Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ALICE IN CHAINS - a funny rumor is that they were named after a lost
episode from The Brady Bunch series!
AMBOY DUKES - Ted Nugent's original band - taken from the title of a 1940's
book about street gangs by Irving Shulman.
ANTHRAX - A dangerous bacteria that used to infect many cattle in Europe &
could be used for terrorism.
ASPHALT BALLET - The name came from a motorcycle accident Julius was in
where the motion of the bike rolling over on the asphalt road was termed an
"Asphalt Ballet."
BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY - this neo-swing band takes its name from what
legendary bluesman Albert King wrote as an autograph for the band's leader,
Scotty Morris... "To the big bad voodoo daddy."
BAD ENGLISH - One day the band members were playing pool and thinking
about a name for the
band. John Waite went to take a shot and missed. Someone made a
comment on how bad his "English" was - English referring to the spin you put
on a ball according to where on the ball your stick hits.
BAUHAUS - an artsy name, after a style of graphic design and famous school
of architecture.
BEASTIE BOYS - According to Michael Diamond, BEASTIE stands for Boys
Entering Anarchistic
Stages Towards Internal Excellence.
JOHN CAFFERTY and the BEAVER BROWN BAND - did the classic
soundtrack to the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. The band from the Cranston
Rhode Island area was practicing in one of
the band member's garages when they saw a Dutch Boy paint can that was
called Beaver Brown.
THE BEE GEES - the 60's soft-rockers now best known for disco. "Saturday
Night Fever" - some say the BG comes from "Brothers Gibb" since they were
brothers named Gibb... however an article on the group suggests that they
used the names of 2 friends that helped them get started: Bill Goode and a DJ
named Bill Gates... I'll go with the first version.
BLACK SABBATH - from a 1960's cheap horror movie starring Boris Karloff ,
suggesting a holy day of witchcraft.
BLINK 182 - Blink 182 supposedly has NO meaning at all but the band
fosters stories on origins. Sample: used to be just "Blink" but was threatened
by a lawsuit from a little known Irish band with the same name, so they
added the 182 which is the number of times the f-word was said in one of the
members favorite movies.
THE BLOODHOUND GANG - was a segment on the PBS kid's show 3-2-1
Contact! in the 80's
about 3 kids who were detectives, solving mysteries and fighting crime and
such.
BON JOVI - from the New Jersey bandleader Jon Bon Jovi, whose real name is
John Bongiovi, Jr.
BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S - Booker T. led the band and M.G. stands for
Memphis Group not the once-popular car.
DAVID BOWIE - born David Jones, he changed his name to avoid confusion
with David (Davy) Jones of THE MONKEES.
CREED - This popular Florida band was named after former bassist Brian
Marshall's
earlier band Mattox Creed. www.creednet.com
THE CULT - Goth/Rock band 'The Cult' were once known as 'The Sudden
Death Cult', then
shortened to 'Death Cult', then finally just 'The Cult'.
DEACON BLUE - took their name from a song of the same name by STEELY
DAN.
DEF LEPPARD - Joe Elliot, lead singer, wanted to use the idea
provided by the band Led Zeppelin's logo and transformed what he
originally had as deaf leopard.
THE DOORS - Jim Morrison read poet William Blake who said "if the
doors of perception are cleansed, everything would appear to man
as it truly is, infinite. "He was also influenced by author Aldous
Huxley who referred to the same line when he titled his book on
drug experimentation The Doors of Perception. "There are things
known and things unknown and in between are the doors" Official
Doors web site is at http://www.thedoors.com/
BOB DYLAN - His real name is Robert Zimmerman - he liked the poet Dylan
Thomas.
DYNAMITE HACK- A line in the movie Caddyshack describing marijuana.
THE EAGLES - originally called TEEN KING AND THE EMERGENCIES , they
liked the American sound of Eagles and the way it was aligned with THE
BYRDS who had a great influence on them.
ELTON JOHN - Real name: Reginald Dwight. Created from two other British
musicians: Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.
EMINEM - from his real name Marshall Mathers he took M&M and rewrote it
phonetically as Eminem.
EVERCLEAR - Named after the "Everclear" brand of 190 proof grain alcohol
used to make dangerous alcoholic drinks.
EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL - from an ad for a British clothing store that
would sell you "Everything but the Girl" that you saw in the ad.
FASTBALL - from a porno film the band saw - Mike Zuniga says it was "a
typical porno movie but about baseball. It's like a really raunchy Bull
Durham."
FLEETWOOD MAC - a simple one. They just took the last name of drummer
Mick Fleetwood and a form of bassist John McVie's last name.
FAITH NO MORE - named after a race horse they saw listed on a racing
form.
GARBAGE - Either lead singer Shirley Manson's father yelled down to the
band at one of their basement practice sessions, "Play more quietly - you
sound like garbage." or from a friend of Butch Vig (the drummer of Garbage),
who said "This stuff sounds like garbage!" check their site at
http://www.garbage.com/
GENESIS - The first book in the Bible - their first album's title was "From
Genesis to Revelation"
GIN BLOSSOMS - slang for the "blossoms" (burst blood capillaries) on the
face particularly the nose from drinking too much alcohol - in the late 1800's
gin was a popular cheap alcoholic drink.
GOO GOO DOLLS - used to be called the Sex Maggots, and when they were
told that local newspapers wouldn't print that name, Jonny Rzeznik picked up
a magazine from the early 60's with an ad for a doll that cried Goo Goo when
you turned it upside down.
GREEN DAY - 1) It may have come from the sci-fi movie Soylent Green
when they said "Tuesday is soylent green day." Soylent green was a food
produced by a corporation to feed the way overpopulated masses; turns out
they were also making it from the masses! 2) Another story is that when
they dropped out of school to be musicians, their principal said "It'll be a
green day in hell before you make anything of yourselves". 3) Some say
that in drug slang - if you smoked pot and goofed off all day, it was a "Green
Day."
GUNS 'N' ROSES - originally two bands L.A. GUNNS and HOLLYWOOD
ROSES. Hollywood Roses was headed by Axl Rose, Tracii Guns headed the
other band which also featured Slash. The two frequented clubs and played
there and were friends.
JANE"S ADDICTION - The band got it's name from a girl (Jane) that Perry
Farrell knew back in L.A who was a prostitute and called it her addiction.
JETHRO TULL - popular 70's band that is named after the rather obscure
inventor of the farmer's seed drill.
JUDAS PRIEST - originally a mild curse said to avoid saying "Jesus Christ" -
also from the Bob Dylan song "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest".
KISS - According to Paul Stanley, Kiss just sounded dangerous (kiss of death)
and sexy at the same time. Kiss denies the rumors that the name stands for
"Kids In Service of Satan" or the saying "Keep It Simple Stupid."
KORN - There are many stories as to how the name originated, however the
most believable is that Korn starts with Kern County which is where Jonathan
worked as a Coroner. From that came "KoRn". It was then decided that it
would be written like a child would write it, hence the K
instead of a C, and the backwards R.
LED ZEPPELIN - Jimmy Page was drinking with Moon and Entwhistle, who
were bitching about their band mates Daltrey and Townshend. They joked
about the two of them starting a band with Jimmy, and one of them said
"Yeah, that will go over like a lead balloon". When Jimmy formed his own
band, he remembered this and thought "Lead Zeppelin" would be good, both
from that conversation and the heavy/light contradiction similar to the band
named IRON BUTTERFLY. They decided to drop the "a" so Americans wouldn't
mispronounce it.
LIMP BIZKIT - Got the idea from Fred Durst's dog Biscuit who has a limp.
LOVIN' SPOONFUL - 1) from the lyrics of the old song "Coffee Blues".
Possibly a drug reference to the spoon used to heat & melt drugs
such as heroin for use. 2) Also that the amount of the sperm
ejaculated by the average male is about a spoonful (see also the
band 10cc
METALLICA - Lars Ulrich was helping a friend think of a name for a metal
fanzine. The choices were Metal Mania and Metallica. Metal Mania was chosen
for the magazine & he used Metallica for his band.
MOTORHEAD - British slang for a drug user who uses a lot of speed
'NSYNC- Justin's mother came up with the name. N is the last letter in Justin,
S is the last letter in Chris, Y is the last letter in Joey. N is actually from James
Lance Bass because Chris gave him the nickname 'Lansten'. Since Lance
doesn't end with a N, they used his nick name,
Lansten. C is from J.C. That's how they came up with 'NSYNC. (info from T.J.
Gernon, Illinois & Andrea in San Diego) The whole thing is, of course, a play
on In Sync - a term which comes from the movie industry - meaning when the
picture & soundtrack are properly aligned or synchronized.
OUR LADY PEACE - The band took their unusual name from a 1943
poem by American poet Mark Van Doren. link to information
PINK FLOYD - taken from the names of two Georgia bluesmen Pink
Anderson and Floyd Council - from the early days when the band saw itself as
a blues band.
PROCOL HARUM - terrific art rock band was named by lyricist Keith
Reid - a term he thought to be Arabic for "beyond that which is" -
also the name of his cat.
THE ROLLING STONES - from the Howlin' Wolf blues song "Rolling
Stone" - Keith Richards was a fan of the version recorded by Muddy
Waters.
SAMHAIN - The Celtic New Year, which has evolved into Halloween -
the spirit of Halloween sometimes Americanized to Sam Haines.
SAVE FERRIS - a sign you'll see if you watch the movie Ferris
Bueller's Day Off.
SEVEN MARY THREE - a police radio code for 7M3, it was also one of
the motorcycle cops radio name on the old TV show C.H.I.P.S.
(California Highway Patrol ) mid-70's.
SMASH MOUTH - football players use this slang term in any game
with a lot of blocking or tackling.
TALKING HEADS - probably from the video jargon for a camera shot
showing only the head & shoulders of a person. Newscasters are
usually shown this way and it makes for boring TV. Another story
says they were inspired by a military experiment involving talking
mannequin heads.
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - named after the cult film favorite starring
George C. Scott about "loonies." The film is also referencing Don
Quixote, by Miguel Cervantes. In the book, the title character says
"they might be giants" when referring to the windmills he attempts
to fight.
THIRD EYE BLIND - Our third eye is the imagined one that gives us a
kind of sixth sense (telepathy, ESP, etc.) and the band felt that most
of us are blind in that sense. There is also a symbolic third eye (all
knowing eye) that appears on the back of a U.S. dollar bill.
TOAD THE WET SPROCKET - A skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus
which is about a weird rock band.
VAN HALEN - after Alex and Eddie Van Halen - suggested by David
Lee Roth as being better than their original name "Mammoth." They
might have been called 'Daddy Longlegs' if Gene Simmons of KISS
had gotten his way - he partially financed and produced one of their
original demo records and suggested names and artwork.
VERUCA SALT - from a female character in the movie Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory ( AKA Willy Wonka) played by Julie Dawn Cole
(who is not in the band)
ZZ TOP - taken from the name of a Texas Blues man ZZ Hill. Though
a rumor is that they got their name by combining Zig Zag and Top,
two well known brands of "cigarette" rolling papers.