Last night, my wife and I were at The Capitol Hill Block Party here in Seattle. It was a great time, but that’s not the reason I’m writing this post.
I’m writing because, in more proof that you shouldn’t pretend to love a band just because you are introducing them, the Washington Congressman who introduced Yeasayer as “the greatest band coming out of New York City ” called them, The Yeasayers. Granted, this is most probably the first and only time that anyone has referred to Yeasayer as The Yeasayers, but it got me thinking about all the other bands who regularly get a ‘THE’ added to their name that shouldn’t be there.
There are bands for whom it happens all the time, like:
Pixies, Doves, Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Talking Heads, Dirty Projectors, etc.
There are also bands for whom it never happens, but it would be awesome if it did, like:
Cary Brothers becomes multiple people when he becomes The Cary Brothers.
Andrew Bird changes species when he transforms into The Andrew Bird.
M. Ward sounds like part of a mental institution when you call him The M. Ward.
And if it weren’t for that pesky second ‘b,’ Derek Webb would turn into a conspiracy thriller for the fall film season when you change him into The Derek Webb.
What say you? What band annoys you the most when people add a ‘The’ that shouldn’t be there, or who has a name that changes in wonderful ways when you add a ‘The’ to the front of it?
Emily Small
The John Legend – he is now a legend which is told around campfires to scare children
The Tom Waits – sounds like an awkward sentence which a young child would make up