"The" in band names

[jonathanpeterso]

Or The Thes?

[OtherMichael]

Well, then:

Definite Article

@jonathanpeterso

Or The Thes?

I think the correct form is Thes The.

[scratcheee]

I was very disappointed to find out that one band’s name was not “Smashing Pumpkins”, referring to the act, but rather “The Smashing Pumpkins”, referring to handsome orange gourds. Now I’m not so sure…their first album says “Smashing Pumpkins” on the cover, and the second says “The Smashing Pumpkins”.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because a while back Sirius XM adopted the practice of dropping ‘The’ from all group names on their radio displays. And as has been brought up elsewhere in the thread, I have to wonder whether they play any songs by The The. At any rate, I think it was a terrible decision on their part, because the definite article matters, and it does mean something.

[halloween_jack_]

Nerd counterpart: “Actually [pushes glasses up nose], it’s The Batman.”

[catgrin]

Checked out the band site, and there’s no “The” in the header. It looks like it was adopted off-and-on by the band as an affectation, or possibly just where it made sense on packaging.

Smashing Pumpkins - The Covers and Rare Stuff Vol. 1

is different from

The Smashing Pumpkins - Rarities and B-Sides

Similar period releases may or may not include a “the”. Two tribute albums to the band don’t name the band that way:

A Gothic-Industrial Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins

and

The String Quartet Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins

Maybe their flip-flopping is intentional. It’s a subtle reference to how they could be very, very good - but when they were bad, they were naughty!

[daneel]

Smashing Pumpkins sounds like a Terry-Thomas or Leslie Phillips chat up line.

Ding dong!