turtle and the jeffs

August 15, 2011 7:05 PM

There are many bands with names which follow the "[proper name] and the [random noun]s" formula. Are there any bands which follow the inverse formula, "[random noun] and the [proper name]s"?
posted by tehloki to Grab Bag (20 answers total)

Well, the [Proper name] part is usually a frontman/woman, and the [random nouns] refers to the rest of the band. There are plenty of exceptions - Marina and the Diamonds refers to Marina and her fans, who are the "diamonds" - but that's where the form comes from. It'd be odd to have, say, "The Mothers of Invention and Frank Zappa."

That's not to say that there aren't any of the inverse form, but if so, the name's meaning would probably be quite different, not just its structure.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:11 PM on August 15, 2011

Sublime with Rome and Miami Sound Machine with Gloria Estefan are all I could come up with, but the format isn't exactly what you're looking for.
posted by gatorae at 7:27 PM on August 15, 2011

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. The band was originally called Rufus, but her breakout success caused them to highlight her (I believe I heard in order to keep her in the band, but the explanation on this page doesn't have that much detail)
posted by cali59 at 7:28 PM on August 15, 2011

Combustible Edison? Or am I not understanding the question?
posted by Gilbert at 7:54 PM on August 15, 2011

Oh, and 'combustible' is an adjective, not a noun. My mistake.
posted by Gilbert at 7:55 PM on August 15, 2011

My understanding of the question is that we're looking for something like "Blowfish and the Hooties". (Or we would be if Hootie were actually that band's frontman's name.)
posted by madcaptenor at 7:56 PM on August 15, 2011

They Might Be Giants and the Band of Dans. The Band of Dans were TMBG's touring band for a few years in the early 2000s, named after the fact that everyone in it was named Dan.
posted by robotot at 8:08 PM on August 15, 2011

I'd always considered Toots and the Maytals to fall into this category, though I know that Toots was a nickname of the band leader so doesn't fit your criteria after all.
posted by sprocket87 at 8:13 PM on August 15, 2011

I thought for sure I had one of these in my music collection, but I must be making it up. I have a really strong hunch that a band with a naming convention like this exists, though, so I really hope someone can actually think of one.

I can get you partway there though!

Random noun first: ? and the Mysterians
The proper nouns: The Tammys, The Marcels, and The Beau Brummels

Now all we need is for Mr. ? to join up with one of these other fine groups, and we're all set.
posted by phunniemee at 8:28 PM on August 15, 2011

Echo and the Bunnymen.

Some people will tell you that "Echo" was the name of their drum machine, but it wasn't. It's just a random noun.
posted by mr_roboto at 8:30 PM on August 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

Velvet Underground and Nico
posted by mannequito at 8:44 PM on August 15, 2011 [5 favorites]

Queen + Paul Rodgers
posted by epimorph at 10:49 PM on August 15, 2011

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:48 AM on August 16, 2011

Scala and Kolacny Brothers is the closest thing I found on a scroll up my iPod.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 6:49 AM on August 16, 2011

Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem!
posted by frecklefaerie at 11:27 AM on August 16, 2011

? and the Mysterians
posted by DandyRandy at 2:28 PM on August 16, 2011

Monkey - it would have to be "Bad Seed and the Nick Caves" per the poster's question, I think.
posted by bitterkitten at 4:40 PM on August 16, 2011

Response by poster: Welp, so far nobody's been able to think of anything that quite fits the formula. I guess a band named like that would actually have some hipster cred. I had just assumed that as an easy and amusing form of contrarian wordplay it would be widespread.
posted by tehloki at 4:23 PM on August 17, 2011

Well, what's an Elton? And it's a song name, but Telegram Sam would be a good band name.
posted by philip-random at 9:00 AM on August 18, 2011

... and then I realized I got it wrong. Missed the "and the" part.

So, of course, Cadillac + the Johnnys. Except I just made it up.
posted by philip-random at 9:05 AM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]