Talk:The Fabulous Wailers

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I would consider this article to be a stub. This is a pretty darn important garage rock band. They founded Etiquette Records, which put the Sonics on the map. They recorded a bunch of albums. Several of their cuts have been anthologized on various "Nuggets" style compilations, and their sound was a blueprint for a lot of the Grunge movement of the late 1980's and early 90's. (Especially Mudhoney.)

Their cover of "Louie Louie" did not merely inspire the Kingsmen....the Kingsmen quoted the asides ("OK let's give it to them right now!") and solo of the Wailers' version verbatim. And I am pretty sure they released more than 5 singles.

It would be nice to subdivide the member list into distinct lineups, and to list all the albums and singles, too.

Sojambi Pinola 21:52, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree this deserves much more of an article. By the way, Kent Morrill just died. - 16:40, 17 April 2011 (UTC)
 * I've had a go at expanding it. Ghmyrtle (talk) 23:03, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

"Rock Band"?
Surely it's wrong to call The Wailers a 'rock band'? The term 'rock' didn't even exist in the 50s. They were a rock'n'roll band. I would have altered their description but I don't want to start a firestorm, is there some good reason for calling them rock other than the current trend to describe everything as rock? --Deke42 (talk) 11:06, 13 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I have some sympathy with your viewpoint, but I think any change would create more problems than it would solve. They may originally have been a "rock and roll band", but as time went on they seem to have regarded themselves as "rock", specifically "garage rock".  (Of course, there isn't really any substantive difference between "rock'n'roll" and "rock", just a gradual change in terminology.)   I probably wouldn't object to a change, but I don't think it's needed.  Ghmyrtle (talk) 11:20, 13 July 2011 (UTC)

Discussion on article name for the band: "The Wailers" vs. "The Fabulous Wailers"
I'm not adding this so much to give my opinion on the matter as to try to stimulate discussion about which name is a more appropriate name for the purposes of this Wikipedia article. I reverted the page back to "The Wailers" because the move was made without prior discussion and the name usage isn't entirely clear (based on the band's recording history, current usage as of 2013, etc.). So here's the discussion thread! Bumm13 (talk) 03:26, 15 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Google hits: When I compared "The Wailers" Tacoma -fabulous (indicating just "The Wailers") to "The Fabulous Wailers" Tacoma, the number of hits was 1,210,000 versus just 47,900. When I did a similar comparison using "The Wailers" Morrill -fabulous (indicating just "The Wailers") to "The Fabulous Wailers" Morrill , the number of hits was 65,900 versus 27,800. Just one attempt at providing data (comparative analysis) to help make a naming decision regarding the band's article name. Bumm13 (talk) 04:01, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
 * I just did your searches and got 44.300 and 47,400 respectively. I think these days Google produces individualised results, so they will be different from one country to the next and one person to the next. I read recently there is a tag you can put into Google which will neutralise a search but I can't remember what it was.  SilkTork  ✔Tea time  16:09, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
 * At the same time, the band's website is www.thefabulouswailers.com and is used in the main band logo graphic at that website. However, even there, the name usage is inconsistent (which is rather annoying, really). So.... hmm. Bumm13 (talk) 04:01, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Also, the first mention of the band on both their website's history and discography pages is under the name "The Fabulous Wailers". Bumm13 (talk) 04:15, 15 August 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment. I prefer The Wailers (rock band), but it is something of a moot point, I think.  My perception is that they were originally known as The Wailers - and were credited as such on their hits, which are the main basis for their notability - but were promoted as The Fabulous Wailers in their publicity and on their record sleeves, and later - after Bob Marley's band became well known - more or less adopted The Fabulous Wailers as their name. So, I think there are are arguments on both sides, which is why I didn't pursue the Nov 2012 name change.  Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:29, 15 August 2013 (UTC)


 * The Fabulous Wailers is what the band are commonly and naturally known as. Policy does say to use a natural and common name over disambiguation brackets where possible: WP:NATURAL. When using brackets it means that editors have to pipe links and amend templates such as findnotice as there is no such band as "The Wailers (rock band)", while there is a band called "the Fabulous Wailers", which is who the article is about. The article name is clearer, more helpful, less confusing, and follows policy better as The Fabulous Wailers. For some people The Wailers (rock band) could refer to either the reggae or the garage rock band as "rock band" is an awkward fit as a descriptor, while The Fabulous Wailers clearly identifies who the article is about, and uses the common name which the band themselves currently use to uniquely identify themselves. If there is general agreement that The Fabulous Wailers is an acceptable name, and no objection to using that name, I will move the article to that name after allowing another 48 hours for objections.  SilkTork  ✔Tea time  15:50, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Odd stats: The main article The Wailers (rock band)  has been viewed 1943 times in the last 90 days; while the redirect The Fabulous Wailers has been viewed 2464 times in the last 90 days. Why would the redirect have been viewed more than the article itself?  SilkTork  ✔Tea time  23:21, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
 * It's not odd at all, given that the article was at "The Fabulous Wailers" from 2 November 2012 to 14 August 2013. Bumm13 (talk) 05:37, 19 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Ah! Yes, that would explain it!  SilkTork  ✔Tea time  08:52, 30 August 2013 (UTC)


 * As there have been no objections, I will move the article to The Fabulous Wailers.  SilkTork  ✔Tea time  08:52, 30 August 2013 (UTC)