The Sweet Sixteen Of Bands With Exactly Four Letters In Their Names : To celebrate the fourth day of the new year, the local classic rock station played a set of songs that had titles with exactly four letters. I enjoyed hearing “Lola” by the Kinks and “Beth” by Kiss, but I found “Easy” by the Commodores to be a little too soft to classify as classic rock.
The segment did, however, made me think of another option the disc jockey could have chosen to honor the fourth day of January. He could have played selections from bands with just four letters in their names, a list that could be very impressive.
Here are the sweet sixteen of the best band names featuring exactly four letters, excluding those groups who include the three letter definite article in front. Thus, you will not see the Cult, the Cure, or the Cars among the sixteen I compiled.
Rush
Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart have been one of the most dynamic trios in rock since the Seventies.
Asia
After a sensational debut that spawned huge hits like “Only Time Will Tell” and “Heat of the Moment”, this supergroup went on to record over a dozen records during their existence.
Blur
Along with Oasis, Damon Alburn’s band helped bring about a new British Invasion in the Nineties.
Bush
These rockers named their band long before either George H.W. or his son served in the Oval Office.
ACDC
Back In Black is probably their most well-known album, but any of a dozen hits can still be heard almost weekly on classic rock stations.
Toto
David Paich and a few of his mates worked as the back up band for Boz Scaggs before they set out on their own to make a fabulous debut and later hits such as “Africa” and “Rosanna.”
Kiss
According to drummer Peter Criss’s excellent autobiography Makeup To Breakup, it was guitarist Paul Stanley who came up with the idea to make the last two letters in the band name look like lightning.
T Rex
Marc Bolan unfortunately went down as a one-hit wonder because of “Bang a Gong”, but his glam rock proved to be very influential long after his untimely death.
Mott
Hoople left the band name after front man Ian Hunter bolted for a solo career, but the rest of the guys made a couple of commendable records under this one word.
Devo
“Whip It” and its campy video made them a household name in the Eighties, but Mark Mothersbaugh and several of the others found fame outside of the charts in the decades that followed.
Ween
Fans never know what to expect from this eccentric duo, which is one of ten reasons their records are so highly anticipated.
OK Go
Dancing on a treadmill for the video helped propel this power pop ensemble to stardom in the first decade of the century.
Styx
“Lady” was a huge success, but the Chicago quintet really took off when guitarist Tommy Shaw became the front man.
Dawn
Tony Orlando became such a star that after early hits like “Knock Three Times” and “Candida” his name was placed in front of the group.
Poco
Before Jim Messina paired with Kenny Loggins, he played with this group headed by Richie Furay, who had previously been a member of Buffalo Springfield.
Free
Half of Bad Company, Paul Rodgers and Boz Burrell, had been in this band until teaming with Mick Ralphs after he left Mott the Hoople.