Band names: The good, the bad and the origins

[alan nagsworth]

There's a list compiled on Wikipedia here featuring some of the more well-known band names and their origins, and I'm sure there's other sites dedicated to this sort of thing (before someone jumps down my throat with thread-killing links).

This is a thread for discussing the best and worst band names, your own assumptions on unknown origins, and of course official comfirmations that aren't otherwise listed.

There are some really shitty ones out there and I can't deny my respect has faltered a tiny bit/somehow slipped into minus figures on finding these. For example...

30 Seconds to Mars: according to member Jared Leto, the name is a rough translation of a phrase from the manuscript Argus Apacase and was chosen by the band for being "imaginative and really represent[ing] the sound of our music in as unique a way as possible."

Imaginitive? Unique? Are you sure this represents your music? If there's one thing that pisses me off it's bands not being able to admit they're generic.

Audioslave — according to lead guitarist Tom Morello the name supposedly came to singer Chris Cornell in a vision.

He had a vision and this was the best thing to come out of it? Cock!

Beastie Boys — "Beastie" is an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence."

I discovered this one a while ago and it always makes me laugh. So, that's 'Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence Boys' then?

NOFX — guitarist Eric Melvin says that he came up with the name, inspired by the broken up punk band "Negative FX". The name is also meant to symbolize the band's rejection of gimmickry that the band was seeing in music at the time

"Gimmickry" meaning ver kidz goin' straight? I heard NoFX means No Fucking Straight-Edges. (The 'F' stands for 'Fucking' and the 'X' was what hardcore kids draw on their hands to represent their straight-edge lifestyle. Doesn't stop 'em from being kung fu moshing nutjobs though eh.)

Oasis evolved from an earlier band called The Rain, comprised of Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums) and Chris Hutton (vocals). Unsatisfied with Hutton, Arthurs auditioned acquaintance Liam Gallagher as a replacement. After Gallagher joined the group, the band's name was changed to Oasis, which was inspired by an Inspiral Carpets tour poster which was in his and his brother Noel's bedroom. One of the venues on it was the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon.

Absolute fucking crap. Never have I seen such a poorly-thought out band name.

I think that band names should be well-considered and in some way reflect the state of mind of the band as a collective, or in some way define the music they make. I've always liked the name Less Than Jake, as it comes from a friend of the band saying the singer's dog Jake would probably achieve more success in life than the band would. They have a pretty fun and wacky view on their music (or they used to at least) and this quirky self-mocking title does it justice. Personally I'd like to meet this 'Jake' and shake his paw.

[Hank_Kingsley]

William Burroughs wasn't too keen on Steely Dan, despite their fondness for him (naming themselves after a dildo from one of his books).

His loss, since 'Can't Buy A Thrill' is a stone cold classic.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I'm struggling to think of a single band name that's any good.  All of my favourite bands have terrible names.  I've always quite liked Primal Scream as a name, but it doesn't really fit them that well.

[buttgammon]

I wished there was a better story behind the name Pet Shop Boys, because it's a pretty good name to be honest. There isn't.

but later they came up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing.

Most of the band names on the Wikipedia list Nagsworth linked to seem to have crappy origins, though I like the story behind Procul Harum's name, maybe a bit more than I like them!

The band was named after the pedigree name of a Siamese cat that belonged to a friend of Guy Stevens, the band's manager.[58] The name was Procul Harun, which is latin for "Beyond these things", but was written down incorrectly by Keith Reid.[59] The band would say in interviews that the cat was a Burmese Blue, though all cats with the name are the Devon Rex breed.[60]

[simondykes]

I think the best band name ever is Can.I can't explain why,other than it just sounds great.(Irmin Schmidt tried to claim that it stood for 'Communism,Anarchism,Nihilism',but he was just being cheeky.)In fact,most krautrock bands have great names:Neu!,Cluster,Faust,Kraftwerk.I also really like Boards Of Canada as a name.

Oasis is a terrible name,but then,so is Blur (though I guess it's better than Seymour,their original name.)Oasis should have swapped names with Northern Uproar,a great name for a terrible band.Whatever you might think of the music,names like Bogshed and Crispy Ambulance always slightly annoy me;I always think,"Yeah,you're going to get far with a name like that!"Talking of which,how about Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong as a contender for worst name?

I love the scene in '24 Hour Party People' where Rob Gretton & Tony Wilson are talking about the worst band names ever.Gretton picks 'Skinny Monkey' (which I actually quite like) and Wilson picks 'Barabbas',which is pretty bad....

[Hank_Kingsley]

I'm struggling to think of a single band name that's any good.  All of my favourite bands have terrible names.  I've always quite liked Primal Scream as a name, but it doesn't really fit them that well.

Primal Scream always sounded like the name of an 80s hardcore act to me.

They should have gone for The Bobby Gillespie Rhythm and Blues Band.

[Famous Mortimer]

I can't think of many bands with wacky names that ever hit it really big, it's like you're saying when you call yourself Crispy Ambulance that you're never going to play a venue that seats more than about 300 people.

[Hank_Kingsley]

I love the scene in '24 Hour Party People' where Rob Gretton & Tony Wilson are talking about the worst band names ever.Gretton picks 'Skinny Monkey' (which I actually quite like) and Wilson picks 'Barabbas',which is pretty bad....

Never heard of 'Skinny Monkey' but Skinny Puppy have one of those love/hate names. Apparently it's something to do with animal rights and their music sounding like the yelp of an abused greyhound.

I would have called the band 'The Demonic Nuisance Caller Band' if it was up to me.

[chand]

I can't think of many bands with wacky names that ever hit it really big, it's like you're saying when you call yourself Crispy Ambulance that you're never going to play a venue that seats more than about 300 people.

Arctic Monkeys?

[Artemis]

Les Claypool's name for his collaboration band was pretty good: 'Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains'.

[Paul's Boutique]

I discovered this one a while ago and it always makes me laugh. So, that's 'Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence Boys' then?

Sounds like a back-cronym to me - hip hop's full of 'em.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Mansun named themselves after Verve b-side A Man Called Sun, which seems a bit odd as I can't really hear much Verve influence in their music (although I've only heard Urban Hymns, so what do I know?).

Anyway I like The name 'Mansun'. I think if they'd have called themselves 'Manson' it would have seemed wanky.

[alan nagsworth]

Arctic Monkeys?

I'll see your Arctic Monkeys and raise you one Kaiser Chiefs.

[buttgammon]

Kaiser Chiefs is a bit less silly because it's actually named after something - a South African football club.

[Small Man Big Horse]

When I was at the Dublin Castle a while back I saw that "Cats and Cats and Cats" were playing there soon, which I can't decide if it's one of the best or worst names for a band ever. Alas their site's all a bit pretentious and doesn't explain why they choose such a name.

[alan nagsworth]

Kaiser Chiefs is a bit less silly because it's actually named after something - a South African football club.

Yeah but in the grand scheme of things it's still a "wacky" choice. I mean not a lot of people will know or care about how they got their name, likewise for yer Arctics. Plus being named after a Sith Ifricin football team is about as pointless as a name invented on the spot, I think.

[Paaaaul]

Yeah but in the grand scheme of things it's still a "wacky" choice. I mean not a lot of people will know or care about how they got their name, likewise for yer Arctics. Plus being named after a Sith Ifricin football team is about as pointless as a name invented on the spot, I think.

Lucas Radebe, who was a legend at Leeds United, previously played for Kaiser Chiefs FC.
The band support Leeds United. Hence there is a point.

[simondykes]

Never heard of 'Skinny Monkey' but Skinny Puppy have one of those love/hate names. Apparently it's something to do with animal rights and their music sounding like the yelp of an abused greyhound.

I would have called the band 'The Demonic Nuisance Caller Band' if it was up to me.

I always assumed that Skinny Monkey may have been a half remembered version of Skinny Puppy,but I definitely think it is the better name.Mind you,that might be because I used to know an annoying git who loved Skinny Puppy and mention of their name brings on flashbacks of his annoyingly gittish face.

[alan nagsworth]

Lucas Radebe, who was a legend at Leeds United, previously played for Kaiser Chiefs FC.
The band support Leeds United. Hence there is a point.

Ah really? Damn, that's me told then. I wonder why they decided to change it from Kaizer to Kaiser though? http://www.kaizerchiefs.com

the 'z' spelling is much more snappy.

[jamiefairlie]

I rather like 'British Sea Power' and I think it does represent that particularly British sense of longing for a pre-war style idylic past (probably imaginary) that comes through in their music and how they present themselves.

'Bauhaus' was also a good fit.

[Mary Hinge]

There's often a trend in these things as well. The Smiths took their name in reaction to all the arty nonsense of the new romantics: Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Classix Nouveux et al who were reacting against the grittier names of the punk bands who were....

Britpop was all one word names wasn't it. Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Mensweat, Sleeper, Echobelly.

Looking down the list. Some missing of the top of my head

The Beatles after Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Beetles made into a pun, rather like Rubber Soul & Revolver.
The Fall after the novel by Albert Camus but originally it was supposed to be Flyman & the Fall.
Fairport Convention. Name of a house where the band would convene.
Human League. Name of one of the sides in a board game. Speaking of which..
Hüsker Dü take their name from a Scandanivan board game but what it doesn't same is the popularity of the game was put down to subliminal image in the advert used in the US.
The Teardrop Explodes after a caption in a comic.
Creedance Clearwater Revival, John Fogarty, (changing the name from The Golliwogs, wise man) had a friend called Creedance, clearwater was a beer and he felt there was a rootsier rock revivial in the air put together and you get Friend Beer Revival. Catchy.Other contenders were Muddy Rabbit, Gossamer Wump, and Creedence Nuball and the Ruby.
Heaven 17 was a bar in "A clockwork orange."
Joy Division. Prostitutes in Nazi Concentration Camps I think.
And The Sisters of Mercy from the Leonard Cohen song about prostitutes. The Wayne Hussey lead split off apparently took the name "The Mission" from a late Sisters of Mercy song "Left on a mission of revenge."

Ouff we'd be here all night, the bloody list doesn't even have Pink Floyd on it.

Notice it doesn't have the "other" versions like AC/DC = Anti Christ/Devil's Children or KISS being Kids in Service of Satan that religious nutters used to peddle. There was one I'm sure for Deep Purple (An old Bing Crosby number?) but I can't remember it.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Kyuss, a tough sounding bunch of rocking rockers, took their name from a monster in nerd favourite Dungeons and Dragons.

[Danger Man]

I wished there was a better story behind the name Pet Shop Boys, because it's a pretty good name to be honest. There isn't.

ummm....some people claim that the band were making a reference to Richard Gere but didn't want to upset their initial teeny fan base in interviews.

I always thought the The Smiths took their name from the couple (Mr and Mrs Smith) who helped the Moors Murderers in their crimes but were never charged.

There is absolutely NO evidence that my theory is right but I'm sticking with it.

[Paaaaul]

And The Sisters of Mercy from the Leonard Cohen song about prostitutes. The Wayne Hussey lead split off apparently took the name "The Mission" from a late Sisters of Mercy song "Left on a mission of revenge."

The Mission originally were called The Sisterhood to piss off Andrew Eldritch when Hussey left The Sisters Of Mercy. They played a few gigs under this name.

Eldritch quickly recorded some stuff he had written and released a single as The Sisterhood before Hussey and Co released anything, thereby claiming the name of the band for himself and forcing Hussey to think up a new name.

[Looknorth]

My imaginary band is called Z.M.E, just like the look and sound. Z's are sexy and the NME is morabund.

[Mary Hinge]

The Mission originally were called The Sisterhood to piss off Andrew Eldritch when Hussey left The Sisters Of Mercy. They played a few gigs under this name.

Eldritch quickly recorded some stuff he had written and released a single as The Sisterhood before Hussey and Co released anything, thereby claiming the name of the band for himself and forcing Hussey to think up a new name.

Ah, I remember that now. My best friend had that single, pride of place in his collection. I saw the Sisters of Mercy live whilst Hussey was still in the band. The thing I always remember is that they just used to switch the dry ice machine on and leave it on until the entire venue and street outside was in fog.

[chocky909]

My imaginary band is called Z.M.E, just like the look and sound. Z's are sexy and the NME is morabund.

Don't derail the thread! We had bloody two of them on that theme a while back but I can only find one.

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=14189.0

[Looknorth]

Don't derail the thread! We had bloody two of them on that theme a while back but I can only find one.

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=14189.0

'Z's are sexy', is a great name for a band. Not sure about a thread though chox

[Danger Man]

'Z's are sexy', is a great name for a band.

Sounds like a bit like 'Cansei De Ser Sexy' (CSS) .

There's a crap name for a band...being a Beyonce quote, "I'm tired of being sexy".

[buttgammon]

I thought it was pretty cool until I heard the translation. Now I blush whenever anyone calls them by their full name - just CSS for me.

You've gotta admit, Lovefoxx is a pretty cool stagename though.