BAND ALPHABET

The “songs that make me smile” list got me thinking about favorite rock’n’roll bands, so here’s another alphabet list:

THE ANIMALS
THE BEATLES (if they didn’t dominate this letter, I’d be hard pressed to make a decision since there seems to be so many B’s, like THE BEACH BOYS, THE BYRDS, THE BAND, THE BEASTIE BOYS, BLONDIE, THE BEE GEES, THE BANGLES, BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY, THE B-52s et. al.)
CREAM (and THE CLASH)
THE DOORS
THE EVERLY BROTHERS ("E" is a hard category, but I did love their music when I was young and it still brings back sweet memories, like 'WAKE UP LITTLE SUZIE")
THE FUGS (kind of a joke, but a well intentioned one, and THE FOUR SEASONS, mostly vocalists, but great musicians nonetheless, and song writers)
GREEN DAY
HUSKER DU
THE ISLEY BROTHERS (they didn’t always play their own instruments like the rest of these groups, but sometimes they did as they reconfigured over the years—I first saw them at the West Orange, New Jersey, “Teenage Canteen” around 1957, and never forgot it)
JANE’S ADDICTION
THE KINKS
LOS LOBOS
MC 5 (another big category, with THE MINUTEMEN and THE MGS and THE METERS, MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, et. al.)
THE NEGRO PROBLEM (a ‘90s L. A. band that should have made it bigger, though the main guy in it has a Broadway musical just opening, based on his life and music, called PASSING STRANGE)
THE ORIOLES (one of the first, great R&B vocal groups, they also accompanied themselves with one guy’s guitar playing, so qualify as a band in that sense, no orchestra etc.)
THE PROCLAIMERS
QUEEN
THE ROLLING STONES (another huge category with THE RAMONES, RADIOHEAD, THE REPLACEMENTS, R.E.M., et. al.)
SPANISH KITCHEN (another ‘80s-‘90s L. A, band that should have made it bigger, in which, full disclosure, my oldest son Miles played bass and sang back up vocals)
THE TALKING HEADS
U-2
VAN HALEN
THE WHITE STRIPES (what was I thinking, THE WHO of course, and THE WAITRESSES too)
X (the greatest L. A. ‘80s-‘90s “punk” band)
YES
THE ZOMBIES