Band Name in Song Title Mix
April 29, 2010
photo: Kyle Dean Reinford
As anyone who’s been in a band (or at least created one in Guitar Hero / Rock Band) knows, a lot of thought goes into picking a band name. It’s often the first impression that the listener has of the group and is a defining aspect of a band’s identity. So it’s understandable that some bands use their chosen moniker in one (or sometimes more) of their song titles.
Two of my favorite albums from this year, Free Energy’s Stuck on Nothin’ and Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor include eponymous song titles and they got me thinking of more examples of the practice. Here’s a mix of 12 of my favorite examples of band names in song titles. If you have any more you can add, let me know in the comments.
MP3 Free Energy – Free Energy
MP3 Big Country – In a Big Country
MP3 Wilco – Wilco (The Song)
MP3 Queen – Killer Queen
MP3 God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl
MP3 The Monkees – (Theme From) The Monkees
MP3 Build to Spill – Built to Spill
MP3 Yo La Tengo – Georgia vs. Yo La Tengo
MP3 The Fratellis – Baby Fratelli
MP3 Belle & Sebastian – Belle & Sebastian
MP3 The Clash – Radio Clash
MP3 Titus Andronicus – Titus Andronicus Forever
Runners up: “Who Are You?” / “Talk Talk” / “The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone” / “Bad Religion” / “My Name is Prince” / “Black Sabbath” / “The Good, The Bad, and The Queen”
Tags: Belle & Sebastian, Big Country, Built to Spill, Free Energy, God Help The Girl, Queen, The Clash, The Dandy Warhols, The Fratellis, Titus Andronicus, Wilco, Yo La Tengo
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April 29th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
“Louis XIV” – Louis XIV, “Rammstein” – Rammstein, “HELLYEAH” – HELLYEAH, ‘Death to Los Campsinos!” – Los Campesinos, “Avalanche Rock” – The Avalanches, “Welcome to Bucketheadland” – Buckethead
I could probably think of a few more but my brain is broken at the moment.
April 30th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Green Day – “Green Day” is great if you’re a fan. Such an innocent, breezy song from a time before they were big.
April 30th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
The Pipettes – “We Are The Pipettes”
May 1st, 2010 at 8:19 am
Good call on Pipettes, Los Campesinos. Not sure how I forgot those two!
May 1st, 2010 at 3:31 pm
3 songs by The Boy Least Likely To:
“The Battle of the Boy Least Likely To”
“The Boy Least Likely To Is A Machine”
“The Nature Of The Boy Least Likely To”
May 1st, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Okkervil River – “Okkervil River Song”
May 2nd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
would you accept this one?
Final Fantasy – Learn to Keep your Mouth Shut, Owen Pallett
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Hmm, maybe if there was a recorded live version of the song post-name change to Owen Pallett it could be counted.
Props for Okkervil River Song, love that one.
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Nice list! The only ones I can think to add are…
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Arcade Fire – The Great Arcade Fire
Wavves – Wavves
And, though they don’t quite fit the bill…
Yo La Tengo – The Story of Yo La Tango
Broken Social Scene – Baroque Social Scene
May 4th, 2010 at 7:51 pm
okay okay, i’ll admitthat the final fantasy call wasn’t the greatest… so to redeem myself, ‘ll offer this one:
Handsome Furs – Handsome Furs hate this City.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:44 am
great list, but shitty photo!
May 30th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
The two I thought of right away were Los Campesinos! – “Death to Los Campesinos!” and Turbonegro – “Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed”
June 5th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
The Wooden Sky – The Wooden Sky
The Hives – T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.
The Bicycles – BBBicycles
Crystal Stilts – Crystal Stilts
Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
Hajen (means “sharks” in Swedish, I’m told) – Sharks
The Rolling Stones – Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan cover, natch)
One Day as a Lion – One Day as a Lion
Great Lake Swimmers – Great Lake Swimmers
Talulah Gosh – Talulah Gosh
Mosquitos – Mosquito
The Thorns – Thorns
The Swell Season – The Swell Season
I’m From Barcelona – We’re From Barcelona
They Might Be Giants – They Might Be Giants
The Highwaymen – The Highwayman
Madness – Madness
Minor Threat – Minor Threat
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:22 am
Tubes World Tour – The Tubes
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Bad Company – Bad Company
The Road to Utopia – Utopia
January 23rd, 2011 at 1:37 am
how about solex?
January 27th, 2011 at 11:50 am
I was going to write The good the bad and the queen, but then noticed that it has been mentioned below as runner up. It’s awesome, tho.
there is also Arctic Monkeys track called “who the fuck are arctic monkeys”.
Swedish indie girl band ‘those dancing days’ – those dancing days.
August 4th, 2011 at 6:23 am
Ok, so once you get your band name you should protect and promote it.
http://Www.bandnamr.com is a free service that does just that. What have you got to lose? (well, your abns name actually!)
August 4th, 2011 at 6:24 am
Sorry … Not your abns name … Your bands name (that’s what beer, typing and auto-spell do)