Home | Arts & Entertainment | Music

Band Name Origins: Stories Behind Band Names

By: Jack Reider

Did you know that the Bee Gees were named after the initials of a DJ called Bill Gates? Did you know that the real story behind the origin of the name of the rock band 10cc is much more trivial and boring than the urban legend that surrounds it? Did you ever wonder why the hell would someone choose to name his band Chumbawamba? Here you can widen your knowledge by learning about the origins or rock bands names and pop artists pseudonyms.

10cc: an urban legend claims that the band who wrote the hit I’m Not in Love has chosen her name as a gesture to the average male ejaculation, which is estimated as 9cc of sperm. but, the bands name really originated in a dream the band manager, Jonathan King, had in which he was managing a band by the name of 10cc

Alice in Chains: Lane Stanley and Jerry Cantrell had intended to form a heavy metal band that will perform covers of Slayer while wearing dresses. Although there plan did not come out, the name of the band remained. Alice in Chains is a take off on Alice in Wonderland with an S and M twist.
Bee Gees: The Gibb brothers first had in mind the name The Rattlesnakes as a name of their band. Later they have come up with the idea of honoring the initials of both Brothers Gibb and their close friend and one of their first supports, DJ Bill Gates, who has nothing to do with the founder of Microsoft.
Chumbawamba: apparently, one of the band members had a strange dream, in which he could not decide which public toilet door he should enter since the Men and Women signs were replaced with Chumba and Wamba signs.
The Doors: formerly named Psychedelic Ranger, inspired by a William Blake quote: If the doors of perception were to be cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
Elvis Costello: was born as Declan Patrick McManus. When he had started his musical career, he adopted an alias created by a combination of Elvis Presley and Lou Costello, mainly because he represents the exact opposite of the other Elvis.

The Fall: taken from the title of a novel authored by Albert Camus.

Grateful Dead: originally named The Warlocks. The origin of the cult band final name was inspired by an old English folk tale, which themed around a traveler who is saved by the spirit of a dead person who is grateful for the travelers generosity and his willingness to pay the deads man debts in order for him to be buried.

The Happy Mondays: Shaun Rider was inspired by the happy Mondays he and the other members of the band were having as unemployed who were spending the day that follows the weekend in sleeping while the other people were off to work.

Ice T: the controversial gangsta rapper has chosen to name himself after Iceberg Slim, a famous pimp who later became an author of books that describe gangsta living.
Johnny Rotten: the Sex Pistols leader was born as John Lydon. He received a stage name that was found more suitable for an anarchist punk with a set of rotten teeth.

Kraftwerk: the pioneer electronic band adopted the German translation of the term Power Station.

L. LL Cool J: James Todd Smith pseudonym is an Acronym for Ladies Love Cool James.

Marilyn Manson: the bandleader pseudonym mixes two of Americas favorite celebrities: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Other members of the band are using the pseudonyms Ginger Fish, Twiggy Ramirez and Madonna Wayne Gacy.

Nine Inch Nails: inspired by the nails that attached Jesus to the cross

The Orb: in Woody Allens Sleeper, there is a silver ball that causes people who touches it to react in strange ways. This device was called The Orb.

The Pogues: originally named Pogue Mahone, which is Kiss my Ass in Gaelic, the band shortened the name to avoid airplay censorship.

Queen: one word that catches both transvestite and royalty connotation was the perfect band name in the eyes of Freddie Mercury.

The Replacements: according to the myth, the punk rock band adapted the name after replacing a missing band in a gig, an incident that made them introduced themselves as The Replacements.

Sex Pistols: Malcolm Mclaren is responsible for the choice of the name, partly to help promote the clothes shop called Sex owned by Vivien Westwood who used to be his girlfriend at the time.

TLC: the initials of the band members nicknames T Boz, Left Eye and Chilli. It also suggests the acronym for Tender Loving Care.

UB40: the politically oriented band was named after a type of British unemployment form.

Velvet Underground: named after the title of an unknown sex book that one of the band members has found lying on the sidewalk
Weezer: the band front man was nicknamed Weezer in high school since he was a geek who suffered from asthma that caused him to make wheezing sounds.

XTC: this punk band was formed in 1976 long before the usage of the drug was popular. The band had changed its original name Star Park after watching a Jimmy Durante clip in which he states: Im in ecstasy!

Yeah Yeah Yeah: according to Karen O, the inspiration to the hip band name came from the New Yorker phrase, which means something like whatever.
ZZ Top: there are two versions related to the origin of the band name. According to the first one, the name of the band is a spoof on the name of the blues musician ZZ Hill. According to the second version, the name relates to a combination of two popular brands of cigarette rolling papers: Zig Zag and Tops Rolling papers.

Article Source: Main Articles

Joseph McNamarra is a collector of pop music records and books. In addition, Joseph contributes to the internet casinos magazine that provides online casino gambling and poker news, articles and reviews.

This article may be reproduced wholly or in part without written permission provided the byline, resource area, and any hyperlinks remain in order to give proper credit to the author.

Internet search engines and directory listings are imperative to your sites existence and success. Submit Your Website to the Searchen Networks directory and search engine to achieve authoritive inbound links.

Please Rate this Article

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Music Articles Via RSS!

Additional Articles From - Home | Arts & Entertainment | Music

Common Accessories Used For Playing The Guitar - By : Victor Epand
Unlimited Free Music On Free Music Download Site - By : Joyce James
Little Known Features Of Guitar Designs - What On Earth Are Truss Rods? - By : Victor Epand
The Difference Between Electric Guitar Bodies And Acoustic Bodies - By : Victor Epand
The Top 10 Breakup Songs - By : Alison5 Chace5
Guitars, Bridges And The Whammy Bar - By : Victor Epand
Karaoke Has Transformed The Style In Which The English Sing - By : Chelsea M Butterworth
Amplifiers - By : shaheen
The Fantastic Music World of Stevie Wonder - By : Victor Epand
The Great Band Leader and Drummer Gene Krupa - By : Victor Epand

	Print This Article
	Post Comment
	Add To Favorites
	Email to Friends
	Ezine Ready

	Submit Articles
	Member Login
	Top Authors
	Most Popular Articles
	Submission Guidelines
	Ezine Notifications
	Article RSS Feeds

	New Stuff
	About Us
	Link to Us
	Contact Us
	Privacy Policy
	Terms of Service

:: Top Author Businesses:

Try your luck, Play BlackJack

:: Our Supporters: