The Band Name Book (Paperback)

Easily digestible snippets [make] an irresistible addition to any pop-culture library. (Gift Books Christmas 2008 The Globe and Mail 20081204)

This highly amusing book explain[s] hundreds of weird and wonderful band names used around the world... Hard to resist. (Gift Books Christmas 2008 The Guelph Mercury 200812)

The mother of all list books....There are thousands of names here, some recognizable but most bewilderingly obscure. (Vancouver Sun 20081101)

The Band Name Book delivers the scoop on how pop and rock bands (both famous and obscure) got their names. (Quentin Mills-Fenn Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg) Holiday Gift Guide 2008 20081123)

The Band Name Book lists an impressive number--many hundreds of them--with brief descriptions and background information. (Nuvo 20080918)

An entertaining and fun look at thousands of band names and their origins from around the world. (Doug Foley The Hamilton Spectator 20081113)

The Band Name Book by Noel Hudson is a great resource. It's a colourful, encyclopedia-style read. (Don Ermen Sun Media 20081129)

After getting through maybe two pages, I'm sold that this is a GREAT read for any music fan. (Andrew King CanadianMusician.com 200812)

Great gift for the teenagers. (Lois Cooper Muskoka Today (Gravenhurst ON) 20081214)

It is a colourful, encyclopedia-style read. (Don Ermen The Sudbury Star 20081022)

[Hudson's] easy-to-navigate structure cleverly organizes his book with a three-tier system that will take readers on an informative and often funny journey... This is a good-looking book, with heavy paper and a hefty feel, and beautiful, vibrant colors. (Jim Scott Under the Radar 20081102)

It's a fun bathroom book. (The News and Observer (Durham NC) )

The Band Name Book is great bathroom material, or a nice addition to your coffee table. (ichannelmusic.com )

As cliché as it sounds, this is one of those books that makes you say, I'm surprised no one's thought of writing about this before..... Certainly to be treasured, read and re-read by trivia whores and music minutiae maniacs--and many others besides. (Matt Tapia MeanStreet )

This frisky compendium of band-name album-cover artwork, trivia, tidbits and liberal dashes if this and that, it translates into hours of browsing by rock lovers of all ages. (Neil Pond American Profile )

Any musicians laboring over just the right name for their latest endeavor should stop what they're doing and pick up Noel Hudson's The Band Name Book, a cheeky compendium...that catalogs, by category (Preston Jones Fort Worth Star-Telegram )

What's in a name? Ask the lead singer.

A big, open-it-anywhere book created for music fans and pop-culture followers of all ages, The Band Name Book explains how (or where) the best-named bands in history got their names. Those names are profound, clever, silly, provocative or downright obscure. This entertaining book is full of information and trivia about bands from the dawn of rock 'n' roll right up to today's Internet-based independents.

The Beatles are here, as well as Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and the Goo Goo Dolls. But the best fun is found with rock history's lesser-known groups, in Web-savvy contemporary bands, and with true originals. Among their names:

• Atomic Rooster
• Arctic Monkeys
• The Lemonheads
• The Formaldebrides
• The Soup Dragons
• Pavlov's Woody
• Arcade Fire
• Big Al and the Kaholics
• Hectic Watermelon
• Smorgasborgnine.

The Band Name Book includes entries on thousands of bands from more than 30 countries, divided into dozens of entertaining and irreverent categories with special notes on name origins, genres and best album titles. There are profiles of notable bands. And there's even a list of "Names Still Available" for each category.

(20081127)