Boys named Sue: acts whose names are just wrong
Time was when you'd see an artist's name for the first time and have a pretty good idea of what they'd sound like: Blind Willie McTell, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Black Sabbath, Funkadelic. . . you got what it said on the tin. But somewhere along the line branding strategy went all postmodern on us and any name could indicate any genre.
So - for your amusement and my embarrassment - I thought I'd share some of the ones I've encountered over the years where my seemingly quite reasonable first assumption turned out to be just, ahem, a smidgin off the mark.
Nirvana - jazz-prog fusion
Massive Attack - thrash metal
Portishead - laddy folk-rock, a la Lindisfarne
Regina Spektor - big, ballsy R&B, like a black Pink.
M.I.A. - gangsta rap.
Have you ever heard an artist for the first time and hurriedly had to dump all the baggage that you confidently believed came with their name?
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Cowboy Junkies....
should at least be loud, with such a name (but thank christ they are not and are themselves)
I remember buying a t shirt when they played at B'ham Town Hall, before it closed for the 10 odd years it took to refurb it, and it merely had their name and a poor reproduction of them playing in bas relief, white on black, making them look even more Dandy Warholian than the eponymous. Wearing it gave many frissons of uneasy pride as it was assumed to be an advert for some depraved hardcore noise terrorist combo, instead of the rather marvellous quietcore country folk they produce.
Incidentally, they were the only band who could play softly enough the conquer that venues then appalliny accoustics, now enormously improved by removing the balconty.
10,000 Maniacs
Many years ago I was listening to a 10,000 Maniacs concert on Radio 1. My mother came into the room as Verdi Cries was playing [a slow, delicate piano ballad, for those unfamiliar], and said "that's nice, who is it?" When I told her the name of the band, she replied "Well, they don't sound very maniacal." Spot on, I thought.
Verdi Cries
And one of the finest and most moving pieces of music ever committed to vinyl. A wonderful song. Sadly and surprisingly ruined by June Tabor, on Aqaba. My 10k t shirt purchase was from around the same time, provoking similar mystification to my CJ one. And, no doubt, were the writing big enough, would my Men they Couldn't Hang t shirt, who sound more akin to a collection of C&W survivors than however one would describe their smuggling and naopleon based folk-punk