Thingy Whatsit and the Doodahs

I had a brief conversation last weekend about how bands aren't called "First-Name Second-Name and the Somethings" any more, and since then I've had occasional "Yes!" moments when I've thought of another. I suspect I might have alarmed the person who was walking down Shirley High Street as I was cycling up when I suddenly shouted "Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers." I had fairly strict rules for myself about this - it has to be two names, followed by "and the" and a noun. So Martha Reeves and The Vandellas was allowed, but not Martha and The Vandellas (or Antony and The Johnsons). It didn't have to be an actual name, and I allowed more than one word after the "and the" - I could have Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars or Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt Kickers. Both of those, by the way, I considered for a subcategory of "really long names in the format name-name-and-the-noun".

I suspect I've had about as much mileage as I can from this. We need more bands with names in this format - except that unless you're starting a kitsch tribute band, having a name like that is going to make you sound as dated as Brian Poole and The Tremeloes.