Self-titled albums are one thing. But when a band names one of its songs after itself — or, alternately, when a band names itself after one of its songs — it’s a pretty big deal. The song itself comes off looking something like a mission statement, an encapsulation of everything that the band means. When Bad Company names a song “Bad Company,” they want you to know that this song is what they’re all about.
Not too many bands have been brave enough to attempt this trick throughout history. For some reason, a lot of the bands who did attempt it were either metal or hardcore. We’ve collected 20 of them below, and some of them are pretty great. We’ve weeded out all the songs that are only partially named after the groups, which means we’ve weeded out some more pretty great songs. Honorable mentions include Queen’s “Killer Queen,” the Clash’s “This Is Radio Clash,” Big Country’s “In A Big Country,” the Stray Cats’ “Stray Cat Strut,” Das-EFX’s “They Want EFX,” Nas’s “Nas Is Like,” Refused’s “Refused Are Fucking Dead,” Wilco’s “Wilco (The Song),” and of course the Monkees’ “(Theme From) The Monkees.”
Check out our selections and stream the songs below. And in the comments section, let us know what we forgot.
1. Atari Teenage Riot – “Atari Teenage Riot” (1993)
2. Bad Company – “Bad Company” (1974)
3. Bad Religion – “Bad Religion” (1981)
4. Belle & Sebastian – “Belle & Sebastian” (1997)
5. Black Sabbath – “Black Sabbath” (1970)
6. Body Count – “Body Count” (1992)
7. Damn Yankees – “Damn Yankees” (1990)
8. Green Day – “Green Day” (1990)
9. Icehouse – “Icehouse (1980)
10. Iron Maiden – “Iron Maiden” (1980)
11. Kool & The Gang – “Kool & The Gang” (1969)
12. Meat Puppets – “Meat Puppets” (1982)
13. Minor Threat – “Minor Threat” (1981)
14. Motörhead – “Motörhead” (1975) *
15. Pennywise – “Pennywise” (1991)
16. Porno For Pyros – “Porno For Pyros” (1993)
17. Talk Talk – “Talk Talk” (1982)
18. They Might Be Giants – “They Might Be Giants” (1989)
19. Titus Andronicus – “Titus Andronicus” (2008)
20. Youth Of Today – “Youth Of Today” (1986)
* “Motörhead” gets an asterisk because it’s a cover, after a fashion. Before Lemmy founded Motörhead, he was a member of Hawkwind, and Hawkwind’s song “Motörhead” is what gave Lemmy’s new band its name. Also, I couldn’t find versions of “New Kids On The Block” by New Kids On The Block or “Judas Priest” by Judas Priest on YouTube. And that’s a live version of “Meat Puppets” and a demo version of “They Might Be Giants.” Rare misses, YouTube.
