.

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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In article <19990801012443...@ng-fd1.aol.com>,
stood...@aol.com (StoOdin101) wrote:

>>Still nothing on X-legged Sally. If ever there was a band mentioned here
>>that I just plain have no interest in because of the name, that would be
>>it.
>
>I'd forgotten about that one. And I'm not sure Guigou Chenevier made a
>good career move when he named his latest trio VolApuk, either. Even
>though I love 'em.
>

Volapuk is an OK name...

>Inspiral Carpets. Butthole Surfers. The Magic Elf. Magnog. Renaldo
>and the Loaf. Atomic Rooster. There are just too many to name. To
>LIST, actually, since someone else has already done the Dread Naming
>Part.
>

... and so is most of the stuff above. Pretty creative, if you ask
me. Better than the boring and cliche'd names of your typical progmetal
or neo prog band these days.


NP: ISILDURS BANE "Mind vol. 1"

--
cheers!
alexandre a. siufy mailto:asi...@uol.com.br
visit the progrock mp3 listening booth http://sites.uol.com.br/asiufy

Mike Dickson

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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During the early eighties there was a dismal local 'art band' that
called themselves 'Leprous Antelopes Answer The Night With Idle
Handshakes (Part Nine)'.

Mike Dickson, Black Cat Software Factory, Edinburgh, Scotland
Columnated Ruins Domino - Mellotron M400 #996 - Hammond T500 #252302
For the King Crimson mailing list send e-mail to admin AT elephant-talk.com


Mike Dickson

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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In article <3a907wm...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu> nles...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu wrote...

> I recall that Emo had at least approached Hendrix about joining, but I
> don't know much more than that.

I still bemoan the fact that Hendrix never got up the courage to get
Stevie Winwood to join his band.

Martyn

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
James Chokey wrote:
>

>
> When you get down to it, aren't pretty much *all* band names-- prog or
> not prog-- really stupid? The Beatles? The Rolling Stones? The Who?
> Black Sabbath? Deep Purple? Pink Floyd? Queen? The Bee Gees? Parliament?
> Def Leppard? KC and the Sunshine Band? The Sex Pistols? The Police?
> A Flock of Seagulls? The Cramps? Queensryche (with an umlaut over the
> y, no less),Pearl Jam? The Presidents of the United States of America?
> The Flying Burrito Brothers? Public Enemy? Lynyrd Skynyrd? The 4th
> Dimension? Garbage? The Beach Boys? The Supremes? Counting Crows? UB40?
> Three Dog Night? As StoOdin points out, there are far, far too many to name
>
> Indeed, one might well ask whether there are *any* band names out
> of any genre there that aren't extremely dumb from one perspective or
> another. I can't think of a single one except for those bands that
> follow the old jazz/folk tradition of naming the band after its members
> (or its most pre-eminent member(s): The Charlie Daniels Band, The
> Allman Brothers Band, Ben Folds Five, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, the
> Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc. And I'm sure there's some folks
> who can find something stupid even in that-- indeed the fact that
> a few folks have complained about Emerson Lake and Palmer as a band
> name seems to prove that.
>
> And frankly, if you really want to think about it, isn't the very
> idea of having a 'band name' a fairly silly thing in the first place?
>
>
> -- Jim C.
>

If the name of the band represents in one way or the other the sound,
atmosphere or any other characteristics of the music they're playing I
don't think it's any more silly than giving a representative name to an
album. From this perspective I don't think Black Sabbath is that bad a
name. Other examples (Velvet Underground(was the name of some
transvestite magazine), The Doors (of perception; surrealistic poem by
Coleridge), Madness, The Beach Boys, Metallica and a lot of other metal
bands)

Another exception in my opinion is when the name of the band reflects
the vision, idealism or opinions of the band or if it represents the
conceptual idea behind the formation of the band.(New Model Army,
Levellers, Rage Against The Machine)

Martijn

CountV

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
mike@blackcat..demon..co..uk (Mike Dickson) wrote:

> During the early eighties there was a dismal local 'art band' that
> called themselves 'Leprous Antelopes Answer The Night With Idle
> Handshakes (Part Nine)'.

My old prog band dropped the name Touchstone (named a after a jester out of
a Shakespeare play - can't get much more pathetic than that) after too may
people kept calling us Touchdown, and switched to Speed Times Velocity
Equals Reality Minus One (SxV=R-1, for short). I still like it in all it
silliness.

CV

A Cimino

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
quoth "CountV" <co...@REMOVETHISm-ideas.com> :

>Still nothing on X-legged Sally. If ever there was a band mentioned here
>that I just plain have no interest in because of the name, that would be it.


Pity, they're good stuff. Imagine Dr. Nerve meeting Willem Breuker,
with the guy from Primus playing bass.

Better that than some of the more banal names out there. Like Yes.
Yes? Yes???? What was the fucking question again?

CountV

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
va...@tiac.net (A Cimino) wrote:

> Better that than some of the more banal names out there. Like Yes.
> Yes? Yes???? What was the fucking question again?

Do they ROOOL?

W. Chris Graham

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
>My old prog band dropped the name Touchstone (named a after a jester out of
>a Shakespeare play - can't get much more pathetic than that) after too may
>people kept calling us Touchdown, and switched to Speed Times Velocity
>Equals Reality Minus One (SxV=R-1, for short). I still like it in all it
>silliness.


I didn't know this had turned into a "confessions" thread.

Chris
[oh, just reply to the group]

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
Martyn wrote:

>The Doors (of perception; surrealistic poem by
>Coleridge)

Coleridge, are you sure? He's a bit early (1772-1834) to be considered a
surrealist. Sure it wasn't Aldous Huxley, who wrote "Doors of Perception" in
1954? I'd have to skim Jerry Hopkins' "No One Gets Out Of Here Alive" to be
sure but it sounds right.

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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Then there's the Van Halen album entitled For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.
There's a potential bandname fer ya....

Frank Swarbrick

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
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CountV <co...@REMOVETHISm-ideas.com> wrote in message
news:7o0jra$jmj$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net...

> stood...@aol.com (StoOdin101) wrote:
>
> > Worst band name I can think of right off the top of my head is Van Der
Graaf
> > Generator. I love the band, but that's an awful name, not least because

they
> > managed to get it spelled wrong (Robert J. Van de Graaff was the
inventor of
> > the electrostatic device named after him).
>
> Still nothing on X-legged Sally. If ever there was a band mentioned here
> that I just plain have no interest in because of the name, that would be
it.

What about It Bites? Yikes.

--
---
Frank Swarbrick
home: inf...@sprynet.com
work: frank.s...@1stbank.com


James Chokey

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
In article <asiufy-A0CC33....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A.
S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:

>
> Volapuk is an OK name...

Yeah, right... the name of an artificial language that happens to be
known only by a few loopy intellectuals that also looks like it rhymes
with 'Bowl of Puke'. If that's an OK name, then man, I'd hate to
see what your idea of a *bad* name is. ;-)


> >Inspiral Carpets. Butthole Surfers. The Magic Elf. Magnog. Renaldo
> >and the Loaf. Atomic Rooster. There are just too many to name. To
> >LIST, actually, since someone else has already done the Dread Naming
> >Part.
> >
>
> ... and so is most of the stuff above.

Maybe they sound better if English isn't your first language? I
generally find that band names (and lyrics) in foreign languages
sound less stupid-- even if I do happen to know the language.

> Pretty creative, if you ask
> me.


Perhaps. But creativity and stupidity aren't mutually exclusive.

> Better than the boring and cliche'd names of your typical progmetal
> or neo prog band these days.


Better? Not at all. They're just stupid im different ways.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Nothing :-(

James Chokey

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
In article <O08p3.9129$m4.36...@news.magma.ca>,
st...@magma.no_spam.no_thanks.ca (Stan Wolfe) wrote:

>
> And now for a little ying, what about good band names?

There aren't any. *All* band names suck... just for different
reasons.


> Fer instance:
>
> xtc

Nope... that's dumb. They, and INXS, and U2, all those other
spelling game names were just a nauseatingly cutesy gimmick of 80's
pop marketing. (Yeah, yeah, OK, maybe U2's members liked the spy plane
reference, but let's face it, most fans just thought it was a little pun
on "You too".)


> Tragically Hip

They wish... The only thing tragic is that anyone might still use
the word 'hip' and think it's anything but corny.


> Biglietto per L'Inferno

Ticket to Hell? Come on, if a band called themselves that in English,
we'd all be rolling our asses on the floor laughing.


> National Health

That's a stinker if ever there were one. Naming yourself after a
government agency-- or a style of glasses that you happen to wear?
What's next? Social Security? ATF? The Ray-Bans? The Bifocals?

James Chokey

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Aug 1, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/1/99
to
In article <37A48773...@palm.a2000.nl>, Martyn
<m.r.e...@palm.a2000.nl> wrote:

> If the name of the band represents in one way or the other the sound,
> atmosphere or any other characteristics of the music they're playing I
> don't think it's any more silly than giving a representative name to an
> album.

That's true. A similarly good case could be made for regarding
all album names as stupid as well as all band names.


> From this perspective I don't think Black Sabbath is that bad a

> name. [Other examples deleted...]


>
> Another exception in my opinion is when the name of the band reflects
> the vision, idealism or opinions of the band or if it represents the
> conceptual idea behind the formation of the band.(New Model Army,
> Levellers, Rage Against The Machine)


Naming yourself after a bad Italian horror film is pretty silly,
no matter what reason you have for it. But indeed, this-- as well
as the philosophical/conceptual visions you suggest later-- gets to
the heart of my point-- namely that deliberately trying to choose
a name that you think is supposed to, in some way, embody the sound
or the spirit or the personality or the 'vision' of the band is
just plain silly. It's really just like the individual Spice
Girls going by those gimmick names like "Sporty Spice" "Slutty Spice"
and whatnot. There's no harm in it, of course, but it is rather
precious and silly.
Really, I think the bands had it right back in the 50's and early 60's,
when they realized that the only real purpose in band names was to
distinguish themselves from other bands for marketing purposes and
would pick any ol' stupid name (e.g. The Turtles, The Kingsmen,
the Four Tops, the Platters, the Comets, etc.) without thinking that
the name ought to be some kind of a 'mission statement' that summed
them up.

StoOdin101

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
>Volapuk... that's the name of an artificial language along the lines of
>Esperanto (also a prog-rock band, AFAIK), correct?

RIO band, but correct. And they're great. And people look at that name and say
"what in blazes is this" and put it back on the rack. Of course Chenevier came
to prominence in a band with a name quite as terrible as VolApuk: Etron Fou Le
Loublan. However, as someone has pointed out, that name was designed to express
the Dadaist attitude of the group, so though dumb, it did at least actually
have a purpose.

StoOdin101

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
>The difference with these two at least, is the fact that the misspelling was
>deliberate (unlike VDGG, I gather) and for a specific reason.

Judging from the notes on Aerosol Grey Machine, they had no idea that they'd
spelled the name wrong. Someone mentioned "The Byrds", but see, The Byrds looks
neat and psychedelic and all that jazz. Because we know it's usually spelled
"Birds". But who even knows what a Van de Graaff or Van Der Graaf Generator IS?
I do, sure, but Joe Btfsplk out there, shopping for prog --- is he gonna buy
Van Der Graaf Generator or, say, Gentle Giant...just based on name alone. Which
one will sound more way out and proggy to him? Which one will sound like it
might contain Merzbow/Namanax industrial noise?

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
Robert Carlberg (rcar...@aol.communicate) wrote:
: Martyn wrote:

No, you're right.


Josh
NP: Bob Dylan, _Highway 61 Revisited_

--
i wanna know, am i the sky or a bird?


COMPURENO

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
Time to Suck - Suck (SA)
Gentle Giant
VDGG
Sex Pistols
Family
K
Beatles
Steely Dan
Deacon Blue
Mothers of Invention
Soft White Underbelly
Blue Oyster Cult
Uriah Heep
Starglow Energy

NP Sufficiently Breathless - Capt. Beyond


Stan Wolfe

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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gay...@catholic.org (Hal Holbrook) ecrite:
>I haven't heard their music, but I've always found "It Bites" to be a fairly
>stupid band name.

Sorry, but I just can't resist:

Spock's Beard
Porcupine Tree
Muffins

And now for a little ying, what about good band names? Fer instance:

xtc
Tragically Hip
Biglietto per L'Inferno
National Health

Any takers?

--
"A lot of his playing was very inventive.
Because he was unencumbered by musical convention." - Andy Partridge

soundcage

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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I usually find that the sillier the name of the band, the funnier the
bandmembers THINK they are.

To e-mail: remove NOSPAM

ICQ users: My ICQ number is 8561677

soundcage

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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In article <7o32ib$1mg$1...@nntp2.atl.mindspring.net>, "Frank Swarbrick" <inf...@sprynet.com> wrote:

>What about It Bites? Yikes.
>

Aptly named.

Gondola Bob

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
In article <7o2r71$c85$1...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

> Robert Carlberg (rcar...@aol.communicate) wrote:
> : Martyn wrote:
>
> : >The Doors (of perception; surrealistic poem by
> : >Coleridge)
>
> : Coleridge, are you sure? He's a bit early (1772-1834) to be considered a
> : surrealist. Sure it wasn't Aldous Huxley, who wrote "Doors of Perception"
> in
> : 1954? I'd have to skim Jerry Hopkins' "No One Gets Out Of Here Alive" to be
> : sure but it sounds right.
>
> No, you're right.

Well, yes and no. The book is "No One Here Gets Out Alive," by Jerry
Hopkins AND Danny Sugerman.

GB

StoOdin101

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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> Esperanto are prog-rock, right?
>
>

Right

Martyn

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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Robert Carlberg wrote:
>
> Coleridge, are you sure? He's a bit early (1772-1834) to be considered a
> surrealist. Sure it wasn't Aldous Huxley, who wrote "Doors of Perception" in
> 1954? I'd have to skim Jerry Hopkins' "No One Gets Out Of Here Alive" to be
> sure but it sounds right.

You're right. Huxley wrote the book. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, together
with William Blake, were so called visionary artists who were an
important source of inspiration for The Doors and other psychedelic
groups. The book by Huxley is based on a line of text from one of
William Blake's poems:

*If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything will appear to man
as it
is, infinite*

Guess I mixed up Coleridge with Blake

Martijn

BABY...@manawatu.gen.nz

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT SUPERTRAMP LET THEM DOWN.
BABYMASH.


Check out my new album: very cheap 72 minutes of great stuff.
For latest review http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/reviews/sounds/mash.html.

SEND-PSTG PAID-$15 TO: 8 ERIN STREET,PALMERSTON NORTH,NEW ZEALAND.

Net-Tamer V 1.10 Beta - Test Drive

Alexandre A. S.

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
In article <jchokey-ya0240800...@nntp.stanford.edu>,
jch...@leland.stanford.edu (James Chokey) wrote:

>In article <asiufy-A0CC33....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A.
>S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Volapuk is an OK name...
>
> Yeah, right... the name of an artificial language that happens to be
>known only by a few loopy intellectuals that also looks like it rhymes
>with 'Bowl of Puke'. If that's an OK name, then man, I'd hate to
>see what your idea of a *bad* name is. ;-)
>

I think it's an OK name not because of the meaning of the word, that
I actually had no idea what was, but because of its *sound*. Maybe it's
just me, but I don't listen to music to look behind every single word
the band writes (including their name) looking for a profound meaning.

>> >Inspiral Carpets. Butthole Surfers. The Magic Elf. Magnog. Renaldo
>> >and the Loaf. Atomic Rooster. There are just too many to name. To
>> >LIST, actually, since someone else has already done the Dread Naming
>> >Part.
>> >
>>
>> ... and so is most of the stuff above.
>
> Maybe they sound better if English isn't your first language? I
>generally find that band names (and lyrics) in foreign languages
>sound less stupid-- even if I do happen to know the language.
>

English is not my first language, but I do know the meaning of these
words. I know "Butthole surfers" is actually kinda rude, but I also
think it's funny, and well representative of their music!
What's wrong with "Magnog"? Now, "Renaldo and the Loaf" is pretty
dumb :)

>> Pretty creative, if you ask me.
>
> Perhaps. But creativity and stupidity aren't mutually exclusive.
>

Of course not, but I see nothing stupid about (most of) the above
names...

>> Better than the boring and cliche'd names of your typical progmetal
>> or neo prog band these days.
>
> Better? Not at all. They're just stupid im different ways.
>

As I said, there's nothing stupid with some of the names above...
OTOH, some of those metal bands really have dumb names...

NP: PFM "Live in USA"

Rick Meyer

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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> If the name of the band represents in one way or the other the sound,
> atmosphere or any other characteristics of the music they're playing I
> don't think it's any more silly than giving a representative name to
an

> album. From this perspective I don't think Black Sabbath is that bad a
> name. Other examples (Velvet Underground(was the name of some
> transvestite magazine), The Doors (of perception; surrealistic poem by
> Coleridge), Madness, The Beach Boys, Metallica and a lot of other
metal
> bands)
>

> Another exception in my opinion is when the name of the band reflects
> the vision, idealism or opinions of the band or if it represents the
> conceptual idea behind the formation of the band.(New Model Army,
> Levellers, Rage Against The Machine)
>

> Martijn
>
For the most part, I'm inclined to agree with Jim Chokey that all bands
names are silly, in that they give no information about the sound of
the band.

If a person has never heard of The Doors before, then the band's name
is going to give them absolutely zero information on what they sound
like. The notion that it is supposed to represent some surrealistic
opening of the doors in our minds, strikes me as way more pretentious
than anything a prog rock band has come up with.

The only band names that come remotely close to giving an idea about
the bands sound tend to be either metal or punk bands, and then its
only because of my familiarity with previous bands in those styles.
e.g. - I knew that Megadeath were a metal band because their name was
so similar to Metallica and dozens of other metal bands. The same holds
true for punk bands as well. Because so many of them have adopted some
sort of rude, tasteless name, whenever we see a band name that fits
this we can assume that they are a punk band.

Later,

Rick Meyer


Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

Martyn

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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James Chokey wrote:
>
> In article <37A48773...@palm.a2000.nl>, Martyn
> <m.r.e...@palm.a2000.nl> wrote:
>
> > If the name of the band represents in one way or the other the sound,
> > atmosphere or any other characteristics of the music they're playing I
> > don't think it's any more silly than giving a representative name to an
> > album.
>
> That's true. A similarly good case could be made for regarding
> all album names as stupid as well as all band names.
>
> > From this perspective I don't think Black Sabbath is that bad a
> > name. [Other examples deleted...]

> >
> > Another exception in my opinion is when the name of the band reflects
> > the vision, idealism or opinions of the band or if it represents the
> > conceptual idea behind the formation of the band.(New Model Army,
> > Levellers, Rage Against The Machine)
>
> Naming yourself after a bad Italian horror film is pretty silly,
> no matter what reason you have for it. But indeed, this-- as well
> as the philosophical/conceptual visions you suggest later-- gets to
> the heart of my point-- namely that deliberately trying to choose
> a name that you think is supposed to, in some way, embody the sound
> or the spirit or the personality or the 'vision' of the band is
> just plain silly. It's really just like the individual Spice
> Girls going by those gimmick names like "Sporty Spice" "Slutty Spice"
> and whatnot. There's no harm in it, of course, but it is rather
> precious and silly.
> Really, I think the bands had it right back in the 50's and early 60's,
> when they realized that the only real purpose in band names was to
> distinguish themselves from other bands for marketing purposes and
> would pick any ol' stupid name (e.g. The Turtles, The Kingsmen,
> the Four Tops, the Platters, the Comets, etc.) without thinking that
> the name ought to be some kind of a 'mission statement' that summed
> them up.
>
>
> -- Jim C.
>
> Now Playing: Nothing :-(
>
A name like Black Sabbath represents the kind of music they're playing
*and* it is a rather distinguished name. So I think this works just as
well if not better in terms of marketing purposes than the names you
mention.

Martijn

SkyHarmony

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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>And now for a little ying, what about good band names? Fer instance:
>
>xtc
>Tragically Hip
>Biglietto per L'Inferno
>National Health

I think those all stink, but that just goes to show you how arbitrary this is.
Band names I think are good:
Magma
Devil Doll
Ange
Univers Zero

These all seem to be good examples of names that fit the sound of the band.
IMHO, of course.


NP: nuttin

¸__¸,.-·´¨¯¨`·-Jon Dharma·-.,¸__¸,.-·´¨¯¨`·-.,¸__
Hippie for Christ

http://members.aol.com/skyharmony/
(REMOVE "khenta" to e-mail)


Clive Backham

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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In article <asiufy-6C79C2....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A. S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
> English is not my first language, but I do know the meaning of these
>words. I know "Butthole surfers" is actually kinda rude, but I also
>think it's funny, and well representative of their music!

OK, how about rude band names that don't actually fall back on using offensive
words per se? My nomination is a British 80's semi-pro band: "Tangy Muff"

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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Gondola Bob (gb...@deltanet.com) wrote:
: In article <7o2r71$c85$1...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
: Kortbein) wrote:

: > Robert Carlberg (rcar...@aol.communicate) wrote:
: > : Martyn wrote:
: >

: > : >The Doors (of perception; surrealistic poem by
: > : >Coleridge)
: >
: > : Coleridge, are you sure? He's a bit early (1772-1834) to be considered a


: > : surrealist. Sure it wasn't Aldous Huxley, who wrote "Doors of Perception"
: > in
: > : 1954? I'd have to skim Jerry Hopkins' "No One Gets Out Of Here Alive" to be
: > : sure but it sounds right.

: >
: > No, you're right.

: Well, yes and no. The book is "No One Here Gets Out Alive," by Jerry
: Hopkins AND Danny Sugerman.

I was only referring to the Huxley thing.

Josh
NP: Gastr del Sol, _Camofleur_

--
Sabotage will set us free. Throw a rock in the machine.


WonderSalve

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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Hey folks,

A lot of these band names you're all listing DON'T SUCK, IMO.

Volapuk, Van der Graaf Generator,
Boud Deun, Djam Karet, BABYMASH
and all those names that are have obscure meanings
or just SOUND cool are just fine as band names. Makes
em easy to find in a web search and you don't really know
what to expect from the music just from the name of the band.

And PURPOSELY goofy names can also be just fine. At least it indicates
that band may not take itself so seriously. What is the Kenesis
catalog motto? "Rock as High Art"? Bleech. Da Vinci didn't
call the freakin' Mona Lisa something like "Pensive woman
dwelling in the shadows of her soul".

For example take the cyclops band "Vuglar Unicorn".
I've never heard their music, and I don't think their name
is particularly inspired, but to me it seems to be mocking
prog band names in its absurdity. I picture an overweight
flatulent unicorn sitting in a lazy boy recliner
reading the latest hustler next to some
sort of enchanted brook of course.

But "Shadow Gallery" and crap like that just plain SUCKS,
anyway you slice it.
It shouts pretentious, sounds like 100 bands names before it
and I can predict what the album
is going to sound like before I drop it in the player. This crap
was passable in the 70s when it was new (even though it sucked
then too) but I wish bands would give up
on self-important titles like "Tales from Topographic Oceans"
in 1999 and beyond. (okay so I've mixed album titles with
band names here, but you get the idea).

-steve


James Chokey

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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In article <7o4icu$2o...@news2.newsguy.com>, david lynch
<dfly...@louisville.edu> wrote:

> James Chokey <jch...@leland.stanford.edu> wrote:
>
> >> National Health
>
> > That's a stinker if ever there were one. Naming yourself after a
> > government agency-- or a style of glasses that you happen to wear?
> > What's next? Social Security? ATF? The Ray-Bans? The Bifocals?
>

> Actually, I thought all of Dave Stewart's bands had quite swingin' and
> stylin' names...

Ah, so this has indeed become an 'embarassing confessions' thread,
as another poster called it.


> just taken from random facets of British culture. OK,
> "Uriel" and "Azrachel" are kinda dumb names, and "Khan" always brings to
> mind some "Star Trek" cheese,

I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there who think those names
are far cooler than meaningless stupidity like "Hatfield & the North"
or arbitrary designations like "Egg". But as you yourself of proved,
someone else will find those names dumb. So, they all deserve to be
chucked in to the 'stupid' barrel.

> it's just perfectly quaint and
> absurd. I always love the bit on the Egg top gear sessions where Mont
> Campbell intones "So why worry about the dire state of the music business
> in general when you can hear... Egg!" That one line pretty much sums up
> the appeal of Egg as a band name.

One line? I can some up the the name with one word: rotten!


> Hatfield and the North is very cool as well. Taking your band name from a
> signpost on a British highway- that's just pure surrealism, and done
> right, too.

No, it's just pure stupidity. But thanks for playing. (Don't feel
bad, though... In a thread where someone is going to identify Coleridge
as a 'surrealist' poet, this is hardly a grievous misidentification.


>
> My favorite German band name is "Faust". Now, if it had been a reference
> to the old legend, that would've been... OK... but it wasn't. They were
> calling themselves "Fist". You wouldn't expect a prog band to have a name
> like that.

Which is only one of the reasons why its stupid. And, of course, the
fact of the matter is that, in spite of the band members intentions, the
band's name *is* also a reference to the old chap-book legends, which were
later
immortalized in literature by the likes of Marlowe and Goethe (and in
opera by Gounod).... which based on your apparent dislike of any 'arty'
names, is just the stupid icing on an already-stupid cake.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Nothing :-(


James Chokey

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
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In article <asiufy-6C79C2....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A.
S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:

> >> Volapuk is an OK name...
> >
> > Yeah, right... the name of an artificial language that happens to be
> >known only by a few loopy intellectuals that also looks like it rhymes
> >with 'Bowl of Puke'. If that's an OK name, then man, I'd hate to
> >see what your idea of a *bad* name is. ;-)
> >
>
> I think it's an OK name not because of the meaning of the word, that
> I actually had no idea what was, but because of its *sound*.

Ah, so "bowl of puke' sounds good to you. This really is now a
'confessions' thread, isn't it?

> As I said, there's nothing stupid with some of the names above...

Really, which ones? Magnog, with its vague extra-consonental play on
"Magog"? Nope, that's stupid. The Butthole Surfers.... nope, its just
stupidy masked as rudeness. Magic Elf.... really, no explanation is
needed for that one's stupidity.


> OTOH, some of those metal bands really have dumb names...

Oh sure. But as I said before, they're just stupid in different
ways.

Alexandre A. S.

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to

>In article <asiufy-6C79C2....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A.
>S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
>
>> >> Volapuk is an OK name...
>> >
>> > Yeah, right... the name of an artificial language that happens to be
>> >known only by a few loopy intellectuals that also looks like it rhymes
>> >with 'Bowl of Puke'. If that's an OK name, then man, I'd hate to
>> >see what your idea of a *bad* name is. ;-)
>> >
>>
>> I think it's an OK name not because of the meaning of the word, that
>> I actually had no idea what was, but because of its *sound*.
>
> Ah, so "bowl of puke' sounds good to you. This really is now a
>'confessions' thread, isn't it?
>

"Bowl of puke" doesn't sound or looks as intriguing as "Volapuk", of
course.

>> As I said, there's nothing stupid with some of the names above...
>
> Really, which ones? Magnog, with its vague extra-consonental play on
>"Magog"? Nope, that's stupid. The Butthole Surfers.... nope, its just
>stupidy masked as rudeness. Magic Elf.... really, no explanation is
>needed for that one's stupidity.
>

Magic Elf is dumb, yes :) But MAGNOG is nice, and, again, I never
went further and tried to guess where did they get the name from,
"Magog" or whatever. It just sounds nice to me. BUTTHOLE SURFERS too.
It's rude, yes, but it's unique, and so is (better, used to be) their
music.

>> OTOH, some of those metal bands really have dumb names...
>
> Oh sure. But as I said before, they're just stupid in different
>ways.
>

If that's how you see it... To me, they're dumb because they lack
imagination and creativity, and even though some names really portray
the kind of music the band plays, they end up being boring and cliched,
just like the band's music :)


NP: DEUS EX MACHINA "Diacronie metronomiche"

Mike Dickson

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
In article <37a520b8...@news.newsguy.com> gay...@catholic.org wrote...

> No, I mean Esperanto. Esperanto are prog-rock, right?

Gloom-prog-rock-Mellotron-drenched, actually.

Mike Dickson, Black Cat Software Factory, Edinburgh, Scotland
Columnated Ruins Domino - Mellotron M400 #996 - Hammond T500 #252302
For the King Crimson mailing list send e-mail to admin AT elephant-talk.com


Roger Espel Llima

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
In article <jchokey-ya0240800...@nntp.stanford.edu>,
James Chokey <jch...@leland.stanford.edu> wrote:
>In article <asiufy-A0CC33....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A.

>S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Volapuk is an OK name...
>
> Yeah, right... the name of an artificial language that happens to be
>known only by a few loopy intellectuals that also looks like it rhymes
>with 'Bowl of Puke'. If that's an OK name, then man, I'd hate to
>see what your idea of a *bad* name is. ;-)

Hey, I too think VolApük (note the umlaut) is a pretty good band name.
A hell of a lot less cheesy than "Esperanto" at any rate.

My idea of a bad name, well, it's been listed already and I agree with
it: Van Der Graff Generator.

> Maybe they sound better if English isn't your first language? I
>generally find that band names (and lyrics) in foreign languages
>sound less stupid-- even if I do happen to know the language.

The same happens to me. The same things that sound nice to me in
English or Swedish or whatever, I'll find them rather pedestrian in
Catalan or Spanish.

np: tortoise, _millions now living will never die_
--
Roger Espel Llima, es...@iagora.com
http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/espel/index.html

Roger Espel Llima

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
In article <37a520b8...@news.newsguy.com>,

Hal Holbrook <gay...@catholic.org> wrote:
>No, I mean Esperanto. Esperanto are prog-rock, right?

there have been other Esperanto bands around. a couple years ago there
was a self-titled CD from a band called Esperanto, displayed quite
prominently in the shops; the cover had hte word "ESPERANTO" in gray
transparent letters over a background of a painting; the song names all
had to do with Esperanto (the language). i remember listening to it in
the shop, and it was mostly ethno-electronic rearrangements of well
known classical themes.

i've seen it cheap ($3) since, but the cheese factor was so high that i
didn' bother picking it up.

np: tortoise, +millions now living will never die_

sdavmor

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
Clive Backham <cl...@capita.nildram.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7o4hn0$5md$1...@supernews.com...
> In article <asiufy-6C79C2....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre

A. S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
> > English is not my first language, but I do know the meaning of these
> >words. I know "Butthole surfers" is actually kinda rude, but I also
> >think it's funny, and well representative of their music!
>
> OK, how about rude band names that don't actually fall back on using
offensive
> words per se? My nomination is a British 80's semi-pro band: "Tangy
Muff"


Then you have to go with Steely Dan.

Cheers
SDM

NP: Systems Theory "demos"

Stan Wolfe

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
Jim,

I think you're just a little grumpy today. Maybe if you played some nice
music instead of your usual:

>Now Playing: Nothing :-(

you'd be in a better mood.

Stan

BTW - I'm pretty sure that the Tragically Hip were using something called
irony. Look it up in a book or something, Jim.


jch...@leland.stanford.edu (James Chokey) ecrite:
>In article <O08p3.9129$m4.36...@news.magma.ca>,


>st...@magma.no_spam.no_thanks.ca (Stan Wolfe) wrote:
>
>>
>> And now for a little ying, what about good band names?
>

> There aren't any. *All* band names suck... just for different
>reasons.
>
>
>> Fer instance:
>>
>> xtc
>
> Nope... that's dumb. They, and INXS, and U2, all those other
>spelling game names were just a nauseatingly cutesy gimmick of 80's
>pop marketing. (Yeah, yeah, OK, maybe U2's members liked the spy plane
>reference, but let's face it, most fans just thought it was a little pun
>on "You too".)
>
>
>> Tragically Hip
>
> They wish... The only thing tragic is that anyone might still use
>the word 'hip' and think it's anything but corny.
>
>
>> Biglietto per L'Inferno
>
> Ticket to Hell? Come on, if a band called themselves that in English,
>we'd all be rolling our asses on the floor laughing.

>
>
>> National Health
>
> That's a stinker if ever there were one. Naming yourself after a
>government agency-- or a style of glasses that you happen to wear?
>What's next? Social Security? ATF? The Ray-Bans? The Bifocals?
>
>

> -- Jim C.
>
>Now Playing: Nothing :-(
>
>
>==========================================================================
>| James A. Chokey jch...@leland.stanford.edu |
>| |
>| 'Do you think that the sciences would ever have arisen and become |
>| great if there had not been magicians, alchemists, astrologers, |
>| and wizards who thirsted and hungered after hidden, forbidden |
>| powers?' |
>| -- Nietzsche |
>
>==========================================================================

--

Gouloubougoula Wagalabagou

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Aug 2, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/2/99
to
Let's see...perusing Walker's catalogue, I come up with...:

Asa The Luz
Dust From Misery
Fate's Prophecy (hmm...wonder who influenced them?)
Recordando o Vale das Maçãs (Remembering The Valley of Apples?)
Irrgarten (and they're not even German!)
Visible Wind (conjures up nasty images)
Burnin' Red Ivanhoe
Abbfinoosty (how do you pronounce that?)
Big Big Train
Dr. Strangely Strange
Fantasyy Factoryy
Fresh Maggots (no, it's *not* a punk group!)
Gnidrolog (another unpronounceable mess of a name)
Head Machine
Jericho Jones
Mr. Quimby's Beard
Porcupine Tree
Primitive Instinct
Pussy (the definition of "name-cursed", I think)
Red Chair Fadeaway
BaG
Fille Qui Mousse
Spheroe
Step Ahead
XII Alfonso
Curly Curve
Rufus Zuphall
Sweet Smoke
Tanned Leather
Tiger B. Smith
Chicken Bones
Cosmic Gardeners
Cozmic Corridors
Ego On The Rocks
Ejwuusl Wesahqqan (actually, I think it's kinda cool, but I generally advise
against using any name potential fans have no chance of being able to
pronounce!)
Faithful Breath
Floh De Cologne
Frumpy (and they had a female singer, no less!)
Hairy Chapter
Kaputter Hamster
Mad Puppet
My Solid Ground
Tyburn Tall
Buon Vecchio Charlie
Flea On The Honey
Jester's Joke (The word "Jester" in a band's name is *always* bad news!)
Living Life
Mary Newsletter
Food Brain
Fromage
Wappa Gappa
Humus
Schtung!
Aunt Mary
Hole In The Wall
Traffic Sound
We All Together
Mess
Suck
Chil
Cye
Deyss
Always Almost
Box Of Crayons
Ex Cathedra
Haystacks Balboa (didn't he used to be a pro wrestler in the 70's?)
Nightales (concatenation of two words into one like that is *never* a good
sign)
The Other Side
Spock's Beard (regardless of what you think of them musically, you *must* admit
their name is lame)
Shadow Gallery
Thunderpussy
Timothy Pure
Witsend
Wyzards (Substituting "y" for "i" is never a good sign. The same goes for
umlauts in Ënglïsh wörds thät dön't nörmally häve thëm)
Lucifer Was

MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

make GEORYN disappear to reply

"Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel
Garcia Marquez

N.P.:"Last song"- M o v i n g G e l a t i n e P l a t e s

Cerebus

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
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Clive Backham wrote:

> In article <asiufy-6C79C2....@news.giganews.com>, "Alexandre A. S." <asi...@usa.net> wrote:
> > English is not my first language, but I do know the meaning of these
> >words. I know "Butthole surfers" is actually kinda rude, but I also
> >think it's funny, and well representative of their music!
>
> OK, how about rude band names that don't actually fall back on using offensive
> words per se? My nomination is a British 80's semi-pro band: "Tangy Muff"

I still think the champion of rude names has to be Anal Cunt, but I did also
find a mention of a band called Vaginal Blood Farts......I can just see the
two of them hitting the top of the Billboard charts......

Cerebus

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
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James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: Which is only one of the reasons why its stupid. And, of course, the

: fact of the matter is that, in spite of the band members intentions, the
: band's name *is* also a reference to the old chap-book legends, which were
: later
: immortalized in literature by the likes of Marlowe and Goethe (and in
: opera by Gounod).... which based on your apparent dislike of any 'arty'
: names, is just the stupid icing on an already-stupid cake.

Hey, we've heard this a couple times from you in this thread already.
Either start backing up your (lame, IMO) opinion, or start developing
others.

Josh

--
Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho?


Robert Carlberg

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
I always thought Pete Banks' post-Yes band, where he wanted to show off his
technical skills a little more, was perfectly named.

The Rolling Stones was a perfect name for the blues-based band that started
with it.

If you like XTC you have to say the same for INXS.

Manzanera's 801 lends itself to lots of fun interpretations.

Lotsa names are just weird enough to be memorable: there's a Czech band named
DG-307 or something like that. Afred 23 Harth. X. Brand X. The Slits. No
shortage of bizarreness....

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
>>What about It Bites? Yikes.

Nomeansno
Girls Against Boys
Boys II Men
N Sync

Things haven't gotten better.

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
Rick Meyer wrote:

> I knew that Megadeath were a metal band because their name was

Megadeath was Pink Floyd's name somewhere early in their history

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
>But "Shadow Gallery" and crap like that just plain SUCKS,
>anyway you slice it.
>It shouts pretentious, sounds like 100 bands names before it
>and I can predict what the album
>is going to sound like before I drop it in the player.

The name Starcastle is pretty lame.

MinServ93

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
How about David Hitchcock's band Gruggy Woof? I can't forget that name, because
it bugs me. They succeeded in making an unusual name, but please!

For reference's sake, see Producer Credits for Genesis' "Foxtrot."

DWJ

Cerebus

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to

Robert Carlberg wrote:

Wasn't it spelt with two g's though? And plural? Could be mistaken
there......

Cerebus

Krysmopompas

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
to
Mike Dickson wrote:

>> No, I mean Esperanto. Esperanto are prog-rock, right?
>

>Gloom-prog-rock-Mellotron-drenched, actually.

Did we hear the same band? The multi-national one with the one album (of
three, _Danse Macabre_) produced by Peter Sinfield, right? Keyboard-trio plus
string quartet, angular neo-classical prog, with nary a Mellotron in sight.

MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")

make GEORYN disappear to reply

"I don't do emotions. I just sing notes." --Wendy Smith

N.P.:"Moving Universe"- C a s t / I m a g i n a r y W i n d o w

Mike Dickson

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
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In article <4FEA5C47AEAAD2119D63...@ftp.dataframe.net>
sda...@rocketmail.com wrote...

> > OK, how about rude band names that don't actually fall back on using
> > offensive words per se?
>

> Then you have to go with Steely Dan.

Or 10cc.

Mike Dickson

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Aug 3, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/3/99
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In article <19990803015631...@ngol03.aol.com> prog...@aol.comGEORYN wrote...

> >> No, I mean Esperanto. Esperanto are prog-rock, right?
> >Gloom-prog-rock-Mellotron-drenched, actually.
>
> Did we hear the same band?

Oh the American sense of irony and of the absurd. :-)

Robert Carlberg

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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>Or 10cc

Or Lovin' Spoonful


Josh Kortbein

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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Mike Dickson (mike@blackcat..demon..co..uk) wrote:
: In article <3a907wm...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu> nles...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu wrote...

: > I recall that Emo had at least approached Hendrix about joining, but I
: > don't know much more than that.

: I still bemoan the fact that Hendrix never got up the courage to get
: Stevie Winwood to join his band.

What, did he think he was too good for him or something?


Josh
figure out those pronoun referents, heh

--
How to Play Your Internal Organs Overnight.


James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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In article <7o5idf$pk4$2...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

Hey, Josh, why don't you pay attention to what folks actually write
and not just how often they post ? I do give two reasons for regarding Faust
as a stupid band name and you quote them in your response. Now, you may
not happen to like them-- or agree with them-- with them, but don't claim
that I haven't given any. The same is true for all the other band names
I've cited as stupid (except, I think, for Egg, where I just made a pun
using the word "rotten"). By contrast, most other posters of
posters who've complained about lame band names here have provided no
'reasons' at all for thinking so.

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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In article <Wxnp3.9157$m4.37...@news.magma.ca>,
st...@magma.no_spam.no_thanks.ca (Stan Wolfe) wrote:

> I think you're just a little grumpy today.

No, but you are right in perceiving that my posts on this thread
have been unusually contrary. For those who haven't figured this out for
themselves, I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here, pointing out
that, depending on how you look at it, *any* band name can be considered
stupid. It's all a matter of perspective, of personal preference,
and yes, of taste. What one person may think is clever, another
person may well consider stupid-- and vice versa. Take a band name
like, say, Cannibal Corpse. Is this just yet another example of
cliched gross-out morbid metal stupidity? Or an ironic and tongue-in-
cheek celebration of that metal cliche-- and one that also has has an
almost-poetic rhythm and assonance to it. Or is it both, depending
on you look at it?

You see, this is my basic point: that *all* band names are stupid
from one perspective or another. And yes, all band names can also be
regarded as clever from a different perspective. What's that line
from Spinal Tap, when discussing album cover art? "It's amazing what
a fine line it is between clever and stupid." The thing is though, is
that it's not a fine line-- or even a thick and blurry line. The
difference between clever and stupid, be it in cover art, or a group
name, or what have you, lies in the perspective from which one looks
at something. This includes the personal tastes, interests, and
expectations of the viewer; the background against which the object is
set in relation to where he is standing; and the viewer's willingness to
try to imagine how the object might appear from another angle, or to
a viewer with a different set of tastes and expectations. The difference
between clever and stupid, that is to say, is not a line on the ground,
demarcating a clear and distinct boundary, but rather a *line
of sight* denoting an individual and subjective perspective.

And, if you want 'proof' I'll lay down this challenge: Cite any band
name you want-- any band name at all-- and I'll give you a reason as to
why someone might regard it as stupid *and* a reason as to why someone
might, from another perspective, regard it as clever.

Maybe if you played some nice
> music instead of your usual:
>
> >Now Playing: Nothing :-(
>
> you'd be in a better mood.

Oh, my mood's just fine, Stan, but I appreciate your concern. Sadly,
though, music of any sort is not appreciated in either my workplace
or in the library, so I only have the stereo on when I'm at home.


> BTW - I'm pretty sure that the Tragically Hip were using something called
> irony.

<contary> Ah, irony, the great excuser. That's got to be one of the
quintessential and overused cliche's of the 90's....take a name or idea
that's essentially dumb, and say that its meant to be ironic, so therefore
it's not really dumb, but is actually clever. Sort of like Spinal Tap's
intended album cover for _Smell the Glove_ not being sexist "because
we're not saying she's really supposed to smell the glove... it's, you
know, ironic."

> Look it up in a book or something, Jim.

Oh, please....

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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James is to machines what machines are to men:

> In article <Wxnp3.9157$m4.37...@news.magma.ca>,
> st...@magma.no_spam.no_thanks.ca (Stan Wolfe) wrote:

>> I think you're just a little grumpy today.

> No, but you are right in perceiving that my posts on this thread
> have been unusually contrary. For those who haven't figured this out for
> themselves, I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here, pointing out
> that, depending on how you look at it, *any* band name can be considered
> stupid.

Congratulations. Depending on how one looks at it, any band's
music can be great or awful, any book can be a masterpiece or trash, any
movie can be great cinema or bilge, and, shockingly, any name can be
clever or stupid.

I hope you're not using this obvious tautology as justification
for a series of overly negative posts. Such an act would surely rise out
of grumpiness or boredom.

--
+=========================================================================+
\ Sean McFee | After all your soul will still /
/ The XXXXXXXX kinder XXXXX Bastard + surrender, \
\ gentler | After all don't doubt your part /
/ | Be ready to be loved! \
+=========================================================================+
I quite enjoy polka, disco, turkeys and Communism. I love the USA.

*remove the SPAM to e-mail* ICQ your positive thoughts: 33037315

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: person may well consider stupid-- and vice versa. Take a band name

: like, say, Cannibal Corpse. Is this just yet another example of
: cliched gross-out morbid metal stupidity? Or an ironic and tongue-in-
: cheek celebration of that metal cliche-- and one that also has has an
: almost-poetic rhythm and assonance to it. Or is it both, depending
: on you look at it?

Judging by their music, I'm guessing the Cannibal Corpse boys are a
little low on irony.

As for playing devil's advocate, I don't really think you've done
your job that well. Seems as if in most cases you've just stated
opposing views ("that's a dumb name") rather than actually advocated
their adoption or comprehension.

: And, if you want 'proof' I'll lay down this challenge: Cite any band

: name you want-- any band name at all-- and I'll give you a reason as to
: why someone might regard it as stupid *and* a reason as to why someone
: might, from another perspective, regard it as clever.

The Miles Davis Quintet. :)


Josh
NP: Miles Davis, _Miles Smiles_

--
In such an ugly time the real protest is beauty.


James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
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In article <7oa4f7$frq$1...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>,

smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:
>
> I hope you're not using this obvious tautology as justification
> for a series of overly negative posts. Such an act would surely rise out
> of grumpiness or boredom.

Oh, I see little Sean's still got some chips on his shoulder
with me from the most recent "Women in Prog" thread. Poor guy...


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Dead Can Dance, _Spleen and Ideal_

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <7oa7ni$kh2$3...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

> James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
> : person may well consider stupid-- and vice versa. Take a band name
> : like, say, Cannibal Corpse. Is this just yet another example of
> : cliched gross-out morbid metal stupidity? Or an ironic and tongue-in-
> : cheek celebration of that metal cliche-- and one that also has has an
> : almost-poetic rhythm and assonance to it. Or is it both, depending
> : on you look at it?
>
> Judging by their music, I'm guessing the Cannibal Corpse boys are a
> little low on irony.

Perhaps. But then again, it's so over-the-top, one might well say
that the music and the lyrics are also an ironic celebration of that
same cliche.

> As for playing devil's advocate, I don't really think you've done
> your job that well. Seems as if in most cases you've just stated
> opposing views ("that's a dumb name") rather than actually advocated
> their adoption or comprehension.

Really? As I said before, in a direct response to you, I believe
I've provided a reason of some sort for every name that someone else
has praised that I, in turn, have gone and called stupid... (except for
Egg of course, and that was because the 'rotten' joke was just
too hard to resist). Indeed, I pointed out that I gave two reasons
for Faust being a stupid name in a passage that you yourself had quoted!
Perhaps you could dig up another example from here where I've asserted that
another person's idea of a good name was stupid yet not provided
any explanation at all? I honestly don't think there are any, but
if there are, I'm happy to be presented with it, so I can provide
a reason now...
By the way, while you're at it, would you be willing to go through
all of the names that have been cited as 'dumb' or 'stupid' or 'lame'
or 'sucky' by other posters in this thread and check out whether or
not they've provided any more reasons than I have for labelling them
as such? I don't believe that they have-- and so I'm a little surprised
to be singled out here. If you really want to raise the level of discussion
here and hold all posters to a higher standard of argument, that's great.
However, let's make sure that that high standard is applied to *everyone*--
and isn't simply a double standard that is demanded only of those folks
who happen to call 'stupid' a band name that you yourself happen to be fond
of.



> : And, if you want 'proof' I'll lay down this challenge: Cite any band
> : name you want-- any band name at all-- and I'll give you a reason as to
> : why someone might regard it as stupid *and* a reason as to why someone
> : might, from another perspective, regard it as clever.
>
> The Miles Davis Quintet. :)

He, he, he. :-) I take it that you saw my earlier post in which
I praised names that follow the old jazz/folk tradition of simply naming
a group after its leader or its members. (And if so, you also must
remember that I conceded that there were other folks who thought this
produced dumb names, as evidenced by others' criticisms on this thread
of the name Emerson, Lake, & Palmer.) So, in truth, I really was speaking
about modern rock band names...

However, I'll keep good on my promise.... let's give it a go!

A reason why someone might regard the name as stupid: "It's boring,
and unoriginal, simply following a tired old jazz convention of naming
an ensemble after a person in it, rather than choosing something a bit
flashier.... like Weather Report, or Supersax. (Now, if that doesn't
sound like enough of a reason to you, I apologize, but I figure that
if was good enough for you when another person gave it regarding ELP, it
should be good enough for you when applied to the Miles Davis Quintet. Hell,
this actually has *more* reason accompanying it, in fact!).

A reason why someone might regard the name as clever: "It's so straight-
forward and unpretentious. Rather than wrapping the group up in a bunch of
conceptual pomp or marketing flash, the ensemble was simply named for what
it is: a group of five musicians led by Miles Davis. Simple, cool, and
classy."

Next challenger?


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Piirpauke, _The Wild East_

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <7oaqne$l3n$6...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>,

smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:

> Josh is to machines what machines are to men:


> > : And, if you want 'proof' I'll lay down this challenge: Cite any band
> > : name you want-- any band name at all-- and I'll give you a reason as to
> > : why someone might regard it as stupid *and* a reason as to why someone
> > : might, from another perspective, regard it as clever.
>
> > The Miles Davis Quintet. :)
>

> Stupid:
>
> It's a pitiful attempt at humour by the trumpeteer who did most of
> the work anyway. He thought he was clever by working with the name to
> imply on the face value that it was the work of five people when in fact
> it's obvious it was just Miles Davis and a bunch of hacks. People in the
> know were supposed to enjoy the delicious irony but it really comes off as
> pretentious overblown tripe.
>
> Clever:
>
> It was a foreshadowing of the magnum opus of fellow jazz genius
> Coltrane's biggest fans. To obfuscate his ability to travel through time,
> Miles changed the last word from "Kooks".

Exactly! Tongue-in-cheek though you may be, you've actually shown
wisdom here in suggesting that the idea that 'arguments' that might be
marshalled to 'prove' that a band's name is either clever or stupid
is laughable, at the same time as you've gone ahead and done precisely that.
The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on
another thread-- or the claims that anyone else has provided for any other
band name being either clever or stupid-- are just as silly.

>
> --
> +=========================================================================+
> \ Sean McFee | After all your soul will still /
> / The XXXXXXXX kinder XXXXX Bastard + surrender, \
> \ gentler | After all don't doubt your part /
> / | Be ready to be loved! \
> +=========================================================================+
> I quite enjoy polka, disco, turkeys and Communism. I love the USA.
>
> *remove the SPAM to e-mail* ICQ your positive thoughts: 33037315

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <jchokey-ya0240800...@nntp.stanford.edu>,
jch...@leland.stanford.edu (James Chokey) wrote:

>> The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
> that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on

> another thread....
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I, of course, meant a"nother post on this thread".

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <7oaslk$l3n$1...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>,

smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:

> James is to machines what machines are to men:


> > smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:
> >>

> >> I hope you're not using this obvious tautology as justification
> >> for a series of overly negative posts. Such an act would surely rise out
> >> of grumpiness or boredom.
>
> > Oh, I see little Sean's still got some chips on his shoulder
> > with me from the most recent "Women in Prog" thread. Poor guy...
>

> I notice you don't actually disagree with me.

That's true, I guess I don't. That's because there's some truth
in what you say. I've been a bit bored with other threads, so I've been
playing devil's advocate for amusement-- or at least I have since
folks started citing 'good names'. If you think that's somehow criminal or
shameful, well, that's your problem not mine. (BTW, I notice you don't
actually disagree with my observation about *your* motivations for jumping
in here...)
As for the rest of what you say... well, I suggest you take
out the advice that that Stan fellow gave me earlier and look up 'tautology'
in the dictionary. I don't think it means what you think it does. As
for my posts being negative, well, what else would you expect in a
thread whose subject line is "Band names that suck"?. The whole *thread*
was negative from the outset, Sean! If you don't want to see negative
comments about band names, what on earth are you doing even reading
this thread? Just bored and grumpy, as you believe I was? (Or was it
cause you saw my name, and just had to jump in out of spite? If so,
I'm touched...)

> As with said thread,
> there is no counterargument, just ad hominem attacks.

*laugh* Well, Sean, I still stand behind what I said before-- you
don't need a counterargument until there's an argument to counter in the
first place-- at least not one that consists of something more than, "Women
are thus-and-so because I say they are" and then cites stereotypes about
women liking to shop as evidence. As soon as a real argument appears in
that thread, sweetie-- or as soon as you actually argue against any of
the points I made (rather than just dodging them), let me know and I'll
read it. And if I disagree, I'll provide that counterargument you want
so bad. Until then, I'll just continue to point out its silliness from
the sidelines with a twinkle in my eye and a smile on my face.

P.S. It's "ad hominum". :-)

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <7ob3u3$10g$3...@bertrand.ccs.carleton.ca>,

smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:

> James is to machines what machines are to men:
> > smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:
>

> > The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
> > that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on

> > another thread-- or the claims that anyone else has provided for any other
> > band name being either clever or stupid-- are just as silly.
>

> Well asserting any (dis)like as fact is silly by definition.

Agreed. It's also sloppy speaking or writing as well. But, it happens
all the time here.


> Whether a band name is clever or dumb is just another side of the coin.

Agreed, once again.

> But just as stating an opinion as fact is often just shorthand for
> expressing that opinion.....

Often, but not always. Sloppy language is often a sign of sloppy
thinking-- and there is, I think, a very real arrogance among many
music fans to want to attribute their likes and dislikes to some
imagined objective quality in the music (or name) itself rather than
to acknowledge the quirkishness of their own individual taste.
Shorthand can't really explain it, as it it's not that much time-consuming
(or syntactically awkward) to write, "I don't like the name Pink Floyd"
than "Pink Floyd sucks as a band name," is it?

> I automatically translate "The Beatles is a dumb
> name for a band" to "I believe the Beatles is a dumb name for a band", a
> statement I don't find silly at all.

Probably a safe bet, much of the time-- but sometimes, especially
when folks start putting forth *reasons* to justify what is essentially
a quirk of taste-- one has to wonder.... and perhaps call them on it.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Hoelderlin, _Rare Birds_

James Chokey

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Aug 4, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/4/99
to
In article <7ob5u0$lnf$2...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

> James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
> : P.S. It's "ad hominum".
>
> No, it's "ad hominem".

Well, if that doesn't just make me feel like a chump!. I
stand completely corrected. It is indeed 'argumentUM ad hominEM'.
Now if I can only find a bunch of walls to write it on 1000 times just like
Graham Chapman in _Life of Brian_.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Boiled in Lead, _Orb_

Mike Dickson

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
In article <7o9vaj$ijf$2...@news.iastate.edu> kort...@iastate.edu wrote...

> : I still bemoan the fact that Hendrix never got up the courage to get
> : Stevie Winwood to join his band.
>
> What, did he think he was too good for him or something?

According to an interview with Noel Redding, Hendrix was in total awe of
Winwood and didn't figure that 'HE would want to play with US'.

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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Josh is to machines what machines are to men:
> : And, if you want 'proof' I'll lay down this challenge: Cite any band
> : name you want-- any band name at all-- and I'll give you a reason as to
> : why someone might regard it as stupid *and* a reason as to why someone
> : might, from another perspective, regard it as clever.

> The Miles Davis Quintet. :)

Stupid:

It's a pitiful attempt at humour by the trumpeteer who did most of
the work anyway. He thought he was clever by working with the name to
imply on the face value that it was the work of five people when in fact
it's obvious it was just Miles Davis and a bunch of hacks. People in the
know were supposed to enjoy the delicious irony but it really comes off as
pretentious overblown tripe.

Clever:

It was a foreshadowing of the magnum opus of fellow jazz genius
Coltrane's biggest fans. To obfuscate his ability to travel through time,
Miles changed the last word from "Kooks".

--

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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James is to machines what machines are to men:

> smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:
>>
>> I hope you're not using this obvious tautology as justification
>> for a series of overly negative posts. Such an act would surely rise out
>> of grumpiness or boredom.

> Oh, I see little Sean's still got some chips on his shoulder
> with me from the most recent "Women in Prog" thread. Poor guy...

I notice you don't actually disagree with me. As with said thread,


there is no counterargument, just ad hominem attacks.

Sullivan, let me know when this gets to Clam status.

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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Mike Dickson (mike@blackcat..demon..co..uk) wrote:
: In article <7o9vaj$ijf$2...@news.iastate.edu> kort...@iastate.edu wrote...

: > : I still bemoan the fact that Hendrix never got up the courage to get
: > : Stevie Winwood to join his band.
: >
: > What, did he think he was too good for him or something?

: According to an interview with Noel Redding, Hendrix was in total awe of
: Winwood and didn't figure that 'HE would want to play with US'.

Even after cutting "Voodoo Chile"?

(and yes, that was the dereferencing to which I was referring)


Josh
NP: Rachel's, _Selenography_

--
Since when the fuck was a long only two fucking bytes? I crap bigger than
16 bits.


W. Chris Graham

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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>And now for a little ying, what about good band names? Fer instance:
>
>xtc
>Tragically Hip


The ironic thing is that across Canada and likely anywhere they're known,
they are simply "The Hip", nullifying the meaning of the name.

BTW to naysayers of this one, the music (and words) and the status of the
band just really seem to make the band work, more and more as time goes on.

Chris
[oh, just reply to the group]

W. Chris Graham

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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>> National Health
>
> That's a stinker if ever there were one. Naming yourself after a
>government agency-- or a style of glasses that you happen to wear?
>What's next? Social Security? ATF? The Ray-Bans? The Bifocals?


Actually, UB40.
[unemployment benefits form, IIRC]

Chris

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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James is to machines what machines are to men:
> jch...@leland.stanford.edu (James Chokey) wrote:

>>> The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
>> that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on

>> another thread....
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> I, of course, meant a"nother post on this thread".

Paging Dr. Freud :).

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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James is to machines what machines are to men:
>> > Oh, I see little Sean's still got some chips on his shoulder
>> > with me from the most recent "Women in Prog" thread. Poor guy...
>>
>> I notice you don't actually disagree with me.
> That's true, I guess I don't.

I don't see why you had to attack me then.

> shameful, well, that's your problem not mine. (BTW, I notice you don't
> actually disagree with my observation about *your* motivations for jumping
> in here...)

I do, but I doubt I can convince you so there's no point in
pressing the issue (sounds familiar...).

> As for the rest of what you say... well, I suggest you take
> out the advice that that Stan fellow gave me earlier and look up 'tautology'
> in the dictionary. I don't think it means what you think it does.

A tautology is a statement that is always true. There will always
be some people who think a given band name is dumb. An existential
assertion based on subjectivity is hardly worth arguing, much less being
acutely adversarial over.

> for my posts being negative, well, what else would you expect in a
> thread whose subject line is "Band names that suck"?. The whole *thread*
> was negative from the outset, Sean! If you don't want to see negative
> comments about band names, what on earth are you doing even reading
> this thread?

I was skimming them, actually. Threads tend to digress into other
subject matter that might be of interest to someone who wasn't reading the
original thread. I *did* read Stan's post asking why you were being so
vehement in your opposition, however.

> Just bored and grumpy, as you believe I was? (Or was it
> cause you saw my name, and just had to jump in out of spite? If so,
> I'm touched...)

Hold on a second there, now. Stan and Josh both made pretty much
the same point I did, yet they were *not* replied to with an ad hominem
attack.

Were Stan and Josh also acting out of spite?
Are you sure you're not projecting?

My post was not an invitation for you to revive the "Women"
thread, either. I stopped posting to it because of your exaggerated
aggression. Given the comments I removed from the last barrage, I made the
right choice.

Fact is, you are the one who refuses to let it die. You have
brought it into this thread. You're pissed off that I wouldn't engage you
in a flame war elsewhere, thus the "taking the ball" comments. You are the
one responding with more aggression to me than to other posters.

You're far more civil than him, but I think you're acting a little
Clammish personally. I suppose I could just avoid following up to your
posts until you settle down a bit. I'll keep the idea in mind.

NP - Happy the Man, S/T

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
James is to machines what machines are to men:
> smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:

> The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
> that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on

> another thread-- or the claims that anyone else has provided for any other
> band name being either clever or stupid-- are just as silly.

Well asserting any (dis)like as fact is silly by definition.

Whether a band name is clever or dumb is just another side of the coin.

But just as stating an opinion as fact is often just shorthand for

expressing that opinion, I automatically translate "The Beatles is a dumb


name for a band" to "I believe the Beatles is a dumb name for a band", a
statement I don't find silly at all.

--

Steven Sullivan

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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The Kinder, Gentler Bastard <smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca> wrote:
: James is to machines what machines are to men:

:> smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:
:>>
:>> I hope you're not using this obvious tautology as justification

:>> for a series of overly negative posts. Such an act would surely rise out
:>> of grumpiness or boredom.

:> Oh, I see little Sean's still got some chips on his shoulder


:> with me from the most recent "Women in Prog" thread. Poor guy...

: I notice you don't actually disagree with me. As with said thread,


: there is no counterargument, just ad hominem attacks.

: Sullivan, let me know when this gets to Clam status.

When James' knuckles start scraping the ground.

--
-S.
Helping Egregious Characters Help *Themselves*

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: P.S. It's "ad hominum".

No, it's "ad hominem".


Josh
mostly antiprescriptivist, but hey
NP: Einsturzende Neubaten, _Ende Neu_

--
Joel is a sex machine.


Josh Kortbein

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
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James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: > Judging by their music, I'm guessing the Cannibal Corpse boys are a
: > little low on irony.

: Perhaps. But then again, it's so over-the-top, one might well say
: that the music and the lyrics are also an ironic celebration of that
: same cliche.

One might, if one hadn't heard their music.

: > As for playing devil's advocate, I don't really think you've done


: > your job that well. Seems as if in most cases you've just stated
: > opposing views ("that's a dumb name") rather than actually advocated
: > their adoption or comprehension.

: Really? As I said before, in a direct response to you, I believe
: I've provided a reason of some sort for every name that someone else
: has praised that I, in turn, have gone and called stupid... (except for
: Egg of course, and that was because the 'rotten' joke was just
: too hard to resist). Indeed, I pointed out that I gave two reasons
: for Faust being a stupid name in a passage that you yourself had quoted!
: Perhaps you could dig up another example from here where I've asserted that
: another person's idea of a good name was stupid yet not provided
: any explanation at all? I honestly don't think there are any, but
: if there are, I'm happy to be presented with it, so I can provide
: a reason now...

You respnding to (IIRC) Dave Lynch:

> Hatfield and the North is very cool as well. Taking your band name from a
> signpost on a British highway- that's just pure surrealism, and done
> right, too.

No, it's just pure stupidity.

And no, I didn't pre-snip to make this look worse. Others were perhaps
not so blatant, but not too far removed, either.

: By the way, while you're at it, would you be willing to go through


: all of the names that have been cited as 'dumb' or 'stupid' or 'lame'
: or 'sucky' by other posters in this thread and check out whether or
: not they've provided any more reasons than I have for labelling them
: as such? I don't believe that they have-- and so I'm a little surprised
: to be singled out here. If you really want to raise the level of discussion
: here and hold all posters to a higher standard of argument, that's great.
: However, let's make sure that that high standard is applied to *everyone*--
: and isn't simply a double standard that is demanded only of those folks
: who happen to call 'stupid' a band name that you yourself happen to be fond
: of.

The thing about devil's ADVOCACY is that it requires some actual
effort toward support of some (opposing) viewpoint. You haven't
provided that. You've offered plenty of shallow counteropinions,
but nothing of substance.

The reason I singled you out is that you didn't just claim to
think a band name was stupid - you claimed that they could ALL
be seen as stupid. This being a music newsgroup, we are all especially
aware of that tedious point of subjectivity. Offered en masse, though,
it doesn't gain anything. It just makes you look like a low-talent
troll. Now, if you really want to try arguing that all band names
could be seen as stupid, _from the same viewpoint_, go ahead and
give it a go. Otherwise, simply repeating your efforts, in form,
and mostly in substance as well, is just a waste of time and effort.

And no, I'm not bitter. What am I, 4? As I've said, no one here has
really offered any earth-shattering critiques of my favorite band
names. People seem to bored to tears by some of the music those bands
make, but that has very little to do with what I think of the music.

Funny how opinions work, isn't it?

Josh

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: The only question is whether anyone here (including you) will realize
: that the 'serious' arguments that I've put forward on the same name on
: another thread-- or the claims that anyone else has provided for any other
: band name being either clever or stupid-- are just as silly.

Now if only you would pick up on this sentiment elsewhere in this
thread, rather than being obstinately contrarian.

James Chokey

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
In article <7ob6sl$lnf$3...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

> James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
> : > Judging by their music, I'm guessing the Cannibal Corpse boys are a


> : > little low on irony.
>
> : Perhaps. But then again, it's so over-the-top, one might well say
> : that the music and the lyrics are also an ironic celebration of that
> : same cliche.
>

> One might, if one hadn't heard their music.

Or, indeed, if one had.

> : Perhaps you could dig up another example from here where I've asserted that


> : another person's idea of a good name was stupid yet not provided
> : any explanation at all? I honestly don't think there are any, but
> : if there are, I'm happy to be presented with it, so I can provide
> : a reason now...
>

> You respnding to (IIRC) Dave Lynch:
>
> > Hatfield and the North is very cool as well. Taking your band
name from a
> > signpost on a British highway- that's just pure surrealism, and done
> > right, too.
>
> No, it's just pure stupidity.


Fair enough. Now here's the promised reason: "Far from being
'very cool' taking your name from a sign along the M-1 (or whatever
highway it happened to have been) just shows how banal and uninspired
these guys were. No wonder they wrote songs with such moronic names
as "Going Up to People and Tinkling" and "Fitter Stoke Has a Bath".
As for it being surrealist, wel, there's no creativity of the sort
that the surrealists were trying to unleash in their endeavors to use
randomness to allow the unconscious to come through. Surrealism sought
to produce things that were unusual, challenging, disturbing, and
unsettling... not provoke your travelling companion to say, 'Here now,
mate, this is where we want to exit.'"
Are we happy now, Josh?

> The thing about devil's ADVOCACY is that it requires some actual
> effort toward support of some (opposing) viewpoint. You haven't
> provided that. You've offered plenty of shallow counteropinions,
> but nothing of substance.

They weren't shallower than the opinions being countered in
most cases, so I don't feel too negligent on that count. If my
counteropinions were more provocatively phrased, it was to
ruffle the feathers of thosewho had voiced the
shallow opinions in the first place and, hopefully, to get them to
see how arbitrary and shallow all these opinions were.
Still, I guess you're right, maybe devil's advocate, isn't the
best word for that... maybe 'devil's jester' or 'devil's fool'?


> The reason I singled you out is that you didn't just claim to
> think a band name was stupid - you claimed that they could ALL
> be seen as stupid.

The gods forbid!

> This being a music newsgroup, we are all especially
> aware of that tedious point of subjectivity.

Yet, strangely, "we all" seem to ignore it 99% of the time.


> Offered en masse, though,
> it doesn't gain anything. It just makes you look like a low-talent
> troll.

I disagree. I think it makes me look like a high-talent
troll who's slumming.


> Now, if you really want to try arguing that all band names
> could be seen as stupid, _from the same viewpoint_, go ahead and
> give it a go.

Why would I ever want to do anything so silly?


> Otherwise, simply repeating your efforts, in form,
> and mostly in substance as well, is just a waste of time and effort.

Hmmm.... much like this whole thread, eh?


> And no, I'm not bitter. What am I, 4?

Probably not, but you never know. There are some teens and adolscents
here-- as well as a few people who occasionally seem to display the
emotional maturity thereof.


> As I've said, no one here has
> really offered any earth-shattering critiques of my favorite band
> names.

Well, if such a serious earth-shattering critique were even possible,
bitterness would probably not be the result for anyone. People tend
to get far more bitter about casual and snotty digs and dismissals
(such as have dominated this thread) than they do about substantive and
compelling criticisms. Detailed criticisms imply that the subject of
criticism deserves to be taken seriously in the first place.

> Funny how opinions work, isn't it?

If there was a joke, I'm afraid I've missed it. Sorry.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Boiled in Lead, _Orb__

Josh Kortbein

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
: > This being a music newsgroup, we are all especially

: > aware of that tedious point of subjectivity.
:
: Yet, strangely, "we all" seem to ignore it 99% of the time.

Perhaps you should mark this down in your diary as a tactic
best left to the confines of said diary. Those readers familiar
with the way opinions work are offered little in your "critiques."
Those unfamiliar with them are unlikely to come around to your
way of thinking, and are probably more likely to just fail to see
through your crafty little dodge, and see you as an ass. Confrontational
tactics tend to drive people like that in the OTHER direction.


Josh
NP: Hildegard von Bingen, _11000 Virgins: Chants for the Feast of St. Ursula_

The Kinder, Gentler Bastard

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
James is to machines what machines are to men:
> smc...@chat.carletonSP.AMca (The Kinder, Gentler Bastard) wrote:

> Probably a safe bet, much of the time-- but sometimes, especially
> when folks start putting forth *reasons* to justify what is essentially
> a quirk of taste-- one has to wonder.... and perhaps call them on it.

That never happens here, does it? :)

Mike Dickson

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
In article <7oast5$nn7$1...@news.iastate.edu> kort...@iastate.edu wrote...

> : According to an interview with Noel Redding, Hendrix was in total awe of
> : Winwood and didn't figure that 'HE would want to play with US'.
>
> Even after cutting "Voodoo Chile"?

Unfortunately, yes.

Rick Meyer

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
In article <CheetahPRO_v...@blackcat.demon.co.uk>,
mike@blackcat..demon..co..uk wrote:
> In article <3a907wm...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu>
nles...@roundtable.cif.rochester.edu wrote...
>
> > I recall that Emo had at least approached Hendrix about joining,
but I
> > don't know much more than that.

>
> I still bemoan the fact that Hendrix never got up the courage to get
> Stevie Winwood to join his band.

I seem to recall reading an interview with ELP in Goldmine a couple
years ago where Emerson was asked about the Hendrix rumors.

Basically, he said that it was just that a rumor. He figured that the
rumor started because E & L had actually auditioned Mitch Mitchell as
their drummer. The audition didn't go anywhere though, because before
starting the audition Mitch's manager sat down and pulled his gun out
and placed it on the table in front of him.

Later,

Rick Meyer


Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

James Chokey

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
In article <7objd6$sim$1...@news.iastate.edu>, kort...@iastate.edu (Josh
Kortbein) wrote:

>
> Perhaps you should mark this down in your diary as a tactic
> best left to the confines of said diary.

Sorry, I don't keep a diary.

> Those readers familiar
> with the way opinions work are offered little in your "critiques."

Sure they are: Amusement, mirth, some choice metaphors, and some
food for thought, although you it may have passed you by. There have been
one or two folks, after all, who've actually chimed in here, agreeing
with my general claims.

> Those unfamiliar with them are unlikely to come around to your
> way of thinking, and are probably more likely to just fail to see
> through your crafty little dodge, and see you as an ass.Confrontational
> tactics tend to drive people like that in the OTHER direction.

Ah, you mean like you and Sean, eh? Well, if a few uppity and
ignorant folks get their feathers ruffled and just become
defensive and bitter, well.... I guess that's to be expected.
After all, what pissed so many Athenians off about Socrates is
not anything specific that he argued for, but rather the fact that
his tactics were seemed too confrontational and mocking (that famous
Socratic irony). Indeed, it's quite probable that there
many who saw him, as you so eloquently put it, "an ass". Yet, I
feel quite confident that, in the judgement of history, it's been
Meletos and those other ignorant folks who couldn't see the purpose
behind Socrates' questioning and brought him to trial, who look like
the real asses.


-- Jim C.

Now Playing: Nothing :-(

CountV

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Aug 5, 1999, 3:00:00 AM8/5/99
to
kort...@iastate.edu (Josh Kortbein) wrote:

> James Chokey (jch...@leland.stanford.edu) wrote:
> : P.S. It's "ad hominum".
>
> No, it's "ad hominem".

Shouldn't that be 'It's "ad hominem", you stupid fuck!'?

and here's a ;>, just in case.

CV

--
Intuition has wiggle room.
design by Coercion; http://www.m-ideas.com/coercion

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