Unused Band Names at 2:00 a.m.

This morning at around 2:00 a.m., as I was lying in bed wide awake, I began, for some as-yet-unknown reason, thinking about names for bands I had thought up in the past (one I even used, briefly). In Love Monkey (which I sincerely hope never goes off the air because I like it so much), Tom Farrel hears odd phrases or words every now and then and he thinks to himself, "Hmmm, that's a good name for a band."

Now you may be wondering what unused band names have to do with Costa Rica, and really it is simply that I was awoken in the middle of the night by someone or other playing rather loud techno music (do people really still listen to that?) and couldn't get back to sleep until around 3:00. When this happens, my mind begins making lists of various and sundry random things -- thus, unused band names. I did, briefly, consider getting up and phoning the police, as people are not supposed to play music that loud after 11:00 without a permit. But I figured it was probably esposo's friend's bar down the street that was playing the music, and since his business has not been the greatest lately (someone was killed during a bar fight there about a month ago), I let it slide. Plus, actually picking up the phone would have meant getting out of bed. Ha. No.

So, here they are, my favorite unused band names:

1. Belf Soup -- One day my friend Manders and I were at a bagel place in Monterey getting some coffee and bagels, and noticed that on the soup of the day one of the "e"s in "Beef" had been partially erased and looked like an "l". We couldn't stop laughing, being silly as we were, thinking how much "belf" sounded like a variation of "barf." If both of us had not been vegetarians, I'm sure we would have ordered the "belf soup" just to be even more idiotic than we were being at the time, which, I can assure you, was pretty idiotic. The soup was actually "belf barley" but that did not sound as good a band name as "belf soup." There you have it, and if you use it, be sure to remember this fascinating story.

2. June Cleaver's Beaver -- I like the double entendre of it, which I think speaks for itself. Punk rock band, anyone?

3. Bankshot -- This one I actually used briefly, when I had a ska band with my friends Tracy on guitar, me on bass, and Patrick singing. We even wrote two songs, but never could find a good enough drummer, and then Tracy had a baby and Patrick moved to Oregon, taking my amp with him (you still owe me $500 Pat, don't think I forgot about it!). Bands. This is a title of an Op Ivy song (originally fronted by the great Tim Armstrong, por supuesto!), and would be a good name of another ska band.

4. Unholy Alliance -- You may not remember a band called Max Q way back in the early 90s, but I do, because I was always a huge fan of Michael Hutchence (in fact, I first was attracted to esposo because I thought he looked like a cross between Michael Hutchence and Antonio Banderas). He did this solo thing during a break from INXS -- Max Q -- and I just thought that particular song title sounded very much like a goth or metal band. Any takers? Ray?

In this internet age, it would be cool if someone started a website dedicated to unused band names. Sort of like a baby names page -- there have to be hundreds of those out there! A band is a lot like a baby, actually. In the meantime, check out the random Great Name for a Band generator. And stop by The Worst Band Names Ever, which I think is pretty belfin' funny.