How well do these bands represent their namesake communities?
In a past article, I argued for the merit of bands named after animals. In this installment, I shall explore bands named after cities, states, countries, and even, most ambitiously, continents.
For the purpose of this article, I will not be judging the bands on their artistic merit, but rather on the following criteria:
- The band’s lasting legacy. The longer a band stays relevant through touring, releasing new music, or staying in the pop culture arena, the better its namesake location remains relevant as well.
- The amount of pride that the band feels about the area through name drops and cultural references in the band’s songs.
- The love and honors bestowed upon the band by the namesake community.
Noteworthy Omissions
Thanks for playing, but these bands are staying home
Tokyo Police Club: This band, founded in the mid-2000s, discovered its name by using an online band name generator, the same method used by at least one other band from an earlier era, Eiffel 65. Lazy selection of band name is the reason for their omission from this list.
Japandroids: A well-regarded rock duet hailing from Canada, this band’s name emerged from a portmanteau of two suggested band names, Japanese Scream and Pleasure Droids. The band’s decided name is one the member have regretted, but they stick with it nevertheless, and hey, at least it’s catchier than their failed alternatives.
Bombay Bicycle Club: A British group who named their band after a now-defunct chain of Indian restaurants in England. Yet another example of a band that feels stuck with a moniker they came to regret.
Asia: Originating as a group of four white British musicians, the members of Asia really had no business naming themselves after an entire continent. The story of how the band got its name is uninspiring as well. The band’s manager at the time, Brian Lane, simply wanted a band name starting with A that sounded big so that it could be easily found by customers in record stores. Of note is that no particular song in their long discography reveals anything remotely referring to any of Asia’s myriad cultures.
Now on to the countdown:
10. Little Texas
A mildly successful early ’90s country group founded in Arlington, Texas, the embraced its Texas roots, especially on their second album, where songs like “God Blessed Texas” and “My Town,” made clear that this band was proud of its home state. Later songs like “Amy’s back in Austin,” “Redneck Like Me,” and tongue-in-cheek “Hit Country Song” carried on the band’s Texas-fried roots.
Though many bands hailing from Texas sold more albums, enjoyed more success, and lasted longer than Little Texas, none of them had “Texas” in their names.
9. Boston
The band Boston was started in the 1970’s by Tom Scholz, who was a student at MIT, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea. Over the years, Boston remained a force in the ever-expansive, yet not-quite mainstream, genre of prog rock. Slightly overshadowed and outlasted by fellow prog rock acts like Rush, Electric Light Orchestra, and even Styx, Boston just did not have the staying power to remain mainstays on the scene, talented though they were.
Even in Boston today, the band remains on the periphery. In an recent Boston Globe article about the slow death and legacy of Boston’s once-powerful rock and roll scene, several bands are mentioned, including Aerosmith, The Cars, The Pixies, New Edition, and Belly, but no mention at all is made of the band audacious enough to name themselves after the city.
8. Bay City Rollers
Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, The Bay City Rollers, lacking the creativity to name themselves, instead got their name by throwing a dart at a map of the United States. The dart landed on Bay City, Michigan. The band enjoyed a short run of success during the disco days of the ’70s, but never quite fulfilled the promise many of their early fans had hoped for. That said, in a way, they are the most popular thing to (not) hail from Bay City, Michigan, an otherwise humble, small town of 33,000 residents, with perhaps the most boring official city website.
The band did actually visit the Bay City on August 24, 1977, where, according to their Facebook page, the band got to “receive keys to the city, sign their names to a mural, and place their hands in cement to forever be immortalized in the Michigan city they were named after.”
Without the Bay City Rollers, it is possible the town of Bay City would be completely unknown, so credit should be given to the band for putting this small town on the rock & roll map. Perhaps more bands would be better served rescuing sleepy towns from an otherwise obscure existence by naming themselves after them. A few short chucks of my pen at a US map, for instance, has led me to Mission Ridge, South Dakota; McCloud, California; and Kingwood, West Virginia. Come, bands of the world. Fun names with these cities await.
7. Chicago
With more than 100 milion albums sold worldwide, Chicago remains one of the most popular classic rock bands still rocking on, even through numerous lineup changes (though three founding members remain). Originally named “Chicago Transit Authority,” many of the founding members hailed from Chicago, with several meeting while attending DePaul University. The band has paid tribute to their hometown chiefly through the naming of their albums, in which almost every album is named Chicago, followed by a roman numeral indicating the order of its release.
The bands’ material, however, remains conspicuously absent of references to the city of Chicago, chiefly sticking to love songs, ballads, and highly-orchestrated jazz-rock.
Another incident that kept the band from rising higher on this list was an unfortunate finish by the band in an online poll conducted by the Illinois Top 200 project as a part of the state’s bicentennial celebration. In this poll asking for the best musicians in Illinois history, Chicago appeared nowhere in the top 10, being beaten by winner REO Speedwagon, followed by Allison Krauss, Nat King Cole, Cheap Trick, and Myles Davis, as well as others. Stiff competition, indeed, but I’d have expected better by the band named for Illinois’ largest city.
6. America
America is indeed, an American rock band, though formed in London by the children of members of the US Air Force. Tired of British bands taking over the American radio waves with their own interpretations of folk rock, America’s ambition was to take back the sound of Americana, and for a time, with the help of contemporaries like Crosby, Stills & Nash and Fleetwood Mac, successfully beat back the British rock invasion.
America’s first (and biggest) single, “A Horse with No Name,” was inspired by a memory of songwriter Dewey Bunnell’s childhood roadtrips, when he traveled frequently through the Arizona and New Mexico’s deserts. Indeed, entire albums are seemingly dedicated to a United States region, and each has their own themes. Many of their early songs make direct reference to California (“Ventura Highway,” “California Revisited,” and “Everyone I Meet is From California”). Their 1976 album Hideaway was recorded in Colorado and songs include imagery of the prairies, mountains, rivers, and clear night skies of a cabin getaway. 1977’s album Harbor finds Beach Boys-vibes in songs like “Down to the Water” and “Hurricane.”
Yet, in spite of the band’s success, America the country has not seemed to show its appreciation of America the band in any meaningful way. Perhaps we countrymen should be grateful this band choose to name itself after this country instead of, say, The Bloodhound Gang. That could have been awkward.
5. Kansas
The founding members of Kansas indeed hail from Wichita, Kansas. and, similar to America, Kansas explored the roots of folk rock, but with a more prog-rock sensibility. The band’s sound was suited to blow through those barren prairies of one of the least populated states, especially those featured on the band’s second album. 1975’s Song For America includes songs like “Down the Road,” “Song for America,” and “Lonely Street,” as well as their most successful single “Dust in the Wind,” which touches on the band’s prominent themes of spiritual growth through respect to the environment.
Through the years, the band members have maintained a positive relationship with their home state. Several original members retired there, including songwriter Kenny Livgren and very early member Lynn Merideth, who, after leaving the band, became an assistant football coach at Kansas State University for a time.
In paying homage to Kansas’ legacy, the Kansas Historical Society’s website provides the following touching tribute:
“In terms of spreading the state’s “brand name,” as well as being a positive demonstration of pride in the Sunflower State, Kansas has had perhaps no more visible proponent than, well, Kansas.”
4. Flo Rida
Born in Miami, Flo Rida (aka Tramar Dillard) lives and breathes Florida, and it is his wish to share his world with the world, and oh, is the world listening.
The Florida high life and night life are on full display throughout Flo Rida’s discography in songs like “Low,” “Wild Ones,” “Game Time,” and “How I feel,” (where he speaks of those “Miami Vices). Familiar tropes can be identified when listening to his singles in order, and more so when watching those never-subtle music videos. Overall, he celebrates a lifestyle focused on an idealized life of girls, gambling, and gaming; cars and cigars; and, oh! the references to those luxury brands, from Bacardi to BMW to Porsche and so many others.
Flo Rida is a walking advertisement for Florida, and if he’s not receiving royalties from the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation, he should be. He is worth every penny.
3. Village People
The founding members of Village People were discovered in New York City, with several founding members hailing from Greenwich Village, which, at the time of the bands’ founding, had used its high-profile Stonewall protests of 1969 to cement its place as an LGBTQ safe space. What better place to start a band that would so embrace this community?
The band itself had members who identified as gay and straight, and featured a lineup more diverse and interesting than many contemporaries on the radio atthe time.
Though the band’s greatest hits include “YMCA,” “In the Navy,” and “Macho Man,” several of the bands’ other singles include songs written to celebrate the city of its birth.
“Manhattan Woman” celebrates those “fine” and “sweet” women of NYC, and “Jungle City” captures of the chaos of the city, with its violence, traffic, and noise. A film showcasing the Village People and their love for the city was released in 1980. Can’t Stop the Music was a Razzie-award winning bomb, but has since found a small modern audience appreciating its campy elements. Among the most romanticized versions of New York City can be found in the single “The Sound of the City,” featured on the soundtrack, which features the surprisingly earnest lyrics:
Listen to the sound of the city
New York after dark is alive
Uptown in the Bronx or in Harlem
New York is a city with pride
Listen to the sound of the city
New York is both future and past
New York is the city of music
New York is the city with class
In retrospect, disco may have left Village People behind, but Village People never left New York City.
2. Alabama
Compared to the other bands on this list, Alabama (whose members hail from Fort Payne, Alabama, population of 14,000) drops references to its home state in its songs at a far greater rate, placing it at such a prominent position on this chart.
The band’s most successful single, “Song of the South,” for instance, is peppered with regional references, from “sweet potato pie” to cotton picking, and from the “Southern Democrat” of old to “Gone with the Wind.” A simple glance at other titles in their large discography shows why Alabama is a band tied so strongly to the local culture: “Dixieland Delight;” “Southern Star;” “Tennessee River;” and “High Cotton” all serve to remind other bands that, when naming yourself after a place, you’d better reference it early and often.
As for the band’s legacy, not only has Alabama sold 75 million albums worldwide; it also enjoys everlasting appreciation from the country music establishment. The Academy of Country Music named Alabama its “Artist of the Decade” for the 1980s, and it was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1. New York Dolls
The New Yorks Dolls lived fast and died young, yet its influence will live on forever. The band’s founding members met in New York City, and were the pioneer of glam and punk rock in the 1970s. They didn’t enjoy much popularity outside of New York initially. Their outlandish clothing, erratic personalities, and vulgar behavior did not sell in the heartland or the bible belt.
Their self-titled debut album “New York Dolls” and their one follow-up, 1974’s “Too Much Too Soon” introduced the dark, seedy, underground world of New York City to an American audience not ready for the audacity. Allusions to urban and moral decay presented in brazen songs like “Trash,” “Bad Girl,” and “Pills,” “Frankenstein,” and “Jet Boy” caught America off-guard, and the backlash was strong.
The New York Dolls could not sustain their onerous ways, and very soon exited the scene. The story for them was over, or so it seemed.
In 2008, legendary rock photographer Bob Gruen released New York Dolls: Photographs. In it, Gruen celebrates the look and sound of the band, as well as their continued, outsized presence in NYC culture. Gruen states that “Everyone from Joe Strummer, Gene Simmons to Bret Michaels all said they were influenced by the New York Dolls. They each found their own thing about the Dolls. Some people it was the music, some people it was the look, some people it was the attitude. The Dolls had it all.”
And, of course, punk acts like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols, and cock-rock acts like Ratt and Guns & Roses, all must give credit to New York Dolls, who kicked down the doors for pop culture to embrace these bands following in their footsteps. Long live New York Dolls.
