Name origins

[Lumiere]

Does anyone know origins of band names or  album titles?

For instance, ELO's album (no answer) was titled thus because - when a record company chap rang the band to ask for the title, there was no reply. He wrote down as a report that there was no answer, and it got used as the title. Any similar stories?

[9]

Marilyn Manson wrote and recorded a song called KABOOM on his last album because his record execs thought the pre-release album they heard 'lacked songs with real Kaboom'.

Daft Punk are so called because their old band was described as 'daft punks' by the NME.

Aphex Twin takes his name from Aphex Systems, and the fact he has a dead brother also called Richard.

Too tired to think of more!

[Robot DeNiro]

On a late eighties / early nineties Stourbridge tip, Pop Will Eat Itself are named after a quote from the NME and Ned's Atomic Dustbin was an episode of The Goon Show.

Squarepusher used to deal acid (allegedly).

[Bogey]

The band Mansun were named

after the Verve (later The Verve) song "A Man Called Sun".

*a raised eyebrow*

[Harfyyn Teuport]

Aphex Twin takes his name from Aphex Systems, and the fact he has a dead brother also called Richard.

Aphex denies Twin has anything to do with his brother, though. He claims he just liked the name. Although he also gave really complicated reasons as to why Aphex had nothing to do with Aphex systems, so maybe he's just talking bollocks.

[mayer]

The band Mansun were named

after the Verve (later The Verve) song "A Man Called Sun".

*a raised eyebrow*

why an eyebrow raised?

[JJJJH]

Pink Floyd - Apparently Barrett had the name come to him in a dream, although it's also an amalgamation of two names from two of his favourite jazz artists. Hmmm.

Manic Street Preachers - JDB used to prance around Cardiff busking and shouting.

[mwude]

Band names

Not sure how accurate that site is, but it does give occasional links to a source where relvant.

[The Man With Brass Eyes]

Apparently the Dandy Warhols name is a corruption of the artist Andy Warhol, who worked with the Velvet Underground.

[Bogey]

The band Mansun were named

after the Verve (later The Verve) song "A Man Called Sun".

*a raised eyebrow*

why an eyebrow raised?

Coz Loomyeah nicked my thread idea before I could be arsed to start it myself. Yah-boo.

[Ambient Sheep]

Pink Floyd - Apparently Barrett had the name come to him in a dream, although it's also an amalgamation of two names from two of his favourite jazz artists. Hmmm.

Never heard the dream bit before (but I haven't read the Crazy Diamond book, if that's where it came from), but it is generally agreed that it's the amalgamation of the names of two Georgia bluesmen he was fond of: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

So they could have been called Anderson Council, which sounds like some US west-coast MoR band...  :-)

Trivia note: for one of the shots on the cover of A Nice Pair, Hipgnosis wanted to use a photo of the boxer Floyd Patterson painted pink.  When he demanded money (I forget how much: £300 / £500 / £5000 all ring a bell), they dropped the idea.  As they said in their book Walk Away Rene: "You'd think he'd pay us to be on a Pink Floyd album cover..."

[JJJJH]

Think it was Crazy Diamond I got that from, will have to dig it out to check sometime.

And apparently Terry Pratchett came up with the idea of 'Division Bell' for the last album. He and Gilmour were getting quite pally around that time if I remember rightly, and they were eating lunch one day and trying to come up with the album name when Pratchett spontaneously plucked it from the song of the same name.

EDIT: Whoopsie, put that he got the name from 'One Slip'. Almost Heeegy! Duh.

[Partridge's Love Child]

Didn't Captain Beefheart get his name from a strange uncle of his who had a peculiar habit of whipping out his chap, clutching tightly at the end until it went bulbous and purple, then insist that everyone "look at my big ol' beef heart"?  Usually you'd say that was a ludicrous story, but such an insight into the van Vliet household would actually explain a great deal.

[MonkeyDrummer]

Fast n' Bulbous. Indeed.

[Ambient Sheep]

And apparently Terry Pratchett came up with the idea of 'Division Bell' for the last album. He and Gilmour were getting quite pally around that time if I remember rightly, and they were eating lunch one day and trying to come up with the album name when Pratchett spontaneously plucked it from the song of the same name.

Nearly...it was actually Douglas Adams, so I heard.

PLC on Beefheart: yes, apparently so.

[Partridge's Love Child]

I guess we should think ourselves lucky that there's no artist called Captain It'll Just Be Our Little Secret Now Bend Over.

Heh, I just got me an idea...

[Duffy]

Apparently the Dandy Warhols name is a corruption of the artist Andy Warhol, who worked with the Velvet Underground.

*slaps forehead*

Damn, however did I miss that one?

Any ideas about 5ive?

[dan dirty ape]

Frankie Goes To Hollywood :-  From a billboard slogan advertising a Frank Sinatra California tour

REM 'Out Of Time' LP :- because they'd run out of time to think of a title
'Lifes Rich Pageant' :- from a Peter Sellers line in 'A Shot In The Dark', which they were watching on the tourbus
'Automatic For The People' :- catchphrase of a restauranteur they knew in Athens
REM chose their name by getting drunk and writing ideas for band names on a wall in Stipe and Buck's digs, then waking up the next morning and erasing the ones they didn't like til they were left with only one. They were very nearly called 'Cans Of Piss'

Pet Shop Boys :- allegedly because their mates ran a pet shop, not because Neil Tennant liked hamsters up his arse, as has been mused on by scurrilous types and Stewart Lee

[Rats]

I thought "automatic for the people" was the slogan on a bag of nuts

[dan dirty ape]

I thought "automatic for the people" was the slogan on a bag of nuts

I've read a coupla times that it was something a guy that owned a soul food place they went to would say.  It's a better catchphrase than fucking 'I'm lovin' it' at least.