Unfortunate Band Names that hold a band back from mass appeal.

The 4-Skins - English Oi! band.

The 4-Skins - Wikipedia

 

Lubricated Goat

Although those who remember them say it wasn't the name stopping them being successful, it was their music.


This is their best known song (and I use that term loosely) "In the Raw". This is the official video and not the live performance from the TV show Blah Blah Blah, that is something that should be watched in the privacy of your bedroom, if at all.

I'm not sure if an actual note is played during the songs four and half minutes, but I love this song, it's one of my favourites from the Australian Pub Rock period of the '80's.

 

Dying in his 30s and playing the same instrument as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Lester Young didn't help either.

 

The Allah Las, not very memorable.
Audioslave was never a great name, even Cornell admitted that.
Beady Eye, gads.
Chickenfoot, huh?
Eagles of Death Metal
Queens of the Stone Age
Little Willies
Rage Against the Machine, was always a great album name, not a band name

 

Bwahahahahahaha!

 

Hey, Anal C**t has tons of mass appeal! Think of the pop craftsmanship of “I Pushed Your Wife In Front Of The Subway”, the positive and uplifting “I Made Your Kid Get AIDS So You Could Watch It Die”, or the laid back little ditty of “Ha Ha, Your Wife Left You”.

 

The Flying Burrito Brothers.
Great band, but what a stupid ass name.

 

You'd have to go a long way to beat Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat:

Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat

Led by the wonderfully-monikered Stef Irritant.

 

I'm guessing Butthole Surfers was already mentioned.

 

They did have some mainstream success though. Videos played on MTV and "Pepper" was (is) played on radio.

I would say they are more of an example of a band that had success despite an unfortunate name.

 

America

Must be hard to search for them. They were one of those big bands in the 70s that younger people don't seem to know. I think part of it is because it's folk-rock, nothing hard, and no band members who jumped off the stage, no publicized troubles.

 

Dirt Box Disco

and their guitar player (and now singer) Spunk Volcano's side project Spunk Volcano & The Eruptions.
XR3

 

And seriously, they were successful by left-field punk standards. They sold Cd's, they made money, they didn't work day jobs.

 

Porcupine Tree

 

Probably the most successful of all neo-prog bands though...

 

The Mike Hunt band.
The could have been huge.

 

Fudge Tunnel. Just the wrong name for a metal band if your trying to sell CDs and merch to a bunch of ragin' kids.

 

Even a Beatles-esque look couldn't help this rock group with the very non-catchy name "Kara's Flowers" and the equally non-catchy name of their first single, "Soap Disco", which was a total flop. But then they changed their name to Maroon 5 and the rest is history...

 

One Australian band based in Sydney released two albums in the noughties. You should look them up on your web browser. They were called Songs.

 

This group was promoted on WFMU, but just try doing a google or YouTube search for

PMS and the Mood Swings

 

If only I could like this a million times. You forgot "You Own A Shop". Classic ragtime.

 

Indeed, they were a truly brilliant and versatile band

 

Fat Larry Band.

That was a real band.

 

The fairly well-known and respected Jon Poole had this band. A little tough to promote...

 

Italian band called Corona.