Band words

I enjoyed this recent tale of a communications breakdown (which also features the British jobsworth, a stock character in these situations). The confusion about '4am' is perhaps a forgivable result of the trend for misleading monikers in popular culture. The sturdy [definite article + plural noun] formula for band names — which gave us the Beatles, the Animals, and so on — has long gone out of fashion.

In my youth it was replaced by single short words: Blur, Oasis, Verve, Cast, Muse. As musical tastes have fragmented since then, so have the names performers give their acts, as a glance at any advert for a music festival shows.

One of the common themes now, though, is for bands to advertise themselves as some sort of unrelated organisation: Mull Historical Society, the Victorian English Gentlemens Club, Bombay Bicycle Club. I don't know whether it's a coincidence that these names all share a hint of wistful romance.

It's easy to laugh at the police and council for their reaction in this case, but one can see why 'music from 4am' could be a bit misleading. It also, I think, shows the importance to new acts of choosing a really cool name: would the Rolling Stones, or Motörhead, or Iron Maiden, have ended up playing in stadiums around the world if the most basic part of their brand was less impressive? Or would they still be playing to council officials in village pubs in Surrey?