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Are there any other bands that you know of how they got their name?

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Here are some examples. More to come, though, for a later post:

The Pretenders: From the 1956 hit song by The Platters, "The Great Pretender". The group had flirted with the idea of calling themselves The Great Pretenders, but then thought it sounded too egotistical, especially for such a new band. So, they settled on The Pretenders.

R.E.M.: For the term "Rapid Eye Movement". It refers to how your eyes move when you sleep, and when dreaming occurs.

Toad The Wet Sprocket: From a Monty Python skit called "Record Notes", which appears on their 1980 album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation album. It had Eric Idle doing news stories involving fictional rock singers and bands. The skit used a lot of made-up names, and a "group" called Toad The Wet Sprocket was among the ones listed in the sketch. The band decided to name themselves after one of the "made-up" groups.

The Power Station: From the recording studio of the same name, located in New York.

REO Speedwagon: From an old turn-of-the-20th Century fire truck.

Steely Dan: Named themselves after a dildo in William Burrough's novel, "The Naked Lunch".

The B-52s: They are *NOT* named after the warplane, but instead for the style of the "beehive" hairdos that group members Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson used.

The Rolling Stones: From Muddy Waters' blues song.

Iron Maiden: Named after the medieval torture instrument in Alexandre Dumas' (pere) novel "The Man In The Iron Mask".

Chicago: Originally, they were known as The Chicago Transit Authority, until the *REAL* CTA threatened them with a lawsuit over the use of the name. So, the band simply became Chicago.

The Doors: From Aldous Huxley's book on his mescaline experience, entitled "The Doors Of Perception".

The [English] Beat: Originally called The Beat, but there was an American group with the same name and at the same time, led by a guy named Paul Collins. To avoid confusion, both bands were renamed The English Beat and Paul Collins' Beat.

Toto: They were NOT named after the dog in "The Wizard of Oz". Instead, they named themselves after a Japanese manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and toilet bowls! Seems appropriate to me!

Berlin: When asked the question why this Los Angeles group called themselves Berlin, the group's singer Terri Nunn reportedly once said, "Because none of us ever been there before."

There's a lot more, but that's all I can think of right now! Maybe I'll come up with some additional ones later on!

[ 28. December 2004, 22:36: Message edited by: StevenHW ]

Posts: 3385 | From: Sacramento, California, USA | Registered: Sep 2002 | Site Updates: 0  |  IP: Logged | 

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...they were all sitting around discussing it and one of the members said something like "this band has aboout as much of a chance of taking off as a lead zepplin."

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It was my understanding that Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who, was the person who actually said that to the newly-formed Led Zeppelin group, as a joke.

Another bit of trivia: When Led Zep was just starting, there were a few critics and naysayers who felt that the group had received too much publicity, and called it "superhype". So, the band named their own song publishing company, "Superhype"!

And the lesson for the day: It's amazing that you can take someone else's negative energy and channel it to a positive! Success is the best revenge!

Posts: 3385 | From: Sacramento, California, USA | Registered: Sep 2002 | Site Updates: 0  |  IP: Logged |