Band name meanings/bands original names

[Deano's Right Foot]

The Chemical Brothers were called The Dust Brothers in honor of the american producers who worked with The Beastie Boys among others. But they had to change their name when they started to get big for fear ofl reprisal from The Dust Brothers

And The Sunshine Underground were named after a Chemical Brothers song, although perhaps not many people have heard of TSU - great live band, NME darlings for a little while

 

[Puppet Master]

UB40 used to be the dole claim form (they met at the job centre)

I know Manic Street Preachers comes from a street the lead singer James Dean Bradfield used to busk down, there were so many other buskers trying to out-do each other locals dubbed it "manic street"

 

[unklbrian]

Lovin Spoonful

 

[AIT76]

Joy Division was the name given to the young, attractive Jewish girls that were 'kept aside' by Nazi prison camp guards.

New Order always claim that they didn't deliberately continue the Nazi symbolism in choosing that name, just that there was a 'new order' to the band when they lost Ian Curtis and gained Gillian Gilbert.


Editors were originally called Snowfield

Gene were allegedly named after the Smiths track 'Jeanne'.

The Human League got their name from an obscure and 'unplayable' 70's sci-fi role play board game called Starforce Alpha Centuri

 

[Norman Potting]

I'd always assumed "Death Cab for Cutie" was from a track of that name on the original Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band album, Gorilla.

But I do say "assumed". I have no evidence to back that up.

Indeed that is a track by the mighty Bonzos.

U2 - Cold War US spy plane (not a submarine) or a battery!

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Spocks grandmother = t'pau

T'pau wasn't Spock's grandmother. She was the matriarchal type figure who officiated at Spock' wedding and was renowned for refusing a position on the Federation Council. One of the most powerful women on Star Trek.

The band on the other hand were led by Carol Decker who sang
offkey on the gruesome 'China in your hand'!

 

[LargeHadronZugzwang]

The Doors got their name from a book called 'The Doors of Perception' written by Aldous Huxley who in turn used a quote from William Blake. It concerns Huxley's experimentation with mescalin and psychedelic drugs to reach heightened awareness, interesting but slightly

http://www.maps.org/books/HuxleyA1954TheDoorsOfPerception.pdf

 

[The Legend that IS Lawro]

Sir Simon Rattle was using his new Dyson late at night - O.M.D.

 

[jakarta]

The Soft Machine took their name from a 1961 William S Burroughs novel

 

[jakarta]

Oh and in 1976 after being sacked from Hawkwind, Lemmy wanted to call his new band B*stard but was persuaded that it might result in the band getting somewhat restricted airplay hence they became Motorhead. :guitar:

 

[Marxo]

The Boo Radleys, a character from the book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (played by Robert Duvall in the film).
Belle and Sebastian, from the French children's book and TV series (dubbed and shown on the BBC) 'Belle et Sébastien'.

 

[Garage_Doors]

The Sex Pistols were originally called the Swankers and also did gigs previously under the names of The strand & Steve Jones and the qtips prior to John Lydon (Rotten) joining.

Whilst being "infamous" and banned from playing at venues the toured under the name of The Spots, "Sex Pistols on tour secretly"

 

[Garage_Doors]

Joy Division was the name given to the young, attractive Jewish girls that were 'kept aside' by Nazi prison camp guards.

Not exactly correct. It was the name given to the German regiment that abused the girls, not the women/ girls themselves.

 

[Superphil]

Oh and in 1976 after being sacked from Hawkwind, Lemmy wanted to call his new band B*stard but was persuaded that it might result in the band getting somewhat restricted airplay hence they became Motorhead. :guitar:

I believe their manager at the time said he wouldn't be able to get them on TOTP with a name like that, so Lemmy changed it to Motörhead and challenged him to get them on TOTP, which he did.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Radiohead was named after a Talking Heads song

On a similar theme, The Lightning Seeds took their name from a line in the Prince song 'Raspberry Beret'.

 

[joeinbrighton]

U2 - The Hype

U2 went under the name of Feedback early in their career too. Bono took his stage moniker from the name on the shop front of a hearing aid shop in Dublin near to where he lived, with his actual name being Paul Hewson.

Also, on the subject of original names, Queen were originally called Smile and Oasis originally went by the name of The Rain until Noel Gallagher joined the band.

 

[joeinbrighton]

Also, both Travis and Texas took their names from the movie Paris: Texas. Texas being self-explanatory and Travis was the name of one of the characters in the movie, I think.

 

[tweenster]

I seem to recall that Ian Dury and the Blockheads were called Kilburn and the High Roads (or something like that).

 

[Baldseagull]

The Stranglers were originally The Guildford Stranglers.
The Pogues were originally Pogue Mahone, which is Irish Gaelic for kiss my arse.
Pearl Jam, The loving spoonfull and 10cc all have the same root meaning.

 

[Adders1]

Keane were named after a person who is miserable and has an over inflated sense of their own self importance. And is shite.