Music Babble

Do you say either of these groups' names with a "the" in front of it? Because I never have even though both bands "officially" do have a "the" in front of their name. I'm sure there are other cases of this, where a band's "official" name is not the one many fans use, but can't think of any off the top of my head.

In the case of The Pumpkins, "Siamese Dream" was the album that turned me onto them and the band name didn't include a "the". Then, with "Mellon Collie", Billy decided to be appropriately pretentious and add a "the", which has always sounded awkward to me, especially when you remember that the band name is a euphemism for "nice tits".

Re: VU, I'm not 100% sure but I think my dad always said their name without the "the" and he was how I first heard about them, since one of his key musical memories is hearing the "VU & Nico" for the first time in class at his high school right after it came out- even in Hayward, CA of all places, there was at least 1 teacher who recognized that important music was being made and wanted to turn the students on so to speak. So yeah, I was used to VU without the "the" and it's another case where it sorta sounds awkward with it- I mean, the name's long enough as it is.

And before you ask, yes, I'm quite stoned.