Rock Bands & Their Nanes

fisherk

fisherk

Joined
Jul 6, 2000
Messages
1,194
There have been many threads dealing with Rock & Roll - ie Favorite bands, best lyrics, best live shows, etc, I thought it would fun to hear how some of the groups got their names. Here's two:

Procol Harum was the name of the cat that, that was owned by the groups' drug dealer at the time.

Steely Dan is a reference to the William Burrows novel "Naked Lunch," in which there was a dildo called "Steely Dan." and used in the movie Barbella. Not sure how Duran Duran entered the picture, but ther is an obscure connection there

Does any one else have any good entries to this thread? Looking to hear some more stories relating to some other obscure references
 
Queen was so named because the band was composed of really masculine he-men.


Or did I get that wrong again?
 
Led Zepplin was named after a comment made by a club manager, that their sound would go over like a lead zeppelin.

The misfits were named after the Marilyn monroe/clark gable movei of the same name.

the beatles were trying to create a name like Buddy Holly's Crickets, but changed the spelling, so it was cooler.
 
Black Flag was named cuz the original singer used to huf cans of Black Flag before a gig.
 
fisherk said:
There have been many threads dealing with Rock & Roll - ie Favorite bands, best lyrics, best live shows, etc, I thought it would fun to hear how some of the groups got their names. Here's two:

Procol Harum was the name of the cat that, that was owned by the groups' drug dealer at the time.

Steely Dan is a reference to the William Burrows novel "Naked Lunch," in which there was a dildo called "Steely Dan." and used in the movie Barbella. Not sure how Duran Duran entered the picture, but ther is an obscure connection there

Does any one else have any good entries to this thread? Looking to hear some more stories relating to some other obscure references
Click to expand...

Duran Duran was the bad guys name in Barbarella, the band took their name from him.
 
Not a 'band name' item, but......Geddy Lee of RUSH became 'Geddy' because his Jewish grandmother had difficulty pronouncing his real name - 'Gary'. (And 'Lee' is his middle name.)
 
Thanks Bubbacatfish. Nothing like a a rap up the side of your head to get some brain synoptics from making the connection. I remember now. Duran duran was the villian.

Now if someone could explain Mott the Hoople, that would prove I didn't permantly destroy all my brain cells from the 70's. Thanks.

Ken
 
Jethro Tull is the name of an agriculturist who invented a seed drill. When Ian Anderson's band was trying to get gigs and record contracts, they kept constantly changing their name so they could get new gigs. Jethro Tull is what they ended up with.

Lynard Skynard is a joke on a draconian gym teacher (who would expell kids for having long hair and sideburns) a couple of the band members had.

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was originally just called the Mothers. The studio wouldn't allow it though, thinking it was short for The Motherf***ers. On a side note, the Mother's 3rd album, "Crusing with Ruben and the Jets" was an intentionally poorly disguised attempt to have their music accidentally played on the radio by stations who wouldn't play anything by the Mothers. In 1973, a few years after the original Mothers broke up, FZ produced an album ("For Real") by a band called Ruben and the Jets. Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood of the original Mothers played sax.

Toad the Wet Sprocket was a fictional band mentioned in passing in a Monty Python bit off of their "Contractual Obligation" album called "Rock Notes", which was a fairly random and incoherent monologue by Eric Idle about rock bands changing their names and marrying lots of different women.

I just bought a few albums by a lounge/jump swing band called Lee Press-On and the Nails. Should be obvious where they got the name (I think it's pretty funny).
 
Dijos said:
Led Zepplin was named after a comment made by a club manager, that their sound would go over like a lead zeppelin.
Click to expand...

I've often heard that comment was made by Keith Moon, the late great Who drummer.
 
Prefab Sprout came from a misheard lyric in the Johnny Cash tune Jackson"Hotter than a pepper sprout" Rolling Stones got their name from a Muddy Waters tune. Pink Floyd is the first names of two obscure blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
Long as we're talking Led Zeppelin, sidenote here. Jimmy Page went backstage at the Montreux Jazz festival to meet one of his guitar heroes, Albert King. albert, upon being informed that Page is a musician, says"Hope you can make a living at it" during his performance, Albert king announces to the crowd'We have a promising young guitarist in te crowd, a Mr Led Zeppelin, come on up, Led" Jimmy is too embarassed to get on stage, and slinks off. This is from liner notes on an old Albert King compilation.
 
Elton John came up with the name by taking the first names of Elton Dean, a sax player and Long John Baldry. Thought it sounded better than Reginald Dwight.

The Bangles were originally the Bangs, but a recording contract changed them into the bubble gum group we all love.

Can't remember why he choose David Bowie, but he had to switch from his birth name, as the Monkees were quite popular, and he didn't want to be confused with the teen heartthrob Davey Jones.
 
The Doobie Brothers probably need no explanation, but the inside of one of their albums had a large joint displayed.

When they went on tour during the drug-unfriendly 80s, I recall seeing an interview where they claimed (with a straight face) that the name came from being fond of Frank Sinatra. As in doobie-doobie-do....
 
48TH RONIN said:
Can't remember why he choose David Bowie, but he had to switch from his birth name, as the Monkees were quite popular, and he didn't want to be confused with the teen heartthrob Davey Jones.
Click to expand...
He was enamored with American folk hero,Jim Bowie.

Doug:)
 
48TH RONIN said:
Elton John came up with the name by taking the first names of Elton Dean, a sax player and Long John Baldry. Thought it sounded better than Reginald Dwight.
Click to expand...

And what was a bit weird about that was that Dean became most well known by playing some way-out s**t in avant garde jazz band Soft Machine.

(As opposed to the ballads that EJ began his career with.)
 
mwerner said:
The Doobie Brothers probably need no explanation, but the inside of one of their albums had a large joint displayed.

When they went on tour during the drug-unfriendly 80s, I recall seeing an interview where they claimed (with a straight face) that the name came from being fond of Frank Sinatra. As in doobie-doobie-do....
Click to expand...

The band serially known as Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Starship, and then Jefferson Starship the Next Generation, according to popular rumors also owes its namesake to the “drug counter-culture". A Jefferson airplane was slang for an improvised roach clip back in the day and persistent rumor holds that this was the origin of the band’s name. However Jorma Kaukonen claims the name was invented by a friend of his as a parody of a blues band name. Yeah, ri-i-i-i-i-ght. :D

Little more detail on Pink Floyd - They started as Sigma 6 and were known at various times as The Meggadeaths, The Screaming Abdabs, and The Abdabs. When Syd Barrett joined Bob Klose, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright they were called the Tea Set. They found themselves on the same bill as another band with the same name, Sid came up with the name The Pink Floyd Sound after blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Obscurity elevated to a classic combination. :thumbup:

Blue Öyster Cult occasionally plays small local gigs under their original Soft White Underbelly name. Both names are attributed to poetry written by their manager Sandy Pearlman, who coincidently co-wrote several of their songs. Soft White Underbelly is derived from a phrase by Winston Churchill to describe Italy during WWII. The Blue Oyster Cult was a collection of aliens who had gathered here to secretly guide Earth's history. The umlaut was suggested by keyboardist Lanier and was copied by other bands like Mötley Crüe and Motörhead.

Denmark’s heavy-cow-punk-metal band D.A.D. initially used the name Disneyland After Dark when they formed in Copenhagen in the 1980s. They went international in 1989 with No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims and Eisner was not a happy camper. To avoid a typical Disney lawsuit they changed to their current abbreviation. Frickin’ Disney twinks!!! :mad:






J
 
ZZ Top wanted to be the last albums,remember them:eek:,you'd find in the record racks.
There's also the Zig Zag,Top rolling papers reference. :D
Edited to add:Three Dog Night,some nights were so cold it was a three dog night.

You guys do know Chuck Berry was the father of R & R?

Doug:)
 
The Pogues: from the Gaelic "Pog ma Thoin" ("Kiss my ass" Often spelled Pogue Mahone) (forgive the lack of accent marks...)
Wolfe Tones: Named after Irish patriot Theobald Wolfe Tone
Joy Division: Named after sex slaves organized by the Nazis for the "entertainment" of the troops during WWII.
Gang Of Four: Named after a political confederation in China during the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Both 10 cc & The Lovin' Spoonful were supposed to be (apochrophally) named after the average quantity of male ejaculate. Differing opinions exist.
Die Toten Hosen: Named after the German slag "Tote Hose" which means literally "Dead Pants"- slang for "boring" or "nothing happening"
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Chosen from a list of possible bands posted on pieces of paper in a park in California (apochrophal)
R.E.M.: Rapid Eye Movement- sleep phase
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top