Band Names in High Strung

Band names typically fell into certain patterns back in those days:

Location
Asia, Boston, Kansas, Chicago, Berlin, Miami Sound Machine
Gerund-Noun Pair
Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Smashing Pumpkins, Burning Spear
Adjective-Noun Pair
Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Spiders from Mars, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Soft Machine, Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick, Dire Straits, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails
(Leader's Name)(Optionally with Band/Group)
Santana, Allman Brothers Band, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Patti Smith Group, Crosby Stills & Nash
Noun Alone
Styx, Journey, Rush, Queen, Television, Renaissance, Traffic, Scorpions, Nirvana
The Something
The Clash, The Jam, The Police, The Cars, The Cult, The Cure, The Go-Gos, The Bangles
Biblical/Literary/Historical Allusion
Jethro Tull, Uriah Heep, Aerosmith (play on Arrowsmith), Toto, Judas Priest, Genesis, Jesus and Mary Chain, Dead Kennedys

How This Helps You Choose

Roll once on the Type of Name table, then roll as appropriate on the Filling Bits table. For Leader's Name, use the name of the chosen band Leader.

Type of Name Table

d20 die roll    Type of Name
1-2          Location
3-4          Gerund-Noun Pair
5-8          Adjective-Noun Pair
9-10        Leader's Name
11-15      Noun Alone
16-18      The Something
19-20      Allusion

Filling Bits Table

d20    Noun        Gerund        Adjective    Location    Allusion To   
1    Earwig          Kicking        Rusty           Bristol        Old Testament
2    Kneepants    Rocking        Red             California    New Testament
3    Boots            Blazing         Black          Brazil          Dickens
4    Top Hat        Dancing        Glossy        Africa          Western
5    Tractor         Crashing       Shaky          Iceland        American Presidents
6    Lion             Sparking       Sneaky        Paris            Tudor England
7    Outlet          Churning       Lazy            Buenos Aires    Folk Tales
8    Radio           Jumping        Dynamic     Laredo        Hollywood
9    Porridge      Slashing        Green           Alaska        Disney
10    Youth        Towering       Hard Boiled Sahara        Looney Tunes
11    Teeth         Cracking       Wounded     Arabia         The Enlightenment
12    Habit         Simmering    Forgetful     Casablanca  Conquistadors
13    Rodent       Screaming    Drunken      Bangcock     Austen
14    Bishop       Sinking         Cocky         Antarctica     Art Cinema
15    Rooster     Gleaming      Reckless     Tananareve    Noir Cinema
16    Monster     Stomping      Restless      Noumea        Hemingway
17    Bomber      Hopping      Furious        Kingston       Childrens' Book
18    Goblin        Smoking     Sullen          Dover            Classic TV
19    Pistol         Rumbling    Kinky          Calcutta         Pulp
20    Penguin     Flaming       Mad             Mars             Science Fiction

Examples:

Location        Bangcock, Sahara, Bristol
Gerund-Noun Pair    Gleaming Youth, Smoking Penguin, Rocking Kneepants
Adjective-Noun Pair    Hard Boiled Rodent, Kinky Bishop, Rusty Top Hat
Noun Alone        Bomber, Monster, Goblin
The Something        The Wounded, The Furious, The Mad
Allusion        Doctor Zeuss, Pickwick, Bizarro Pizzaro