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Aston Villa?

November 24th, 2006 · Posted by Skuds in Music · 7 Comments · Music

When something happens once its just an occurence, when it happens twice its coincidence, but a third time and I think it could be the start of a trend.  I am referring, naturally, to naming a band after a football team from another country.

First there was Saint Etienne named after the French team of that name, then there were the Kaiser Chiefs named after South Africa's Kaizer Chiefs FC, but today I heard about a French band called Astonvilla.

To the French it may be an exotic-sounding foreign name, like Saint Etienne is to English ears, but to us it just means, well, Aston Villa.

Are they the only three, or are there more? I wonder. Is there perhaps a band called Leyton Orient playing the hotel lobby circuit in the Phillipines, or a Dancehall act in Jamaica called Juventas?  Is there a Mexican mariachi band strolling around under the name of Fenerbahçe?  it wouldbe nice to think so.

I'm obviously out of touch with French music though. I only heard of Astonvilla today but according to their web site "Astonvilla est un groupe de rock formé en 1994 dans la banlieue sud-est de Paris". 

 

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7 Comments so far ↓

  • Jane Skudder

    Accrington Stanley would be a good name for a comedian on the Northern club circuit…

  • tyger

    Accrington Stanley would be a good name for a comedian on the Northern club circuit…

    🙂

  • Skuds

    Accrington Stanley sounds like one of those wonderful names which turn up on corporate e-mail directories which are always in reverse order.

    (For example, John Prince shows up as Prince John)

    We had a name like Dave Norfolk on ours which showed up on the list as Norfolk Dave and sounded like it should be a gypsy gangster character in a Guy Ritchie film.

    Mind you, we also have a Lloyd Pink, and some joker in IT has put an F in front of his name so everyone gets e-mails from Pink Floyd.

  • Bob Piper

    Yes… been around for years. My favourite French rock group…. (well, no actually, that is St Germain named after the St Germain area of Paris, I think, rather than the football club).

  • Skuds

    Yes they did sound OK to me, though I wouldn’t rate them above Mano Negra, Les Negresses Vertes, Elmer Food Beat or Niagara. Or Daft Punk.

  • Finnieston Crane

    There was a band called ‘Overmars’ a while back. Not quite the same but equally odd. What about indie bed-wetters, Keane? Named after Roy or Robbie?

  • Skuds

    Bands named after football players rather than teams – thats a whole other can of worms…