One of the songs I have on repeat lately is They Might Be Giants’ “When Will You Die?” It’s a lovely declaration of spite that sums up how I feel about certain figures in the news, and that’s all I need to say about that, along with some of the most playful instrumentals I’ve ever heard. But because I’m me, one especially wordplay-relevant passage caught my ear:
This is Dan,
and that’s Dan,
and there’s Marty on the drums
to complete the band
And I’m John,
and he is also John,
and all of us are wondering
when you’re gonna die
This was a real description of TMBG’s main members: leads John Flansburgh and John Linnell and backup Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf, and Marty Beller. (The two Johns had been finding their name-sameness funny since before they started the band.) This got me thinking: what other bands have oddly similar singers within them?
Of course, it’s fairly easy to find bands where the members share the same last name, since a lot of bands are families. The Carpenters, Hanson, the Jackson Five…there are a ton, and I’m not too interested in listing those. I mean, the song lyric This is a Jackson, and that’s a Jackson, and I’m a Jackson, and he is also a Jackson just isn’t as impressive somehow. (The Ramones were not related, but they adopted stage names that suggested they were.)
Duran Duran went a little further with John Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Roger Taylor…none of whom were related to each other.
The Spice Girls, more famously, had Mel B and Mel C. Both were short for Melanie.
Fleetwood Mac had two Bob W.’s for a while, Welch and Weston. Another Bob and a couple of Daves were also involved, but not at the same time, for the most part.
Dr. Feelgood seemed to like the name John even more than TMBG did, including in its ranks John Wilkinson (Wilko Johnson), John Sparks (Sparko) and John Martin (The Big Figure) and Lee John Collinson (Brillo). Wilkinson was replaced with John Mayo, who in turn was replaced with John Crippen (Johnny Guitar).
Mick Taylor was once part of the Rolling Stones with Mick Jagger.
Note: a lot of my examples were taken from this thread, which includes more cases than I can fold in here. I’m just going to round this out with a few I find more interesting than the rest.
The Band of Susans was so named because three of its members were named Susan: Stenger, Lyall, and Tallman. Unfortunately for truth in advertising, Lyall and Tallman quit after the band’s debut album.
The Sun and Sail Club has two members with the same first and last name: Scott Reeder of Barstow, California, and Scott (Thomas) Reeder of Barstow, California. No relation.
Nobody’s likely to go further with this than the Paul O’Sullivan Band, which is a band made up of four men with the same first and last name. Paul O’Sullivan of Baltimore, Paul O’Sullivan of Manchester, Paul O’Sullivan of Pennsylvania, and Paul O’Sullivan of Rotterdam met each other on social media and decided to form a band.