I started laughing to myself the other day. Swirling around in my head were the many names of bands I have heard over the years. Especially many of the fun ones which came out of the 1950's. Ones like The Platters, The Comets, The Drifters, The Diamonds, The Echoes, The Escorts, The Chantels, The Letterman, The Emotions, The Virtues, The Duprees, The Belmonts, The Clovers, The Pony-Tails, The Quarrymen, and of course The Imperials, The Spinners and The Coasters.

I also liked the ones with the word TONE in their names like The Cleftones, The Harptones, The Heathertones and The Sparkletones. None of which should be confused with The Bell Notes or The Chimes. Bird names were also very popular like The Ravens, The Robbins, The Cardinals, The Crows, The Falcons, The Swallows, The Flamingos, The Penguins, The Paragons, The Orioles, The Larks and The Wrens!

Some numbers really did the trick too, as the names backed up the number of members in the band. The Kingston Trio, The Fours Aces, The Four Buddies, The Four Freshman, The Four Knights, The Four Lads, The Four Lovers, The Four Preps, The Four Tunes, The Fairfield Four and at the bottom of my list, The Four Tops! There was also The Five Satins, The Five Discs, The Five Keys, The Five Sharps and the Jive Five!

There were, of course, car games too like The Edsels, The Eldorados, The Fleetwoods, The Cadillacs, and The Impalas.

We can't forget all the brothers and sisters like The Buchanan Brothers, The Bonnie Sisters, The Ames Brothers, The Andrew Sisters, The Isley Brothers, The Fontane Sisters, The Shepherd Sisters and The Righteous Brothers, and there were The Oak Ridge Boys and The Teenagers too! There were even a few natural disasters like, The Fireballs, The Hurricanes, and The Tornadoes, after which The Rainbows would come out.

There was The Mello Kings, The Teen Queens, but somehow The Royals (a good name) was overlooked. There was The Champs, but not The Losers. Jewels, Jesters and Jive Bombers, The Quotations, but no Question Marks, but there were Spiders, Starliters and even Stereos and The Volume!

While these names go on endlessly, along with the many other fun names throughout recording history, like AC/DC, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, or The Clash, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beachboys, and The Yardbirds, I keep asking why?

Why were the great possible art names almost completely overlooked? People that make music are considered artists and so why, why, why, is our illustrious recording history not decorated with wonderful art-related names attached to great bands. From the 50's you can only really find a couple in The Ink Spots and The Monotones. I'm mean you can find a few good ones with a color in their name like Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Green Day, Yellow Card, Maroon 5, The Moody Blues, The Black Keys, Simply Red, and artists like Pink.

I want some real art names though. How about 50's bands called The Earthtones or The Brush Strokes? Maybe Color Wheel would make a good name for a band. How about rock band names like Paint By Number, White Canvas, The Sketch or even Portfolio? Maybe The Three Easels, The Blend, or North Light. How about a soft jazz group called Plein Air, Smooth Texture, or Collage? Maybe an Italian pop group called Impasto! Or a new age group called Impressionism or Graphite. There are so many good ones. Try Art Nouveau, Cityscape, Composition, Exposure, Figurative, The Hue, Illusion, Improvisation, Juxtaposition, The Line, The Medium, Monochrome, Renaissance, Replica, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Translucent, a three-member band called - Triptych. Probably just me, but I think I could really dig hearing some rocking tunes by The Palette!