Delirious Nomad
06-19-2004, 12:30 PM
Anyone know Zebra's?
• AC/DC. Falsely assumed to stand for Anti-Christ Devil's Children, the actual origin of AC/DC's name has a much more innocent meaning: Angus and Malcolm Young's sister suggested the name after she saw it on the back of a vacuum cleaner ... or was it a sewing machine? (It was a sewing machine)
• The Backstreet Boys. The group got their name from Backstreet Market, a popular hangout spot in their hometown, Orlando, Fla.
• Chumbawamba. In a band member's dream, he didn't know which door to use at a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba," instead of "Men" and "Women."
• Duran Duran. Founding members Nick Rhodes and John Taylor turned to the '60's cheese flick "Barbarella" and found inspiration in the film's evil villain, Dr. Duran Duran.
• Eve 6. The band members were big fans of "The X-Files," and named the band after a character in the first-season episode "Eve."
• Foo Fighters. David Grohl was fascinated by the Roswell incident and sci-fi in general. He decided to name his new project after "foo fighters," a slang expression used in World War II by US pilots to describe the alien-looking fireballs they sometimes saw over Germany.
• Godsmack. The guitarist, Tony, walked in to rehearsal one day with a cold sore the size of a dime on his lip. Sully, the singer, harassed him about it all day. The next morning, Sully walked in for rehearsal, with the same size cold sore in the same spot on his lip, and Tony said, "See! God smacked you for making fun of me."
Did you know that Led Zeppelin got their name from someone telling Jimmy Page his new "supergroup" would go over like a "lead zeppelin"?
• Hootie and the Blowfish. This foursome met while in college at the University of South Carolina, where Darius Rucker doled out nicknames to many of his friends. He called one friend Hootie because of his owl-like eyes and another Blowfish for his puffy cheeks. When these two walked into a party together, someone yelled, "Hey look! There's Hootie and the Blowfish." And the wacky bandname was formed.
• Incubus. One band member read about this mythological creature, called an incubus, that came into villages at night to impregnate the women without anyone knowing. He thought it was a cool name.
• Jethro Tull. In an interview, Ian Anderson said that when the band first formed they were so bad they were never allowed in the same venue twice. As a result they changed their name frequently. "Jethro Tull" was the name they were using when they were noticed by a record company.
• KMFDM. Their name came from "kein mehrheit fur die mitleid," which basically translates to "no compassion for the majority."
• Less Than Jake. One of the band members' parents owned an 80-pound English bulldog named Jake. They treated him like a king, giving him takeout food and his own private space on the couch, so everything else in the house was "less than Jake."
• Metallica. Lars Ulrich's friend was thinking of names for an underground metal magazine. "Metallica" was one possibility, and Lars liked the sound of it so much, he suggested another name for the magazine and kept "Metallica" for the band.
• Nickelback. Bassist Mike Kroeger was working at a Starbucks Coffee in Vancouver, where coffee was selling for $2.95 to $4.95 a cup. He was so used to telling customers, "Here's your nickel back," that when the band was trying to come up with a name, "nickel back" stuck in his head.
• Our Lady Peace. The band chose this name from a 1943 poem called "Our Lady Peace," by Mark Van Doren.
• Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder's grandma, Pearl, supposedly made a peyote jelly/jam, which as kids they called Pearl jam.
• Queen. Freddie Mercury liked the name for the transvestite connotation and the glamorous image of queens as royalty.
Notice any similarities between "Löwenbräu" and "Mötley Crüe"? While the band's members were searching for a name, someone called them a "motley crew." They thought the name was cool, but needed an original spelling. They turned to Löwenbräu for guidance. Think they were drinking some at the time?
• The Ramones. The Ramones were big fans of 60's British Invasion rock n' roll (The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks). Paul McCartney's brother was in a band called Scaffold. To give himself an original identity he called himself Mike McGear. When big bro' Paul would appear on Scaffold records he called himself "Paul Ramone," so the Ramones' name is a nod to Macca himself.
(hmm....I didn't know that's where our own Macca got his handle?)
• Stone Temple Pilots. The band really liked the STP oil company stickers and wanted their name to use those initials. Stone Temple Pilots was the result. As the band members themselves say: "We couldn't have possibly called ourselves Shirley Temple's P**** 'cause no one would ever print our full title."
• 311. One rainy day, P-Nut and some friends went skinny dipping in a public pool. They were apprehended by police. One of P-Nut's friends was arrested, cuffed (naked) and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311, Omaha police code for indecent exposure. They thought it was funny, so they took it as their band name.
• UB40. The name stands for Unemployment Benefit 40, which is the name of a form the band members had to complete to receive financial aid.
• Velvet Underground. One of the band members stumbled upon a 1963 S&M book by Michael Leigh with this title.
• Weezer. Singer Rivers Cuomo had the nickname Wheezer in school because of a breathing problem, most likely asthma.
•XTC. The band, formed in 1976, first called themselves Star Park. Before deciding on XTC, they first picked up a new member and switched to Helium Kidz. Among other reasons for the name change, XTC showed up much better on posters. The most common story is that Andy Partridge was inspired by a Jimmy Durante clip when he said, "Dat's it, I'm in ecstasy!" Side note: XTC was around before the drug MDMA was called Ecstasy.
• The Yardbirds. Jazz musician Charlie Parker was nicknamed "Yardbird" and recorded, "Yardbird Suite." But "yardbird" is also prison slang used to describe prisoners in the exercise yard, and more likely the origin of the band's name.
• ZZ Top. According to the ZZ Top Web site, Billy Gibbons wanted the band's albums to be at the very back of the record stores, hence the name that would guarantee them end-of-alphabet status.
• AC/DC. Falsely assumed to stand for Anti-Christ Devil's Children, the actual origin of AC/DC's name has a much more innocent meaning: Angus and Malcolm Young's sister suggested the name after she saw it on the back of a vacuum cleaner ... or was it a sewing machine? (It was a sewing machine)
• The Backstreet Boys. The group got their name from Backstreet Market, a popular hangout spot in their hometown, Orlando, Fla.
• Chumbawamba. In a band member's dream, he didn't know which door to use at a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba," instead of "Men" and "Women."
• Duran Duran. Founding members Nick Rhodes and John Taylor turned to the '60's cheese flick "Barbarella" and found inspiration in the film's evil villain, Dr. Duran Duran.
• Eve 6. The band members were big fans of "The X-Files," and named the band after a character in the first-season episode "Eve."
• Foo Fighters. David Grohl was fascinated by the Roswell incident and sci-fi in general. He decided to name his new project after "foo fighters," a slang expression used in World War II by US pilots to describe the alien-looking fireballs they sometimes saw over Germany.
• Godsmack. The guitarist, Tony, walked in to rehearsal one day with a cold sore the size of a dime on his lip. Sully, the singer, harassed him about it all day. The next morning, Sully walked in for rehearsal, with the same size cold sore in the same spot on his lip, and Tony said, "See! God smacked you for making fun of me."
Did you know that Led Zeppelin got their name from someone telling Jimmy Page his new "supergroup" would go over like a "lead zeppelin"?
• Hootie and the Blowfish. This foursome met while in college at the University of South Carolina, where Darius Rucker doled out nicknames to many of his friends. He called one friend Hootie because of his owl-like eyes and another Blowfish for his puffy cheeks. When these two walked into a party together, someone yelled, "Hey look! There's Hootie and the Blowfish." And the wacky bandname was formed.
• Incubus. One band member read about this mythological creature, called an incubus, that came into villages at night to impregnate the women without anyone knowing. He thought it was a cool name.
• Jethro Tull. In an interview, Ian Anderson said that when the band first formed they were so bad they were never allowed in the same venue twice. As a result they changed their name frequently. "Jethro Tull" was the name they were using when they were noticed by a record company.
• KMFDM. Their name came from "kein mehrheit fur die mitleid," which basically translates to "no compassion for the majority."
• Less Than Jake. One of the band members' parents owned an 80-pound English bulldog named Jake. They treated him like a king, giving him takeout food and his own private space on the couch, so everything else in the house was "less than Jake."
• Metallica. Lars Ulrich's friend was thinking of names for an underground metal magazine. "Metallica" was one possibility, and Lars liked the sound of it so much, he suggested another name for the magazine and kept "Metallica" for the band.
• Nickelback. Bassist Mike Kroeger was working at a Starbucks Coffee in Vancouver, where coffee was selling for $2.95 to $4.95 a cup. He was so used to telling customers, "Here's your nickel back," that when the band was trying to come up with a name, "nickel back" stuck in his head.
• Our Lady Peace. The band chose this name from a 1943 poem called "Our Lady Peace," by Mark Van Doren.
• Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder's grandma, Pearl, supposedly made a peyote jelly/jam, which as kids they called Pearl jam.
• Queen. Freddie Mercury liked the name for the transvestite connotation and the glamorous image of queens as royalty.
Notice any similarities between "Löwenbräu" and "Mötley Crüe"? While the band's members were searching for a name, someone called them a "motley crew." They thought the name was cool, but needed an original spelling. They turned to Löwenbräu for guidance. Think they were drinking some at the time?
• The Ramones. The Ramones were big fans of 60's British Invasion rock n' roll (The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks). Paul McCartney's brother was in a band called Scaffold. To give himself an original identity he called himself Mike McGear. When big bro' Paul would appear on Scaffold records he called himself "Paul Ramone," so the Ramones' name is a nod to Macca himself.
(hmm....I didn't know that's where our own Macca got his handle?)
• Stone Temple Pilots. The band really liked the STP oil company stickers and wanted their name to use those initials. Stone Temple Pilots was the result. As the band members themselves say: "We couldn't have possibly called ourselves Shirley Temple's P**** 'cause no one would ever print our full title."
• 311. One rainy day, P-Nut and some friends went skinny dipping in a public pool. They were apprehended by police. One of P-Nut's friends was arrested, cuffed (naked) and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311, Omaha police code for indecent exposure. They thought it was funny, so they took it as their band name.
• UB40. The name stands for Unemployment Benefit 40, which is the name of a form the band members had to complete to receive financial aid.
• Velvet Underground. One of the band members stumbled upon a 1963 S&M book by Michael Leigh with this title.
• Weezer. Singer Rivers Cuomo had the nickname Wheezer in school because of a breathing problem, most likely asthma.
•XTC. The band, formed in 1976, first called themselves Star Park. Before deciding on XTC, they first picked up a new member and switched to Helium Kidz. Among other reasons for the name change, XTC showed up much better on posters. The most common story is that Andy Partridge was inspired by a Jimmy Durante clip when he said, "Dat's it, I'm in ecstasy!" Side note: XTC was around before the drug MDMA was called Ecstasy.
• The Yardbirds. Jazz musician Charlie Parker was nicknamed "Yardbird" and recorded, "Yardbird Suite." But "yardbird" is also prison slang used to describe prisoners in the exercise yard, and more likely the origin of the band's name.
• ZZ Top. According to the ZZ Top Web site, Billy Gibbons wanted the band's albums to be at the very back of the record stores, hence the name that would guarantee them end-of-alphabet status.