Levee Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 How they got that name. 10cc The average man ejaculates around 10cc of sperm. 10,000 MANIACS Inspired by an old horror movie called '2000 Maniacs'. ABBA An acronym for the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad. AC/DC A band member saw AC/DC on a sewing machine and figured it has something to do with power. He was right, it means 'Alternating Current / Direct Current'. The band didn't realise it was also slang for bi-sexual, which caused a few awkward moments in their early days. A silly rumour claims the acronym 'Anti-Christ Devil's Children'. AEROSMITH It was evidently a word Joey Kramer wrote all over his notebooks in high school. Some think they were inspired by the 1925 book 'Arrowsmith' by Sinclair Lewis. ART OF NOISE Named after the 1913 manifesto called 'The Art of Noises' by Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo. Russolo made noise machines, wrote music for them, and also recorded sounds from the environment for musical pleasure. B-52's The beehive hairstyle popular in the 1950's was called a B-52. Also a type of U.S. Air Force bomber. BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE A combination of band members' last names and the trucker's magazine 'Overdrive'. They were originally called Brave Belt, then Bachman-Turner, then the final name. BAD COMPANY A 1972 movie starring Jeff Bridges. BADFINGER The working title of the Beatles song "A Little Help From My Friends". BAUHAUS Named after the style of graphic design and famous school of architecture BAY CITY ROLLERS They blindly stuck a pin on a map. It landed on Bay City, Michigan. BEASTIE BOYS 'Beastie' is an acronym for 'Boys Entering Anarchistic States Toward Internal Excellence'. BEATLES A few stories floating around about this one. Stuart Sutcliffe came up with the Beetles in 1960, which was evidently a play on Buddy Holly's Crickets. They went by the Quarrymen and the Silver Beetles a while later, then shortened and mutated that to the Beatles. Lennon and Sutcliffe may have also been influenced by the film 'The Wild One', which featured a motorcycle gang called the Beetles. John Lennon is generally credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with the Beatles spelling. Lennon was also fond of saying he had a vision as a child of a flaming pie in the sky that said 'You are Beatles with an 'A'.... BEE GEES Their name was not derived from 'Brothers Gibb' as most people assume. Two friends that helped them out early on were Bill Goode and a disc jockey named Bill Gates.... ('B. G.'s) BIRTHDAY PARTY The name of a play by Harold Pinter. BIG T He wasn't in a physical position to call himself "Small T". BLACK CROWES Originally named Uncle Crowe's Garden after a children's fairy tale. BLACK FLAG The flag flown by pirates and the brand name of a bug killer. When Adam Ant first played in California, Black Flag gave out buttons that read: 'Black Flag kills Ants' BLACK SABBATH Named after a 1963 horror movie starring Boris Karloff. They released an album as Earth before changing their name to Black Sabbath. BLUE OYSTER CULT A combination of a recipe the band's manager read in a book and the band's fascination with the occult. The name is also an anagram of 'Cully's Stout Beer'. BONO The singer with U2, Paul Hewson was inspired by a hearing aid store in Dublin, Ireland called 'Bono Vox'. BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S Booker T. led the band and M.G. stands for Memphis Group. BOOMTOWN RATS From a gang in Woody Guthrie's 'Bound for Glory' novel. DAVID BOWIE He took his last name from the Bowie knife (which he adored as a young lad). He didn't go by his given name 'David Jones' because he didn't want to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees. BUZZCOCKS From the term "bus cock". Men sometimes get an erection because of the vibrations in a heavy diesel engine in a bus or truck. CAPTAIN BEEFHEART Inspired by a strange Uncle of Don Van Vliet's who would expose himself, squeeze his penis until the head turned purple, then comment about it looking "like a big ole' beef heart" RAY CHARLES His real name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he wanted no confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Ray Charles didn't go blind until he was 7-years-old, and would ride his bicycle around his home town after going blind! CHEAP TRICK They asked a Ouiji board what they should call their band. CHICAGO Their first album was released as Chicago Transit Authority, then the city of Chicago sued them. Chicago Transit Authority is the name of Chicago's public transportation department. CHUMBAWAMBA Based on a band member's dream. He didn't know which door to use in a public toilet because the signs said 'Chumba' and 'Wamba' instead of 'Men' and 'Women' CLASH Taken from a newspaper headline describing 'A Clash With Police' COCTEAU TWINS They were named after an old Simple Minds song first called "Cocteau Twins", then renamed to "No Cure". All this was inspired by a set of twins that spoke a language they created that sounded like gibberish to everyone else. ALICE COOPER They were inspired by talking to a spirit named Alice Cooper using their Ouija Board. ELVIS COSTELLO He combined Elvis Presley and Lou Costello. CRANBERRIES The name started as Cranberries Saw Us (a play on 'Cranberry Sauce'). When Dolores O'Riordan joined, she recommended shortening the name. CREEDANCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL Name inspired by a logo on 'Olympia' beer cans. Their first label called them the Golliwogs (without the band's permission). CROWDED HOUSE The New Zealand/Australian trio chose this name from their cramped living conditions at 1902 N. Sycamore Street in Los Angeles while working on their debut album. CURE They were originally called Easy Cure. DEEP PURPLE Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother liked the Bing Crosby song "Deep Purple" DEF LEPPARD Inspired by a drawing Joe Elliot made of a leopard with no ears, a 'Deaf Leopard'. DEPECHE MODE It roughly translates to 'Fashion News', which was the name of a fashion magazine. DEVO Short for 'de-evolution', which the band think the human race is experiencing. DICKIES Named after the fashion item. DIRE STRAITS It describes the financial situation they were in when forming the band. DOOBIE BROTHERS Doobie is slang for marijuana joint. Their first name was Pud. DOORS From a William Blake quote 'If the doors of perception were to be cleansed evry thing would appear to man as it is, infinite'. The Doors were originally called the Psychedelic Rangers. DURAN DURAN A villan in the 1967 Jane Fonda movie 'Barbarella'. DURUTTI COLUMN A Spanish Civil War brigade led by libertarian anarchist Buenaventura Durruti. BOB DYLAN His real name Robert Zimmerman was too long and he was a big fan of Dylan Thomas. EAGLES Inspired by the Byrds, who were a big influence on the Eagles. Their first name was Teen King and the Emergencies. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN Echo was the name of the drum machine used in their early demos. ELTON JOHN His real name is Reginald Dwight. He took his stage name from two other British musicians, Elton Dean and John Baldry. EURYTHMICS a system of music instruction from the 1890s that emphasises physical response. EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL Inspired by an advertisement for a British clothing store that would sell you 'Everything but the Girl'. The implication was that everything was for sale except the sales girl. FAITH NO MORE The band was originally called Sharp Young Men, but changed to Faith No Man when their front man was Mike 'The Man' Morris. After he left, 'The Man' was no more, so they switched to Faith No More. FALL Inspired by a novel by Albert Camus. FLEETWOOD MAC Slight modification of Mick Fleetwood's name with the 'Mac' coming from John McVie. FOREIGNER British guitarist Mick Jones started the band in New York. Since he was a foreigner that became the name. FUGS When Norman Mailer first published 'The Naked And The Dead' in the U.S. he had to replace 'fuck' with 'fug' GANG OF FOUR Group of old-style Chinese rulers who all ended up dead or in prison GENESIS The first book in the Bible. The name was part of their first album title From Genesis to Revelation which was suggested by their original manager Jonathan King. GOLDEN EARRING They were originally the Tornadoes, but there was a British band with that name. A movie called 'Golden Earrings' was the inspiration. GRATEFUL DEAD Refers to a series of Old English folk tales with the same basic theme. A traveler enters a village and finds the villagers desecrating, or refusing to bury the body of a dead man because he died owing creditors money. The traveler pays the dead man's debts and sees to a decent burial. Later in his travels the man is saved by a mysterious event, which is credited to the dead man's grateful spirit. Hence, the Grateful Dead. The band was originally the Warlocks, and picked Grateful Dead out of a dictionary after realising there was another band called the Warlocks. GREEN DAY If you smoked pot and goofed off all day, you just had a 'Green Day'. GTO'S An acronym for 'Girls Together Outrageously'. Frank Zappa produced one album by this motley bunch of hippie band groupies. GUNS AND ROSES From Axl Rose and Tracii Guns' names. HEAVEN 17 A fictitious band mentioned in the movie 'A Clockwork Orange' HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH There was a kid in Darius Rucker's high school who looked like an owl. They called him Hootie. There was another kid with puffed up cheeks that they called Blowfish. Hootie is also the nickname of the legendary Kansas City jazz pianist Jay McShann. HUSKER DU An old boardgame, it's NORWEIGIAN or DANISH (not Swedish, as incorrectly reported) for 'Do you Remember?'. IRON MAIDEN Named after a medieval torture device. JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Inspired by the blues player Blind Lemon Jefferson and the name of a friend's dog. JETHRO TULL Jethro Tull was a British inventor/farmer in the 1800's who invented the precurser to the modern plow. The band used to change their name to get gigs, and Jethro Tull proved to be a lucky one. JOY DIVISION From a sado-masochistic novel 'The House of Dolls' by Karol Cetinsky. Joy Divisions were lines of huts in which deported women were forced to prostitute themselves to Nazi officers on leave. JUDAS PRIEST From the Bob Dylan tune "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest". Also a mild curse. KING CRIMSON Their original lyricist, Peter Sinfield, thought of it as a synonym for Beelzebub, which is Hebrew for 'Lord of the Flies'. Beelzebub was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels. KISS According to Paul Stanley, Kiss was a momentary inspiration that sounded dangerous and sexy at the same time. Kiss denies the fundamentalist rumour that the name stands for 'Knights In Satan's Service'. K.L.F. An acronym for 'Kopyright Liberation Front', which sums up their attitude towards using samples from other artists. KRAFTWERK German for 'power plant' LED ZEPPELIN Stories vary, but basically Keith Moon told Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones that their new project would go over like a lead balloon, hence, Led Zeppelin. The 'Led' spelling was to make sure people pronounced the name right. LEMONHEADS A type of candy sweet. LEVEL 42 A supercomputer in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' novel gave the answer to life, the universe and everything as "42". There were copyright problems with actually calling the band 42, so they tacked on 'Level'. The rumour that they are named after a sign in the movie 'Brazil' is wrong. LOVIN' SPOONFUL From the lyrics of John Hurt's "Coffee Blues". It's also slang for sperm. LYNYRD SKYNYRD Named after Robert E. Lee High school gym coach, Leonard Skinner, who punished founding members Gary Rossington and Bob Burns several times for breaking the school's strict dress code which did not allow boys to have long hair touching the collar or sideburns below the ears. Earlier band names were 'Noble Five' and 'One Percent'. MANIC STREET PREACHERS James Dean Bradfield was inspired by a manic street preaching tramp one day. MARILLION Inspired by J.R.R. Tolkein's 'Silmarillion' and probably modified to avoid copyright problems. MC5 The band liked the name for some reason before thinking up the acronym 'Motor City Five' (for Detriot!) MEGADETH Dave Mustane was inspired by a government pamphlet after getting kicked out of Metallica. A Megadeath is a military term for one million dead people, so World War II was responsible for 80 Megadeaths. Megadeth is the phonetic spelling for Megadeath. MEKONS Sci-fi villans in the 'Dan Dare' cartoon strip in the 'Eagle' comic. METALLICA Lars Ulrich was helping a friend think of a name for a metal fanzine. The magazine went with 'Metal Mania' and Lars kept Metallica, which was one of the suggestions. MISFITS A 1961 movie starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. MOODY BLUES They were originally M&B 5 because they wanted to perform in a Birmingham brewery called 'Mitchell's Bottlery.' The building had a big 'MB'. It didn't work so they changed names. Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo' was one member's favourite song. MOTHERS OF INVENTION Originally just called the Mothers (polite for 'Motherfuckers'.) Their label asked them to add 'of Invention'. MOTLEY CRUE An observant friend said "What a Motley looking Crue." MOTORHEAD Slang for a speed freak (which Lemmy evidently was). MR. MISTER From a T-Rex song on the Tanx album. MY BLOODY VALENTINE This Irish / English band was named after a horror film they never actually saw. NEW YORK DOLLS Ironic name for five trashy junkies in New York that dressed as women on stage. NIRVANA In Buddhism it means the state of perfect blessedness attained through the annihilation of the self. GARY NUMAN His real name is Gary Webb. He took 'Neuman' from a Yellow Pages listing for a plumbing company and modified the spelling. OASIS Noel Gallagher was a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets when he was inspired to name the band Oasis. O'JAYS Named after the Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, who helped the band out in their early days. They were originally called the Mascots. O.M.D. An acronym for 'Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark' ORB A device in Woody Allen's movie 'Sleeper'. The Orb was a silver ball that turned people on when they touched it. PEARL JAM "The name is in reference to the pearl itself,... and the natural process from which a pearl comes from. Basically, taking excrement or waste and turning it into something beautiful." -Eddie Vedder Rumor - Slang for "ejaculated liquid". Rumor - Eddie Vedder had a great grandmother named Pearl who made a great jam. (Note: Eddie did have a great grandmother named "Pearl") PET SHOP BOYS A bit of a horror story... In the underground gay disco scene they have (or had) so called darkrooms. You don't know who it is you're doing it with. A variation is the Pet Shop: you don't know what you're doing it with. POGUES Shortened from 'Pogue Mahone', which is a distorted version of Póg Mo hón, which is Irish Gaelic for 'kiss my ass'. POLICE For some reason they enjoy using themes related to law enforcement. Consider Sting's name and the Stuart Copeland side project Klark Kent. One of Stuart Copeland's brothers used to head I.R.S. Records and another brother ran the FBI Tour Agency. IGGY POP In his biography, Gimme Danger, Iggy says it was after one of his early bands, the Iguanas. When he formed The Stooges, their management billed him as Iggy Stooge, but Iggy wasn't too keen on it and changed it to Iggy Pop, reasoning that Pop has a kind of energy to it. PRETTY THINGS After the Bo Diddley song "Pretty Thing". PROCOL HARUM Named after Keith Reid's cat. PSYCHEDELIC FURS They enjoy psychedelic music even though they don't play it. After a night of drinking and toying with names like Psychedelic Shoes.... shirts.... socks.... etc, Psychedelic Furs sounded best. PULP Originally known as Arabacus Pulp (after a commodity Jarvis Cocker learned about during economics). This was shortened to Pulp because nobody else knew what the full name meant. QUEEN Freddie Mercury liked the name for the transvestite connotation and the glamorous image of Queens in royalty. RADIOHEAD Named after a Talking Heads song called "Radio Head". RAMONES Early in his career, Paul McCartney used to call himself Paul Ramone. R.E.M 'Rapid Eye Movement' is a state of sleep. REO SPEEDWAGON Reo Speedwagon was a model name for a line of trucks built by Reo Motors Corporation of Lansing Michigan. Reo (pronounced just as spelled) is derived from the initials of Ransom Ely Olds, who left Oldsmobile, the company he founded, to form Reo in 1905. REPLACEMENTS Legend has it that they were given a gig after another band failed to show up one night. When asked who they were, Paul Westerberg quipped "We're the Replacements". RESIDENTS The band initially had no name. All their rejection letters were addressed to 'Resident'. ROLLING STONES From the Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone". The name was suggested by Brian Jones. RUSH They were rushing to think up a name before their first gig, and John Rustey's older brother yelled, "Why don't you call your band Rush?". SAVAGE GARDEN From an Ann Rice novel. SCRITTI POLITTI The title of political writings by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist. SELECTOR The Selectors in Jamaican and British dancehall culture are the disc jockeys that play records for dancehall rappers. SEX PISTOLS Malcolm Mclaren came up with the name. It was partially inspired by his punk clothing shop called 'Sex'. SIMPLE MINDS Taken from a line in the David Bowie song "Jean Genie". SISTERS OF MERCY A tribute to the Leonard Cohen song of same name. There is also an order of nuns known as the Sisters of Mercy. SKID ROW Slang for run down inner city neighborhoods where winos, junkies, street criminals and various poor people can afford to live. Originally called Skip Rope, but Jon Bon Jovi convinced them Skid Row would sound more professional. SKUNK ANANSIE Anansie is a creature in Jamaican folklore who is half man, half spider, and always a prankster. Skunk refers to either good marijuana or the smelly little black and white animals. SLEEPER The title of a Woody Allen movie. SMALL FACES They were inspired by the Who song "I'm The Face". 'Face' is Mod slang for 'stylish guy'. The band members were all short men! SMITHS They wanted a generic name void of any preconceptions about their style of music. SOFT BOYS Combination of two William Burroughs novels, 'Soft Machine' and 'Wild Boys'. SPANDAU BALLET Origanally called 'The Makers', the band changed their name after a visit to Berlin where one of their roadies saw some graffiti refering to Spandau Prison. Supposedly, there were many hangings there, in which the victims would twitch and jump at the end of a rope...hence, doing the "Spandau Ballet." STEELY DAN A dildo in the William Burroughs novel 'Naked Lunch'. According to Burroughs, the first Steely Dan was a metal dildo that an evil German bulldyke prostitute crushed using her nether regions, and the second Steely Dan is still in use. STEPPENWOLF The title of a Herman Hesse novel. STONE ROSES Similar to their original name, English Rose (which was inspired by a Rolling Stones song.) STYX After the mythical river Styx that people crossed over to go into Hell. SUPERTRAMP Named after a book called 'Autobiography Of A Supertramp', written by R.E. Davies in 1910. TALKING HEADS Media jargon for a camera shot showing only the top of someone's shoulders and their head. One of the band members saw this term in a newspaper's T.V. program guide. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS They took the name from a friend's ventriloquist act, which was named after a film starring George C. Scott, which in turn was inspired by a section of Don Quixote. Don Quixote's trusted servant asks why he is preparing to attack several windmills with his lance. Don Quixote replys, "Because they might be giants." THOMSON TWINS After two characters in the 'Tintin' comics by the Belgium artist Herge. THREE DOG NIGHT Inspired by an Australian Aborigine custom of sleeping with three dogs on extremely cold nights. TROGGS From the term 'troglodyte'. U2 A type of spy plane used by the United States. Bono explained once that U2 grew out of thoughts of interactivity with the audience.... as in 'you too.' UB40 Title of an unemployment form. UGLY KID JOE A parody of Pretty Boy Floyd, a band they played a show with early on. ULTRAVOX Latin for 'the greatest amount of voice' URIAH HEEP From a character in the Dickens novel 'David Copperfield'. VELVET UNDERGROUND The name of an S&M book a band member found on a sidewalk in New York. W.A.S.P. An acronym for 'We Are Sex Perverts'. WHAM! They wanted to make it so big in the music business that they named themselves Wham! and their debut album Make It Big. WHO The legend goes like this: a bunch of people were brainstorming for names. The band members were already so deaf they kept saying, "The who?". Finally, someone suggested the Who as their name. WINGS Paul McCartney thought of the name while waiting in a hospital wing for Linda to give birth to one of their children. XTC Andy Partridge was inspried by a Jimmy Durante clip when he said, "That's it, I'm in ecstasy!" Quote
moondog Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 Levee, very nice list. Thanks. It is very comprehensive. I am splitting hairs here while rem does stand for rapid eye movement, stipe once said they did not take the name for that reason. They just opened a dictionary and stabbed a word with a pin. I know, it still means what it means. One more thing did you do the list on your own, looks like it might take some time. Again very nice Quote
Levee Posted January 27, 2008 Author Posted January 27, 2008 Levee, very nice list. Thanks. It is very comprehensive. I am splitting hairs here while rem does stand for rapid eye movement, stipe once said they did not take the name for that reason. They just opened a dictionary and stabbed a word with a pin. I know, it still means what it means. One more thing did you do the list on your own, looks like it might take some time. Again very nice Thanks moondog. It's from a website called digitaldreamdoor.com, They have a huge amount of lists from all genre's of music. Most of their lists are very good or at least interesting. And I'm sure they don't always get it right. I put up a list from there about songwriters that was a real stinker, It looked like it was written by Bob Dylan's Mom. Quote
Jahfin Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 I am splitting hairs here while rem does stand for rapid eye movement, stipe once said they did not take the name for that reason. They just opened a dictionary and stabbed a word with a pin. I know, it still means what it means. From the R.E.M. FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/rem-faq/part1 o A4. "Doesn't R.E.M. stand for 'rapid eye movement'?" In the scientific field of sleep research, the acronym r.e.m. indeed stands for "rapid eye movement," and refers to the stage of sleep in which, among other things, dreaming occurs. But, in the case of the band, no, it doesn't. The story related by Peter Buck on the band's early 1983 Late Night with David Letterman appearance is that they picked it out of the dictionary (not all dictionaries include scientific terms like "r.e.m.," so don't be disappointed if you don't find it) and they liked it because it was so ambiguous. From It Crawled from the South: "'We sat up one night,' says Michael, 'and we just got completely drunk and rolled around the floor. We had all this chalk, and we took every name anyone could think of and we wrote it on the wall in the living room. When morning rolled around, we pointed and erased, and it was between R.E.M. and Negro Eyes, and we thought *that* probably wouldn't go over too well outside our immediate circle of friends!'" (p. 24). Quote
Ady Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 BLACK SABBATH Named after a 1963 horror movie starring Boris Karloff. They released an album as Earth before changing their name to Black Sabbath. That part isn't right, although I'd love to be proved wrong! Quote
Levee Posted January 27, 2008 Author Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks for the link Jahfin, and the correction ady. Maybe digitaldreamdoor.com isn't such a reliable source after all. Quote
Jahfin Posted January 27, 2008 Posted January 27, 2008 (edited) Try either of these on for size when it comes to more factual info in regard to band names: Some of the Digital Door entries remind me of those "The Story Behind Every Song"-type books. Some have been very well written and actually tell the story behind the song, others don't do as good of a job and are very sketchy with their info. That can be for a variety of reasons but for the most part they sometimes come across as very poorly researched. Edited January 28, 2008 by Jahfin Quote
moondog Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks Jafin, I got some wrong info. Should double check my facts. Quote
dragster Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 (edited) Hey, I needed that kinda list....if it's all true, it's fun to read how bands get their names.....hmmmmmmm, I wonder howButthole Surfers got THEIR name?!!!!! Edited January 28, 2008 by dragster Quote
croquet'n'cocaine Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 O.M.D. An acronym for 'Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark' I like this one. Very thorough. Really clears up any questions you might have! Quote
FuzzyMerkin Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 "Two Gallants" ...is the title of the sixth story in James Joyce's collection "Dubliners": "On a Sunday evening in August, a young man named Corley has told another, Lenehan, of a plan he has hatched with a housekeeper engaged in prostitution on the side. Corley goes off with the young woman, while Lenehan walks idly around Dublin until 10:30, stopping only to eat a dinner of peas and ginger beer at a pub. Finally, exactly according to plan, Lenehan observes from a distance but does not interrupt as the woman enters via the basement the elegant house where she works and emerges from the front door. Minutes later, Corley shows Lenehan what she has stolen from inside: a gold coin." Deeeeeeep... Quote
Jahfin Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Thanks Jafin, I got some wrong info. Should double check my facts. Hey, you were close and as you can tell, even R.E.M. themselves have been known to tell the story differently. Other band name contenders besides Negro Eyes: Cans of Piss and Twisted Kites. Quote
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