To "The" or not to "The"

[HOOLIGAN]

Trying to get peoples opinion on the importance of having the
word "The" before your band name.
My current project is torn between calling ourselves
"Cheap Knockoffs" or "The Cheap Knockoffs"-

To get the idea, some bands are easy, "Cheap Trick" is never
called "The Cheap Trick",
yet if someone asked "Who played Blitzkrieg Bop" you would
say "THE Ramones", when their records simply say "Ramones"-
Is it "Rolling Stones" or "The Rolling Stones"?

I'm looking for examples of the obvious & not so obvious
examples of bands that do or don't use "The"

[tangentmusic]

THE Beatles sounds better than Beatles
THE Kinks is better
REO Speedwagon works, THE REO Speedwagon doesnt
Led Zeppelin is good. THE Led Zeppelin is not
I prefer Cheap Knockoffs. It rolls off the tounge better (to me anyway)& can refer to knockoff's in general
THE Cheap Knockoffs sounds as if YOUR BAND's a cheap knockoff of a better band. The word THE makes it more personal

[MatticusMania]

When in doubt, throw 'the' out.

I once had a band called the Human Machine, and we were often referred to as The Human Machines...

I hate it when my current band, Ugly Ape, gets billed as The Ugly Apes

[SMILEYSIXX]

Rule of thumb: more than one, add "the". Singular- none.

THE rolling stoneS
THE ramoneS
REO speedwagon
Rush

Get it?

[sikamikanico]

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

Rule of thumb: more than one, add "the". Singular- none.

THE rolling stoneS
THE ramoneS
REO speedwagon
Rush

Get it?

heh, went quickly through my collection and that seems to be the case, except for some exceptions like The Prodigy, The Mars Volta, Pet Shop Boys...

I'd say whatever sounds and looks better to you. I'd say it also depends on the music you play and a "statement" you're trying to make...

[SMILEYSIXX]

That's why I said rule of thumb. There's always exceptions. Although I challenge your "pet shop boys" example. I say THE pet shop boys.

[Jim Nazium]

I say go with "the", preceded by someone's name, e.g. "Roland Rolex and the Cheap Knockoffs".

[duff beer]

There was once a band called "The The"...

[Pilgrim]

It's Smokey Bear...

Not Smokey THE Bear.

We now return you to your previous digression.

[dokazaado]

ok, here's my nerdy language usage take-
as long as your band name clearly has a noun in it, "the" is superflous.
if the name of your band could possibly be viewed as a verb or just a descriptor, use "the".

"Rolling Stones" is different from "The Rolling Stones".
the first sounds like a description of something you do, the second is a noun with a descriptor.
another example - "Strokes" can be a noun or a verb, but "The Strokes" is clearly a noun with the article adjective.

see also "The Fixx", "The Fall", "The Cure", etc.

unless, of course, you dig the ambiguity.

[xxfaux_punkxx]

Originally Posted by Jim Nazium

I say go with "the", preceded by someone's name, e.g. "Roland Rolex and the Cheap Knockoffs".

John Doe and THE Nobodies?


I say go with cheap knockoff.

If you add the S then add the "the".

Cheap knockoff

The cheap knockoffs.

The "s" and the "the" kinda give it a plural ordeal reffereing to all those involved in the band.

[Mr wiggl3s]

Anyone else read the op like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVLKNmbeEXw#t=1m56s

[basskababble]

Yup... it's "The Cheaps" or "Cheap Knockoff" to my ear.

[Richland123]

I always avoided the "the" in bands I named just because lots of bands used it and I had good names without it. However, when we formed my current band in 2001, I had the name "The Conniptions" and decided to use it. The funny thing is that many times when we are advertised in the newspaper or on signs, people just use "Conniptions" and eliminate "The". We are fine with it no matter how they present it in print but when we tell people the name of the band, it would sound stupid if we said "We are Conniptions" instead of "We are The Conniptions".

[FromTheBassMent]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

When in doubt, throw 'the' out.

I once had a band called the Human Machine, and we were often referred to as The Human Machines...

I hate it when my current band, Ugly Ape, gets billed as The Ugly Apes

HA, yeah, I hear ya... our band Red Eye Flight has more than once been introduced as or referred to as "The Red Eye Flight Band." Eeeek.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by FromTheBassMent

HA, yeah, I hear ya... our band Red Eye Flight has more than once been introduced as or referred to as "The Red Eye Flight Band." Eeeek.

Some friends of mine had a band they named "Oz". A neighborhood bar where they were scheduled to play had a hand scrawled poster behind the bar that said "Friday Night - The Oz's". My friends were not amused, but I sure was!

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by SMILEYSIXX

Rule of thumb: more than one, add "the". Singular- none.

THE rolling stoneS
THE ramoneS
REO speedwagon
Rush

Get it?

My band's name is Silverback, yet many fools call us The Silverbacks, even though they've never seen it in print or heard it uttered from a band member's lips. FOOLS!

[Kink Rimson]

I love those clips from the late 60s where a TV presenter introduces 'The Pink Floyd', and 'The Deep Purple'.

[mambo4]

I believe it originally WAS "The Pink Floyd"

My band suffers from the same superfluous "The" when billed.

[ric stave]

One of my old bands' names was "The Sparx Flight"

We had been billed/advertised as "Starry Flight" and "Sparky and the Flightmen"...

...so I didn't really worry about the 'the' too much....