Why did so many '80s band names consist of the same word twice?

I heard Rema Rema for the first time yesterday. Damn that's cool stuff. Any band that gave us the Wolfgang Press and Renegade Soundwave has to be good...

Selzer Selzer will be performing Talk Talk by the Music Machine this CMJ.

my social life's a dud, my name is really mud. I'm up to here in lies, guess I'm down to size, TO SIZE!

I've heard this. It's great. It's "Talk Talk" (the song; as in "All you do to me is...") done punk rock.

The full title of the album is Streets: Select Highlights from Independent British Labels.

Totally irrelevant to the matter at hand, but their bass player got killed in a hit-and-run accident outside the Empty Bottle a few months back. It was after a show that I went to (though I think we left earlier).

Oh, and there's another local band called Bang Bang.

Mr. Mister
-- jaymc (jmcunnin...), August 23rd, 2004 1:20 PM. (jaymc)

and Cava Cava is one word, no?

Allez Allez (Weren't they Belgian?)

Mercy Mercy ("What Are We Gonna Do About It" - sublime, flawless 80s boogie classic)

Fun Fun ("Happy Station", "Colour My Love" - Italo-disco boshers)

Somo Somo (Congolese soukous)

Womack & Womack - entered the spirit, at least...

Was (Not Was) - it's like they had a re-think halfway through naming the band...

And from around 1991:

Father Father ("Love, Life and Life Loving"... rock/soul thingy, style mag flavour of the month)

Temper Temper ("Like We Used To"... big rip-roaring soul ballad thingy)

Er, no. As mentioned in the first post of the thread.

If Lisa Lisa counts then so does Tracie Tracie (sp.?)

sorry, wrong thread...

And Duran Duran were already a well-established group in the Birmingham club scene by the time Simon Le Bon showed up at the Rum Runner in his infamous purple leopard spotted trousers for his audition. In fact, the two people responsible for the band's name were the two band founders, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. And, as I mentioned on one of the Duran-specific threads, Simon was actually the band's FOURTH lead singer, after Steven "Tin Tin" Duffy, Andy Wickett, and Jeff Thomas (formerly of Roger Taylor's old band, the Scent Organs).

p.s.: Duran Duran cannot be said to have "reformed". A band must reformed if it completely broke up in the first place. Since 1980, there's always been at least Simon and Nick right there, and since 1986 (when Roger and Andy left and most "fans" dropped Duran like a bad habit), Duran have released seven studio albums, three best-ofs (including one just concentrating on the first two years), two remix compilations, and underwent at least eight major tours throughout North America and elsewhere. Just wanted to clear that up with you.

You bet it is, I mean: so classic it hurts.

Hot Hot Heat
Flaming Fire
Fiery Furnaces

Damn, that's a hat trick, and I've still got three elements to go. And what about Jean Grey's "Attack of the Attacking Things" EP? The Magic Magicians? C'mon, there's got to be at least another dozen of these floating around out there in Indierockville as we speak...

Boys Don't Cry
Curiosity Killed The Cat
Cats Can Fly
Johnny Hates Jazz
Grab Grab The Haddock (a personal favourite!)
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Look Blue Go Purple (a complete sentence, however incomprehensible)
Sigue Sigue Sputnik ("Burn Burn Satellite" in Russian)
We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It
...and I suppose Talk Talk qualifies too! (Likewise Push Push, whoever they were.)

-- Johnny Fever (johnny.feve...), August 23rd, 2004.

wow, that's brilliant, especially because that means by their 4th album they would have been Go Boi!!!!!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082676/

A movie about foosball starring Leif Garrett!

Chin Chin, of Switzerland.
― OleM (OleM), Tuesday, August 24, 2004 10:08 AM (6 years ago)

Thought I was going to get to be the first one to mention these guys. Coming up next on my working-music stereo. Probably followed by the new Zun Zun Egui, in fact.

I think there is something intentionally childish about it. One of my siblings had an imaginary childhood friend named "Chair Chair." I think it's going for liberating primitive childish absurdity. It makes me think of "dada" too. What about the general importance of repetition in the 80s (especially thinking of minimalism and electronic dance, and perhaps disco)?

I'm not sure why then however.

Because to say the same word twice in a row tends to be to babble and not add content (give or take countless exceptions--like, doesn't repeating the same word in Chinese, for instance, sort of act as an intensifier? at least some of the time?).

kinda surprised there wasn't an art-damaged 80s band named Foot Foot

Well, it can act as an intensifier in other languages too - "very very good" is better than "very good" and "sehr sehr gut" is the same.

I'm not convinced about the childish thing, unless it's done with specifically childlike words - in fact, usually I'd say that more childlike would be similar and rhyming words (can't think of band names other than Oingo Boingo, but stuff like that and 'Mellow Yellow' etc). Repetition in band names does tend to be poeticism without meaning, though, which, to be honest, is pretty much what lyrics are.

xpost

Would totally be in a band called Foot Foot.

dada doesn't refer to the word/sound children tend to use...

xpost

Yeah, but it evokes that same primal/childish or child-like association. As for the "real" origin of "dada," there are contradictory accounts of how the word was adopted (surprise, surprise), but the Dadaists seemed to relish the potentially childish meanings (e.g., rocking horse).

Well, it can act as an intensifier in other languages too - "very very good" is better than "very good"

Good point.