774 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
774 lines
31 KiB
Plaintext
Path: uuwest!control.spies.com!spies!sgiblab!darwin.sura.net!haven.umd.edu!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!waikato.ac.nz!dfong
|
|
From: dfong@waikato.ac.nz
|
|
Newsgroups: rec.music.misc,alt.rock-n-roll
|
|
Subject: REPOST: what's in a name ?
|
|
Message-ID: <1992Nov21.165037.12370@waikato.ac.nz>
|
|
Date: 21 Nov 92 16:50:36 +1300
|
|
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
|
|
Lines: 764
|
|
|
|
Main Sources : - Q magazine, June 89 article "What's In a Name".
|
|
- Bits and Pieces: The Penguin book of Rock Facts -
|
|
by Steve Smith. From the section on names.
|
|
- The Rolling Stone Encyclopaedia of Rock'n'Roll.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Groups that are named after songs or films may not have the date of
|
|
release listed. e.g. Bad Company.
|
|
Because of time restrictions I don't have time to look them up.
|
|
|
|
I have not included solo artists that have changed their name, only those
|
|
that have an interesting reason for it, e.g. Elton John.
|
|
|
|
Also, my reference books are quite old, so no recent bands are in here.
|
|
(apart from Nirvana of course ;-)
|
|
Though if I had more time, I wouldn't mind doing a list of recent
|
|
artists.
|
|
|
|
Oh well, this is the last thing I shall ever post here as my account
|
|
expires on the 23rd.
|
|
But mail messages will get to me somehow...it just might take a few months,
|
|
that's all !
|
|
|
|
Goodbye.
|
|
This whole USENET has been great fun.
|
|
|
|
Darryl 'De Fish!' Fong
|
|
|
|
|
|
P.S. in my findings I found this in the RS book :
|
|
|
|
the former keyboardist for Roxy Music has a full name of
|
|
Brian Peter George St. John de Baptiste de la Salle Eno
|
|
|
|
P.P.S. William Orbit rules !
|
|
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
What's in a Name ?
|
|
|
|
Abba - from the first letters of their christian names : Anni-Frid,Benny,
|
|
Bjorn, Agnetha.
|
|
|
|
A Flock of Seagulls - a line from the Stranglers' song "Toiler on the Sea".
|
|
|
|
All About Eve - name taken from 1950 Bette Davis movie about an
|
|
ageing Broadway star.
|
|
|
|
Alphaville - a 1965 Jean Luc Godard-directed sci-fi film.
|
|
|
|
Amen Corner - a section of the Negro spiritual church where a group of women
|
|
sat and hollered the 'Amens'.
|
|
|
|
The Animals - Named after a squatter known to the group, one Animal Hog.
|
|
"He epitomised what we wanted to represent with our music. Total freedom,
|
|
a little bit of anarchy, a lot of wildness and a lot of good times."(E.Burdon)
|
|
|
|
Arcadia - after the central region of the Greek Peloponnese, home of
|
|
the god Pan.
|
|
|
|
The Art Of Noise - The Art Of Noises was a 1913 booklet by italian futurist
|
|
painter Luigi Russolo, urging a new concept of music:"One day...every factory
|
|
will be transformed into an intoxicating orchestra of noises."
|
|
|
|
Aswad - In the Ethiopian Amharic language, Aswad is the word for black.
|
|
|
|
Aztec Camera - According to Roddy Frame, in 1983:"Aztec sounded right and
|
|
Camera came off the B-side to a Teardrops Explodes single." (His first group
|
|
was called Neutral Blue because "the guitarist was an electrician and that's
|
|
the way he remembered how to wire a plug.")
|
|
|
|
Bad Company - after a Robert Benton western (date ?)
|
|
|
|
The Band - Formerly Dylan's backing musicians, habitually called "the band".
|
|
Hence the name!
|
|
|
|
Bangles - originally call the Bangs, then changed it to
|
|
the Electric Prune's song of the same name.
|
|
|
|
Barracudas - After the Standell's song 'Barracuda'.
|
|
|
|
Bauhaus - German school of design, founded 1919, aiming to integrate
|
|
architecture, fine arts and technology to create "the compositely inseparable
|
|
work of art, the great building."
|
|
|
|
BB & Q Band - from Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens Band.
|
|
|
|
The Beach Boys - Formerly Carl & the Passions, then Kenny & the Cadets.
|
|
Changed name to suit image behind the first hit single "Surfin'".
|
|
|
|
The Beatles - Insect theme was inspired by name of Buddy Holly and the
|
|
Crickets. They also liked Crickets' double meaning( an insect or a game)
|
|
so they made Beetles into Beatles, to carry pun on beat music.
|
|
|
|
Bee Gees - Stands for Brothers Gibb.
|
|
|
|
B-52's - An American bomber plane that later gave its name to a beehive
|
|
hairstyle.
|
|
|
|
Big Country - "It just implied a sense of vastness, open spaces. A sense
|
|
of new discovery. A sense of ambition." (Stuart Adamson)
|
|
|
|
Black Oak Arkansas - Amazingly they came from Black Oak, Arkansas.
|
|
|
|
Black Uhuru - swahili for 'freedom'.
|
|
|
|
Blondie - From the long-running US newspaper cartoon strip Blondie and
|
|
Dagwood, about a dizzy blonde and her husband.
|
|
|
|
Blow Monkeys - In his teens, single Dr. Robert lived in Australia, where
|
|
he heard the expression used as a somewhat diaparaging term for
|
|
Aboriginal didgeridoo players.
|
|
Also cited as jazz slang for saxaphone players.
|
|
|
|
Blue Rondo a la Turk - after a jazz song, best known in its version
|
|
by David 'take five' Brubeck.
|
|
|
|
Boney M - after an australian TV detective (an aborigine ?)
|
|
|
|
BoomTown Rats - Formerly Mark Skid and the Y-Fronts, they wisely opted for
|
|
the name of a gang in Woody Guthrie's autobiographical book "Bound for Glory."
|
|
A gang of kids in Oklahoma who were the children of the casual oil-well
|
|
labourers.
|
|
|
|
David Bowie - Named himself after a hero, Jim Bowie, who fought with Davey
|
|
Crockett at the Alamo. Changed his name from David Jones to avoid confusion
|
|
with Monkee of similar title.
|
|
|
|
Brilliant - so DJs would announce, "That was Brilliant".
|
|
|
|
Bucks Fizz - a cocktail of champagne and orange juice.
|
|
|
|
Buffalo Springfield - after a make of steamroller
|
|
|
|
Buzzcocks - from the catch-phrase of a character in the TV series
|
|
'Rock Follies', who would say "Give me a buzz, cock!"
|
|
|
|
Cabaret Voltaire - Literary nightclub in Zurich, 1916, which became cradle
|
|
of the "Dada" art movement.
|
|
|
|
Chicken Shack - after a blues song, 'Chicken Shack Blues'.
|
|
|
|
Clannad - gaelic for 'family'.
|
|
|
|
The Clash - named by Mick jones, because "that was the word that seemed
|
|
to appear most often in newspaper headlines in 1975/76".
|
|
|
|
Cocteau Twins - After Jean Cocteau (1891-1963), French writer/artist.
|
|
|
|
Commodores - supposedly found by someone (the manager?) placing his
|
|
finger on a dictionary page
|
|
|
|
Communards - Gesture of solidarity with radical insurgents of the Paris
|
|
Commune in 1870.
|
|
Put more clearly : named after a French Socialist group who revolted
|
|
in 1870.
|
|
|
|
Alice Cooper - Born Vincent Furnier. Name of a 17th century witch which
|
|
was supposedly reincarnated into him.
|
|
|
|
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Originally called The Golliwogs, the group
|
|
came under increasing pressure from their record label Fantasy to change
|
|
the name, which they did in December '67. The story goes that John Fogerty
|
|
has a friend called Creedence, he also saw a TV beer advert which stressed
|
|
the virtues of clear water and, finally, he felt some sort of musical revival
|
|
was in the air. Put it all together and what do you get?
|
|
(that's right : Friend Beer Musical.)
|
|
|
|
Crowded House - Inspired by the cramped accommodation, in Hollywood, where
|
|
the band spent 1985 rehearsing their debut album. [Originally called The
|
|
Mullanes, after Neil Finn's middle name. DF!]
|
|
|
|
Curved Air - From A Rainbow In Curved Air, title of 1969 electronic album
|
|
by Terry Riley.
|
|
|
|
Darling Buds - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely
|
|
and more temperate./Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May./And
|
|
summer's lease hath all too short a date." (Shakespeare, Sonnet XVII)
|
|
|
|
Deep Purple - Name of a 1962 pop hit by Nino Tempo and April Stevens.
|
|
Original version by hard rock legend Bing Crosby.
|
|
Also cited elsewhere as named after a Joe South song.
|
|
Are they all the same songs ?
|
|
|
|
Def Leppard - I can't quite remember the origin.
|
|
But of course it is a take-off of Deaf Leppard.
|
|
[I'll have to consult my rock'n'roll comic again]
|
|
|
|
Depeche Mode - French magazine title, roughly translates as "Fast Fashion".
|
|
Group originally called Composition of Sound.
|
|
|
|
Devo - Short for "de-evolution", an element in the band's view of mankind.
|
|
|
|
Dexys Midnight Runners - Although Kevin Rowland tends to be a bit vague
|
|
about this, it is understood to be a reference to illegally acquired
|
|
dexedrine pills, for which the slang term is dexys. The drug has the effect
|
|
of giving users artificial energy, thus enabling them to keep going when tired.
|
|
|
|
Dire Straits - Suggested by a friend. Wry reflection of band's insolvent
|
|
plight in 1977, as they rehearsed for early gigs and demos.
|
|
|
|
Doobie Brothers - californian slang for a joint
|
|
|
|
The Doors - Jim Morrison took it from an essay on drugs, The Doors of
|
|
Perception by Aldous Huxley. The title itself is a phrase from 18th century
|
|
poet William Blake:"If the doors of perception were cleansed, man could see
|
|
things as they truly are; infinite."
|
|
|
|
Dr. Feelgood - after a much-covered blues song
|
|
|
|
Duran Duran - Name of a mad scientist character played by Milo O'Shea in
|
|
the 1968 Roger Vadim sci-fi fantasy film Barbarella, [opposite Jane Fonda.]
|
|
|
|
Bob Dylan - Born Robert Zimmerman, but adopted name of welsh port Dylan
|
|
Thomas. Another version suggests it was after a cowboy called Matt Dillon
|
|
in TV show Gunsmoke.
|
|
|
|
Easterhouse - named after a Glasgow (UK) housing estate
|
|
|
|
Echo and the Bunnymen - "it means, like, nothin'." (Ian McCulloch)
|
|
"We had this mate who kept suggesting all these names, like The Daz Men or
|
|
Glisserol and the Fan Extractors. Echo and the Bunnymen was one of them. I
|
|
thought it was just as stupid as the rest." (Will Sergeant)
|
|
[wasn't Echo the name of the drum machine? DF!]
|
|
|
|
Einsturrzende Neubauten - german for 'collapsing new buildings'
|
|
|
|
Elton John - from friends John Baldry and fellow musician Elton Dean.
|
|
|
|
Eurythmics - after a form of rhythmic body movement (actually spelt
|
|
eurhythmics) popular in the early twentieth century.
|
|
|
|
Everything But the Girl - Name of a shop in Hull, where Ben and Tracey
|
|
were students.
|
|
|
|
Fairport Convention - The group used to assemble at Simon Nicol's Muswell
|
|
Hill home, which was called Fairport. They were, by extension,
|
|
The Fairport Convention.
|
|
|
|
The Fall - name taken from a book whose name escapes me
|
|
|
|
Fiat Lux - latin for "Let there be light"
|
|
|
|
Fine Young Canninbals - Named after a sleazy soap-opera movie, All the Fine
|
|
Young Canninbals (1960, MGM), starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. For
|
|
the record, Halliwell's Film Guide describes it as a "boring rather than
|
|
daring farrago which is not even unintentionally funny."
|
|
|
|
Fleetwood Mac - Formely Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. From the surnames of
|
|
drummers Mick Fleetwood and bass player John McVie.
|
|
|
|
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Derives from writing on a poster for a Frank
|
|
Sinatra film, on the wall of the group's rehearsal room in Liverpool.
|
|
|
|
Gang of Four - Name applied to four political figures in China, 1976, who
|
|
emerged in power struggle after death of Mao Tse Tung. Group included
|
|
Mao's widow Chiang Ching.
|
|
|
|
Gap Band - from the initials of the three main streets (Greenwood, Archer,
|
|
and Pine) in the band's home town of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
|
|
|
|
Gary Bykers On Acid - after a Ray Lowrie cartoon.
|
|
|
|
Generation X - Taken from the 1964 book of the same name by Chris Hamblett
|
|
and Jane Davidson, which records teenage attitudes to sex, politics, drugs,
|
|
religion,etc. The book includes a poem from which it takes its name, written
|
|
in a psychiatric hospital by a 20-year-old female suffering from depression.
|
|
One brief verse is as follows:"I am me/I must suffer/Because I am me."
|
|
|
|
Go West - named after the term "Go west young man..."
|
|
It is normally attributed to Horace Greeley (who denied it. But was actually
|
|
from a newspaper article by John Soule in 1851.
|
|
[how's that for research !]
|
|
|
|
Grateful Dead - Previously called The Warlocks. New name picked at random
|
|
by Jerry Garcia from a prayer in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
|
|
|
|
Harpers Bizarre - after a fashion magazine [which country ?]
|
|
|
|
Hatfield and the North - Destination on roadsigns, familiar to motorists
|
|
leaving London.
|
|
|
|
Heaven 17 - Fictional group mentioned in the Anthony Burgess novel A
|
|
Clockwork Orange: "These young devotchkas has their own like way of
|
|
govoreeting. 'The Heaven Seventeen? Luke Stern? Goggly Gogol?"
|
|
|
|
Herman's Hermits - Peter Noone misheard another band member, who told him
|
|
he resembled the cartoon character Sherman from 'The Adventures of
|
|
Bullwinkle and Rocky'.
|
|
|
|
Hollies - either from the plant name, or from Buddy Holly.
|
|
|
|
House Of Love - name taken from a book, [whose title escapes me]
|
|
|
|
Human League - From the science fiction boardgame Star Force, in which the
|
|
Human League was one of two rival futuristic empires in the year 2180.
|
|
|
|
Icehouse - originally called Flowers. But the international rights to the
|
|
name were already taken by an irish group. So they renamed themselves
|
|
after the title of their first album, (thus not having to redo the
|
|
first album cover).
|
|
I can't remember how the name Icehouse evolved. But I think it has
|
|
dark connotations - maybe Nazism ?
|
|
|
|
Iggy(Pop) and the Stooges - "Iggy" derived from his one-time membership
|
|
called The Iguanas. The Stooges came from US comedy troupe of that name.
|
|
[I.P.'s real name, James Osterman DF!]
|
|
|
|
Iron Maiden - Torture implement used in Middle Ages, consisting of
|
|
human-shaped shell in two halves, with inward facing spikes. Unlucky souls
|
|
were placed inside, then the halves of the maiden were brought slowly together.
|
|
|
|
Michael Jackson - From the subtle combination of his family name, Jackson,
|
|
plus the christian name given to him by his parents at the time of his
|
|
birth, Michael.
|
|
|
|
The Jam - Thought up by Paul Weller's sister at the breakfast table:"Well,
|
|
we've had The Bread, and we've had The Marmalade, so let's have The Jam."
|
|
|
|
James -
|
|
[all text from an interview in New Zealand music magazine Rip It Up Issue 177,
|
|
April 1992]
|
|
|
|
The band's name itself is a bit of a mystery, many say it comes
|
|
from James Kirk, the guitar player for Orange Juice. Others say they're named
|
|
after Jim Glennie (bass) himself. "In a way it was both really. Paul
|
|
our original guitarist, was a big OJ fan and we toured with them. We were
|
|
looking for a name that didn't give anybody any idea of who or what we were,
|
|
Tim (singer) would go on stage and recite a poem and people would go
|
|
'oh, that's James, he reads poems'. Then he'd do a song, with an acoustic
|
|
and they'd go 'oh right, James plays a guitar as well'. Then the rest of the
|
|
band would come on - basically just mucking about with people's lack of
|
|
knowledge. When we started the punk thing was dying and the new wave bands
|
|
like Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen etc were seem as having
|
|
these innovative names. So the name James was really a reaction against
|
|
that as well."
|
|
Very similar to the reasons for the Smiths.
|
|
"Yeah, but we came up with it before we'd even heard of the Smiths".
|
|
|
|
Jefferson Airplane - after a device used for holding marijuana cigarettes
|
|
|
|
The Jesus and Mary Chain - The group has stated that it was taken from an
|
|
offer on a breakfast cereal packet, to send away for a gold Jesus
|
|
and Mary Chain.
|
|
|
|
Jesus Jones - While on holiday in spain the boys decided to get serious
|
|
with their music. One day on a beach of the group made the comment that
|
|
in the spanish phone book there was as many Jesus'es as Jones'es in
|
|
the English phone book. Hence Jesus Jones.
|
|
[thanks to plastic. from oz for this info!]
|
|
|
|
Jethro Tull - An 18th century English agriculturalist, inventor of useful
|
|
farming contraption. Ian Anderson saw a book by him in manager's house.
|
|
|
|
Jo Jo Gunne - after a character from a Chuck Berry song.
|
|
[which song ?]
|
|
|
|
Johnny Hates Jazz - taken from the Frank Sinatra song of the same name
|
|
|
|
Tom Jones - Born Thomas Woodward. Manager Gordon Mills rechristened him after
|
|
swash-buckling hero of Henry Fielding novel, which had just become a saucy
|
|
hit film. Also had suitable welsh element.
|
|
|
|
Josek K - from the book The Trial by Franz Kafka
|
|
|
|
Joy Division - 'commandeered' Prostitute's wing of Nazi prison camp. Name
|
|
found in lurid paperback novel.
|
|
|
|
Judas Priest - From the Bob Dylan song The Ballad of Frankie Lee And Judas
|
|
Priest, on his John Wesley Harding album.
|
|
|
|
Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls - this australian group took their
|
|
name from the line in Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side'.
|
|
['...and the coloured girls go...doot do doot...']
|
|
|
|
The Kinks - Formerly The Ravens. "Kinky" was favoured word in 1960s swinging
|
|
London, meaning "attractively pervy" (as in "kinky boots"). For early
|
|
photos the band posed with riding whips.
|
|
|
|
Kissing The Pink - a term used in snooker
|
|
|
|
KMFDM - kill mutherfu...oops...
|
|
kur...umm...mein...errr...oh shit I could never remember what it means,
|
|
read the rec.music.industrial FAQ
|
|
|
|
Kraftwerk - German for "power station".
|
|
|
|
Kursaal Fliers - after the train that paraded along the front at
|
|
Southend (UK) advertising the Kursaal Pleasure Park.
|
|
|
|
Lambrettas - after a motor scooter popular with Mods
|
|
|
|
Led Zeppelin - Arose out of Jimmy Page's early plan to start a band with
|
|
Keith Moon and John Entwistle (who were fed up with The Who). Cynically,
|
|
Entwistle said "We'll call it Lead Zeppelin, because it'll go down like a
|
|
lead balloon." The 'a' was later dropped from Lead so it wouldn't be
|
|
pronounced Leed.
|
|
|
|
Level 42 - From the fact that 42 is given as "the ultimate answer to the
|
|
ultimate question of life, the universe and everything" in Douglas Adams's
|
|
book HitchHiker's Guide To the Galaxy.
|
|
|
|
Lindisfarne - Also known as Holy Island, off coast of Northumberland, north
|
|
of group's HQ Newcastle. Famous abbey founded there in 635 AD.
|
|
|
|
Little Feat - When Lowell George was a member of the Mothers of Invention,
|
|
their drummer Jimmy Carl Black (the indian of the group) used to refer to
|
|
him as Little Feet, an ironic reference to the size of his pedal extremities.
|
|
|
|
Little River Band - this australian band supposedly took their
|
|
name from a road sign post.
|
|
|
|
Los Lobos - spanish for 'the wolves'
|
|
|
|
Lovin' Spoonful - Taken from Mississippi John Hurt's blues number, Coffee
|
|
Song:" I love my baby by the lovin' spoonful."
|
|
|
|
Lynard Skynard - From Leonard Skinner, name of unpopular gym teacher in the
|
|
Florida school that most of the group attended.
|
|
Renowned for punishing boys with long hair.
|
|
|
|
Marillion - Originally Silmarillion, from the title of Tolkein's book,
|
|
but later abbreviated.
|
|
|
|
Madness - Title of old ska hit by the band's hero Prince Buster.
|
|
|
|
Manhatten Transfer - taken from a novel by John Dos Passos about New York
|
|
in the 1920s.
|
|
|
|
Marshall Tucker Band - after the piano tuner who owned their rehearsal hall
|
|
|
|
Matchbox - after a Carl Perkins track
|
|
|
|
MC 900ft Jesus - taken from tele-evangelist, Oral Roberts, who
|
|
claimed a 900ft Jesus came to him in a vision
|
|
[source : interview in New Zealand music magazine Rip It Up Issue 177]
|
|
|
|
MFSB - stands for Mother, Father, Sister, Brother.
|
|
|
|
Milli Vanilli - because they liked the sound of Scritti Politti.
|
|
|
|
Mi-Sex - the classic New Zealand synthy band took their name
|
|
from the Ultravox song.
|
|
|
|
Molly Hatchet - after Hatchet Molly, an infamous US whore who castrated
|
|
her clients.
|
|
|
|
Moody Blues - from a Slim Harpo song.
|
|
|
|
Mothers of Invention - Were simply called The Mothers until record company
|
|
voiced concern it might be taken as short for "the oedipal compound" word.
|
|
New Name adapted from old proverb about Necessity Being...
|
|
|
|
Motorhead - B-side of a 1974 Hawkwind single Kings of Speed. Lemmy was band
|
|
member at the time, subsequently sacked.
|
|
In turn, also after a US term for a speed freak.
|
|
|
|
Mott The Hoople - name of novel by Willard Manus.
|
|
|
|
Mud - they wanted a name that would stick
|
|
|
|
Mungo Jerry - from T.S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.
|
|
|
|
Naked Lunch - from the William S. Burroughs novel of that name
|
|
|
|
New Model Army - after the name given to Oliver Cronwell's troops
|
|
|
|
New Order - Signified "fresh start" for Joy Division after death of their
|
|
old singer Ian Curtis. Term was also used by Hitler, but band deny
|
|
Nazi connotations.
|
|
|
|
New Riders of The Purple Sage - Named in 1970 after 1912 novel by western
|
|
fiction writer Zane Gray, Riders of the Purple Sage.
|
|
The "new" was added in 1971.
|
|
|
|
Nine Below Zero - after a Sonny Boy Williamson blues track
|
|
|
|
Nirvana - hidu term for 'beatific state'
|
|
[oops. source typo ? beautific state ?]
|
|
|
|
NRBQ - New Rhythm and Blues Quintet
|
|
|
|
101ers - after the torture room (room 101) in Orwell's 1984.
|
|
|
|
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Originally a song written by Andrew
|
|
McClusky featuring "three radios and war noises recorded off the telly."
|
|
|
|
Pop Will Eat Itself - supposedly taken from a David Quantick article
|
|
heading about the future state of music, from UK mag. New Music Express.
|
|
[I think the issue date was 1985 ?]
|
|
|
|
Gilbert O'Sullivan - Thought by rock scholars to be an ingenious derivative
|
|
of popular english composers Gilbert and Sullivan. Evidence in inconclusive.
|
|
|
|
Pere Ubu - Character in Alfred Jarry's avant-garde 1896 play Ubu Roi.
|
|
[De Fish! says 'YoW !! ArE wE hAvInG fUn YeT ?" ;-)]
|
|
|
|
Pet Shop Boys - "we had some friends who owned a pet shop and they were
|
|
always joked about calling themselves The Pet Shop Boys and recording
|
|
'How much is that Doggie in The Window'. When it came time for us to
|
|
find a name we decided to use it." - Neil Tennant
|
|
It is also supposedly a slang term for a person who performs the
|
|
homosexual act of putting a tube pipe up their anus and letting a gerbil
|
|
run wild. Hence the t-shirt "So little time, so many Gerbils".
|
|
The Pet Shop Boys deny ever knowing about the term.
|
|
|
|
Pink Floyd - After two Georgia bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
|
|
|
|
Poco - Were to have been Pogo, after Walt Kelly's satirical cartoon strip, but
|
|
Kelly refused permission, so group chose Poco as being similar, and having
|
|
a musical connotation in sheet music where it means "a little".
|
|
|
|
The Pogues - Abbreviation of "pogue mahone", irish for Kiss My Arse. So,
|
|
are they now The Kisses, or The Arses ?
|
|
|
|
Prefab Sprout - Leader Paddy MacAloon's imagination was stimulated by
|
|
seeing albums by Tyrannosaurus Rex and Grand Central Station tucked under
|
|
the arms of school friends. "I feel under the mystery of the names and their
|
|
intangible and wilful obscurity. So I put two words together that didn't
|
|
mean anything because people would say "what does it mean?" I had other
|
|
names like Chrysalis Cognosi and The Ethereal Fair Roses".
|
|
|
|
Pretenders - From the ballad song The Great Pretender, a 1956 hit for
|
|
The Platters.
|
|
|
|
Primal Scream - the obvious influence in the name being Primal Scream
|
|
therapy. See Tears for Fears.
|
|
|
|
Procol Harum - Name of a cat belonging to friend of Gary Brooker. Latin
|
|
Phrase meaning "beyond these things".
|
|
|
|
Quantum Jump - a term used in physics
|
|
|
|
The Ramones - When The Beatles were still known as The Silver Beetles, Paul
|
|
McCartney briefly used the pseudonym Paul Ramon. When The Ramones formed in
|
|
1974 they chose their stage names in memory of the days when McCartney was
|
|
still a rocker.
|
|
|
|
Redbone - a derogatory Cajun term for a half-breed
|
|
|
|
R.E.M. - Stands for Rapid Eye Movement, measured in sleeping subjects as
|
|
symptom of dream activity.
|
|
|
|
REO Speedwagon - from the high-speed fire engine
|
|
|
|
The Residents - The most favored rumour is that when the group was sending
|
|
out demo tapes to record companies, they once forgot to include their names
|
|
in the package. The record company returned the package, addressing it to
|
|
The Residents, at the address given on the package. Suitably amused, the group
|
|
decided that their name had found them.
|
|
|
|
Rick Kids - the band containing Midge Ure was named after a
|
|
Jean Cocteau book
|
|
|
|
Righteous Brothers - reportedly named after their audience shouting out
|
|
"Hey that's really righteous, brothers !"
|
|
Due to their blue-eyed soul singing.
|
|
|
|
Rolling Stones - From the Muddy Waters blues song, Rolling Stone.
|
|
|
|
Roxy Music - "It was intended to convey a slightly old-style glamour, with
|
|
a pun on rock." (Bryan Ferry)
|
|
|
|
Sad Cafe - after the book The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, by Carson McCullers.
|
|
|
|
Scritti Politti - latin for 'political writings'
|
|
|
|
The Searchers - After a 1956 John Wayne western movie.
|
|
|
|
The Selector - the name of the first song by the Specials that they tried
|
|
to sell to record companies without success. It later ended up on the
|
|
b-side of the first single. ('Ghost Town'?)
|
|
|
|
Sex Pistols - Chosen by Malcolm McLaren, who assembled band in his boutique
|
|
Sex, and a distortion of botanical term sex pistils, referring to male sexual
|
|
parts of flowers.
|
|
|
|
Shakespear's Sister - named from the b-side of a certain Smiths single.
|
|
|
|
Shangri Las - Shangri La is another name for paradise in a novel by
|
|
James Hilton.
|
|
|
|
Shirelles - from lead singer Shirley Alston (nee Owen)
|
|
|
|
Showaddywaddy - From the doo-wop backing vocal line. (Same as Sha Na Na).
|
|
|
|
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Supposedly name of a Moscow street gang, spotted by
|
|
Tony James in the International Herald Tribune.
|
|
|
|
Simple Minds - from a line in the David Bowie song 'Jean Genie'.
|
|
|
|
Sisters of Mercy - A "laughing" Leonard Cohen song.
|
|
|
|
Small Faces - "Faces" were any leading characters on the 1960s mod scene.
|
|
Marriot, Lane and Co were, if you will, physically "small" examples thereof.
|
|
|
|
The Smiths - Morrissey just came up with it, and Johnny Marr approved: "All
|
|
other bands at the time had 15-syllable names...We just wanted four
|
|
individuals who could be collectively known as something normal." Morrissey
|
|
has denied it was tribute to fellow Mancunian Mark E. Smith of The Fall.
|
|
|
|
Soft Machine - Novel by William Burroughs.
|
|
|
|
Spandau Ballet - Spandau is an area in Berlin; in the last century they had
|
|
a ballet there. Friend of the band saw it written on a toilet wall. Gary
|
|
Kemp: "Basically we used the name because it had a lot more mystery
|
|
than Neasden Ballet."
|
|
|
|
Standells - after a make of amplifier
|
|
|
|
Starry-Eyed and Laughing - from a line in the Bob Dylan song 'Chimes
|
|
of Freedom'.
|
|
|
|
Stars of Heaven - from a biblical quotation:'I will multiply thy
|
|
seed as the stars of heaven/And as the sand which is upon the sea shore',
|
|
Gen. 22:17
|
|
|
|
Status Quo - Chosen by manager Pat Barlow: "It was a name i kept reading
|
|
about in the papers and hearing on the telly. It sticks in the mind."
|
|
Francis Rossi: "We're always asked about the name: Did you do it for a
|
|
reason? In a word, no."
|
|
It is latin for 'the existing position of or in society'.
|
|
|
|
Steeleye Span - Formed by Ashley Hutchings, previously of Fairport Convention,
|
|
they were looking for something folksy and settled for the name of a character
|
|
in the traditional Lincolnshire ballad, Horkston Grange.
|
|
|
|
Steely Dan - Name of a dildo in William Burrough's novel Naked Lunch.
|
|
|
|
Steppenwolf - Novel by German writer Hermann Hesse.
|
|
|
|
Stiff Little Fingers - after a Vibrators track.
|
|
|
|
Still Little Fingers - Derived from a line in a Vibrators song which was, in
|
|
turn, referring to an early '60s US sci-fi series, The Invaders, in which
|
|
the invading aliens were distinguishable from earthlings only because
|
|
they all had unbendable pinkies.
|
|
|
|
Strawberry Switchblade - after an Orange Juice song
|
|
|
|
Strawbs - Short for Strawberry Hill Boys, after the district of London where
|
|
they rehearsed.
|
|
|
|
Styx - after the river in the Greek underworld of Hades
|
|
|
|
Supertramp - From the book Autobiography of a Supertramp, by W.H. Davies
|
|
(1908), tale of a british toff who roamed the USA as a vagrant.
|
|
[hence the name of their greatest hits collection as well DF!]
|
|
|
|
Booker T and The MGs - Short for Booker T. Jones and the Memphis Group, once
|
|
the house rhythm section at Stax Records in Memphis.
|
|
|
|
Talking Heads - TV jargon for onscreen speakers.
|
|
Someone gives this explanation :
|
|
"Talking heads is named after said MIT research with Virtual
|
|
Reality, in which a method of commmunication was explored by using different
|
|
probes around one's face, and having a computer re-draw it, thus having a
|
|
Talking Head, so to speak."
|
|
But I have a feeling the VR term was named after the band.
|
|
Anyone have any ideas ? (Even though I won't hear them anyway).
|
|
|
|
Tears for Fears - A phrase lifted from Arthur Janov's The Primal Scream, which
|
|
advocates the release of pent-up emotions, such as crying, as a method of
|
|
relieving fears and neuroses.
|
|
|
|
The Teardrop Explodes - From a caption in the Marvel comic Daredevil, (number
|
|
77, June 1971): "filling the park with an unearthy whine - painting the
|
|
leaf-bare branches with golden fire - the teardrop explodes..."
|
|
|
|
10cc - Conceitedly a little above the average amount of male ejaculation
|
|
during orgasm.
|
|
|
|
10,000 Maniacs - named after a movie of the same name.
|
|
[sorry, no time to get any more details]
|
|
|
|
They Might Be Giants - taken from the 1971 George C. Scott movie
|
|
|
|
This Mortal Coil - Shakespeare. From Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be"
|
|
speech. "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,/When we have
|
|
shuffled of this mortal coil,/Must give us pause."
|
|
|
|
Thompson Twins - Comic strip detectives in the cartoon Tin Tin.
|
|
|
|
Three Dog Night - an australian term for a very cold night, which comes
|
|
from the thinking that a man in the outback would need to sleep with
|
|
one dog to keep him warm on a mild night, two on a colder night and
|
|
three when it's freezing.
|
|
|
|
T. Rex - Abbreviation for Tyrannosaurus Rex, a large dinosaur. Bolan chose
|
|
name, says manager Simon Napier-Bell, "because that was the biggest animal
|
|
there'd ever been in the world, and he was going to be that big."
|
|
|
|
Throbbing Gristle - after a Pork Dukes' track
|
|
|
|
Tom Tom Club - after the hall where they rehearsed
|
|
|
|
Toto - after Dorothy's dog in The Wizard of Oz.
|
|
|
|
T'Pau - the name of Spock's vulcan mother from Star Trek.
|
|
[Though I don't recall where it is actually mentioned in the series
|
|
or movies].
|
|
|
|
Triffids - Frankly unsociable plant monsters who attack humanity in John
|
|
Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of The Triffids.
|
|
|
|
Troggs - short for troglodyte man
|
|
|
|
UB40 - Number on the british unemployment benefit card. [indicative of their
|
|
job status at their first sessions DF!]
|
|
|
|
Ultravox - latin for 'many voices'
|
|
|
|
Unit 4 + 2 - in the sixties the chart rundown was divided into units (1-4).
|
|
The group called themselves Unit 4 and later when two more people
|
|
joined, they became Unit 4 + 2.
|
|
|
|
Uriah Heep - a character from a Dicken's novel.
|
|
Charles Dicken's conniving paragon of "humility".
|
|
|
|
U2 - Formerly The Hype. Adam Clayton liked XTC's name, and a friend suggested
|
|
U2 as being along the same lines. The U2 was a US spy plane, is also the
|
|
number of a battery, and could be taken as a pun on "you too."
|
|
|
|
Van Der Graaf Generator - The (misspelled) name was given by founder member
|
|
Chris Judge Smith in 1967, commemorating the invention of R.J. Van de Graaff
|
|
(1901-1967), a static electricity generator used for accelerating charged
|
|
atomic particles (protons) to high energies.
|
|
|
|
Velvet Underground - from the salacious pulp book of the same name, about
|
|
the joys of sado-masochism.
|
|
|
|
Ventures - because they considered themselves 'venturing' into a new style
|
|
of music, rock instrumentals.
|
|
|
|
Wang Chung - formerly Huang Chung, which is chinese [which dialect ?]
|
|
for 'perfection in music'.
|
|
|
|
W.A.S.P. - stand for We Are Sexual Perverts
|
|
[Though of course there are many other acronyms to be made]
|
|
|
|
Wet Wet Wet - From the line "his face is wet, wet with tears" taken from the
|
|
Scritti Politti song Getting Having And Holding. The third Wet was added to
|
|
distinguish them from such double-headed names as Duran Duran and Talk Talk.
|
|
|
|
Wham! - Taken from their early composition Wham Rap, which contains the
|
|
lines "Wham! Bam! I am a man!" [yeah!! slap it to me blud!! DF!]
|
|
|
|
The Who - Chosen because it would print up big on posters, and cause enough
|
|
confusion to make it memorable. Townsend's first suggestion, The Hair And
|
|
The Who, was turned down for sounding like a pub.
|
|
|
|
Woodentops - after a children's TV puppet show
|
|
|
|
XTC - a phonetic interpretation of 'ecstasy'
|
|
|
|
Yello - Meaning a "yelled hello". Obviously.
|
|
|
|
ZZ Top - According to drummer Frank Beard it's a parody of B.B. King.
|
|
"We just wanted a name that sounded like maybe some crusty old blues player."
|
|
Others allege it's taken from names of two brands of rolling papers.
|
|
Another reason being that they wanted to be last in record shop bins.
|
|
|
|
--
|