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April 24, 2007

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin On The Death Of Boris Yeltsin

Well you knew this was gonna get a little messy, eventually. Missouri indie rockers Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin speak to Radar about the suddenly uncomfortable prospect of being named after the recently deceased Russian leader. Said singer Philip Dickey:

I feel really awkward. This is the busiest my phone and e-mail have ever been in my life ... We had this national release in October. I don't blame people if they suspect that this is just us wanting attention.
That said, don't expect SSLYBY to drop the BY anytime soon.
We have a lot of younger people at our shows these days who don't even know who Yeltsin is ... but we're kind of locked in at this point. If we tried to change it we might come up with something worse.
We like the name, though the guys should play around and see what they come up with! Just stay away from Someone Still Loves You Don Imus.

Posted at 4:12 PM
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13 Comments

is it sad that the band was the first thing i thought of? but why change? you can love someone posthumously. in some states.

Posted by: andrew at 04/24/07 4:51 PM | Reply
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It reminds me of what happened to I Am The World Trade Center.
(Post 9/11, they -if I recall correctly- renamed themselves to I Am Black, and then after a few days re-renamed themselves to I Am The World ..., before finally returning to their original full name.
The fact that they renamed themselves led to some (overblown) criticism; they were accused of trying to gain extra publicity out of the whole catastrophe. Sad really.)
Whether SSLYBY will keep the Yeltsin-part or whether they'll drop it.. either way, I bet that they'll be critised.

Posted by: Joost at 04/24/07 5:17 PM | Reply
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andrew...you're not alone. i thought of SSLYBY when i first heard about yeltsin's death too. i still think it's a great name.

Posted by: Katrina at 04/24/07 5:27 PM | Reply
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Keep the name. So what if it gives them publicity.. . they have the right! Indie bands need all the press they can get, and you know what they say - even bad publicity is still publicity. Hopefully they'll get more fans than critics. I'm gonna post them today on my blog, if anyone wants to check out a few videos...
Homemade Music Videos

Posted by: Rochelle Nikita at 04/24/07 5:40 PM | Reply
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Yeah, after I heard about Yeltsin's death, the first thought I had was "Oh no! What's SSYLBS gon' do?!"

Posted by: omg at 04/24/07 6:46 PM | Reply
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Frankly, I don't think changing their name is their name is going to make them a better or worse band. They are an alright band, their bass player being their greatest asset.

Posted by: Asha Kydd at 04/24/07 8:49 PM | Reply
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Someone Still Loves You Aleksandr Rutskoy.

Only because Someone Still Loves You Vladamir Putin seems too cheeky...

Posted by: DH at 04/25/07 12:50 AM | Reply
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"Someone Still Loves You" is a great name for a band that plays music like SSLYBY

Posted by: joepete at 04/25/07 8:45 AM | Reply
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this band seriously has the studipest name ever.

they have a nice practice space though.

Posted by: retarded at 04/25/07 9:38 AM | Reply
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It's not offensive or anything, is it?! I can't see how it could be.

I haven't a clue what the band sounds like, but it was also the first thing I though of too!

Posted by: Bobby at 04/25/07 10:10 AM | Reply
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i dunno, tounge-in-cheek name, sg, tele, vintage bass, it looks from the picture that they are one archtop from away from perfectly average indie formula. why change horses now?

Posted by: dannygutters at 04/25/07 10:18 AM | Reply
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Nothing to do with the story at all, but I turned in a scathing report on the history and future democracy in post-Soviet Russia for my Democracy & Democratization course, the day he died.

I talked about him pretty bad, and now I feel guilty. Putin will probably have me killed for what I wrote about him, as well.

Posted by: Leon at 04/25/07 4:59 PM | Reply
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But Yeltsin did "drop a leg on" communism though, eh Jon?

Posted by: Leon at 04/25/07 5:03 PM | Reply
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