Mittwoch, 26. Apr 2006, 2:53

I was watching these DVDs of "The Tomorrow Show", in which the great Tom Snyder cluelessly grills various punk and new-wave artists. He kept referring to the bands as "organizations", which was utterfuckingly hip. For instance, "Joan, when did you form this organization, The Runaways?" As a tribute to Mr. Snyder's cutting edge terminology, I shall henceforth refer to all bands as organizations. "Band" means "bound' in German. Why the hell should we be bound to this infernal word? The time has come for new lexicographic blood. Please to pardon the grammatical sins I am about to commit, but Tom Snyder has leukemia, and I need to send him all the positive eternal crystal light vibrations that I can. Stay strong Tom!! Ride the dragon!! Kill the king!!

Organizations which name themselves after other organization's songs. Standard operating procedure for cover acts, and perfectly kosher in that arena. But is it such a good idea if you want your original music to be taken seriouslike? It'll fly as long as you keep your reference tastefully obscure, preferably cross-generational, and strictly avoid playing in the same genre as your source. Done right, the tribute name will garner you respect from crusty critics while leaving your target audience of ignorant kids unawares.

If you ARE planning to commit wholesale thievery of someone else's style, you certainly don't want to draw attention to it by taking the name of one of their tunes. Piece of shit Alice In Chains knockoffs, Godsmack were apparently unaware of this cosmic truth. When their debut album was released, the Alice In Chains song, "God Smack" barely five years old. Plus, Alice In Chains were still pseudo-active at the time. Who did these douchebags think they were fooling? If you're gonna christen yourself after someone's else's song, at least have the common courtesy to not eclipse them in popularity by peddling your wretched simulation of their sound. That's just not fucking cricket.

Here's a list of the examples I could dredge up. I limited myself to the music in my collection, so please to inform me of glaring omissions.

Bad Brains - Bad Brain
Considering that they were a jazz fusion group who converted to punkery, naming themselves after a Ramones song was probably a good P.R. move. Punk rockers of the time were probably easily confused by the overwhelming blackitivity of the Bad Brains. The Ramones reference let them know what was what and what have you.

Overkill - Motorhead
Lemmy has outright accused them of stealing his title for their name, though I don't know if they've owned up to it. After all, that word is just too perfect to not be a metal organization's name. Someone had to do it. It was inevitable. I think he's mostly pissed cause he wants full credit for inventing the entire speed metal genre, which Overkill trucked in.

Motorhead - Motorhead
Only half counts, because Lemmy was the writer of the Hawkwind version. The name, Motorhead is only slightly less sublime than Lemmy's original choice, "Bastard". If we were moving backwards in time, I could say that the Ramones got their name from the Motorhead song. Of course then I'd have to live through seventh grade again. And I'd have to take shit INTO my body on a daily basis, like Chuck Berry. Whom Lemmy is a huge fan of… Interesting…

Teengenerate - Teengenerate
Thank god SOMEONE had the sense to pay tribute to the mighty Dictators, instead of the accursed New York Dolls. We're all going under the thunder of Manitoba.

Shakin' Street - Shakin Street
I bet that shameless MC5 impersonators, The Mooney Suzuki were really pissed that this name was already taken. But it worked out in their favor. Now there's only a 75% chance that an article about them will mention the MC5.

Judas Priest - The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
According to the venerable ancestral spirit, Wikipedia, there was once some blues rock outfit called "Judas Priest", named after the Dylan song. They broke up and the singer hooked up with K.K. Downing and Ian Hill. They decided to keep the dude's former band name and so the Metallian was born. "Judas Priest" is also an old timey oath used a milder alternative of "Jesus Christ". I like to imagine that somewhere out there is an old man who still uses this expression, like when he spills his pipe tobacco, or misses his Bingo by one number. His grandkids hang out with him constantly just so they can hear him say it.

Monster Magnet - Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet
Once upon a time, a wise centaur told me that Monster Magnet was named for both the Wham-O toy AND the Mothers of Invention freak jam. I choose to believe the words of that noble woodland creature.
www.wesclark.com/am/monster_magnet.jpg

Sisters Of Mercy - Sisters of Mercy
A tribute naming coup. Leonard Cohen was several genres removed from goth. The frail legions had no clue. And, on top of that, the name evokes several key goth concepts; sexual confusion, Christianity mocking, and sadomasochism. Plus, who can think of nuns without having visions of BLACK. Brilliant.

St. Vitus - St. Vitus Dance
Apparently, it was considered quite unhip to be into Sabbath in the mid 80's. Bravo to to St. Vitus for spreading the good word to SST catalog subscribers. Note to aspiring stoner rockers: This practice is strictly verboten in the modern age.

Pretty Girls Make Graves - Pretty Girls Make Graves
You couldn't ask for a more direct connection. Unfortunately, it is SO direct, that every time I try to listen to these indie whatevers, I end up up listening to the Smiths instead. The dangers of not being obscure enough.

Badfinger - With A Little Help From My Friends
"Badfinger" was an early working title for this song, and the ever generous Beatles passed the name on. I'm probably going to have to pay Yoko or Michael Jackson for mentioning this, so let me say that FULL credit for this one goes to intrepid investigator, armst, who also knows the mystical secret of the origin of Ratt.

And let I not forget the subcategory of organizations named after other organization's song lyrics.

At The Drive-in - Talk Dirty To Me
Bad move. The first thing I remember hearing about these dudes was that they named themselves after a line in Poison's immortal cock anthem. Got me thinking they were some sort of cheeky hipster fuckwads, and I hated them on principle for a year. I have since changed my mind, but witness the damage a joke name can do. I bet that's why they had to break up. Their incoherent high concept nonsense was too great a burden for their silly name to bear. It's like if you were an experimental video installation artist who called himself "Mayor McCheese".

Texas Is The Reason - Bullet
Good source. Somehow, proper respect still manages to elude The Misfits. They need all the help they can get. Still, what does it MEAN?? There are several songs on their album that appear to reference the wasting of the big K, ("Magic Bullet Theory" e.g.), but upon closer examination they all turn out to be about weepy heartfeelings. I think they just used those titles to create the illusion of thematic unity. To make it seem like they took the name, "Texas Is The Reason" for a reason much more complex than a deep love of Glenn Danzig. Like some fucking post modern theory about political apathy and the death of American Dream in post 1963 teenagers. All it does is make me think "you gotta suck, suck, Jackie suck".
On a side note, I have always held this organization at least partially responsible for the trend of sentence fragment names in emo. I curse them for that, while simultaneously praising their Misfits tribute. The inner conflict rages eternal.

And finally, three examples of the most advanced form of tribute naming, unintentional mispronunciations.

Radio Birdman - 1970
From a faulty interpretation of the line "Radio burnin' up above'". Now I hear that everytime I listen to it. Good work, boys.

High on Fire - Fire On High
An accidental rewording of this song title, and serendipity strikes and splits the earth. Lava flows forth. The dank nuggers rejoice in the mayhem.

Thee Michelle Gun Elephant - Machine Gun Etiquette
Insane Japanese translations!! A severe warpage of the Damned album (and song) title, "Machine Gun Etiquette". This sounds like it should be a line in "Metal Gear" for the NES. "Snake, Big Boss has taken hostages. You'll need to exercise michelle gun elephant on this mission. Good luck is for you. Grey Fox out."

And so is this starship trooper…