This name was inspired at a slade concert, where bassist tom petersson commented that the band used every cheap trick in the book as part of. Also could be the symbol later on then changed back to prince he kept changing each album hard to keep up with. As the designated tiebreaker, i declare the 90s to be the winner. Oct 12, 2009 kansas city hard rock band known best for their songs blurry and she hates me.
Synthpoppers heaven 17 also took their name from the book, as did 90s indie alsorans. How famous music bands got their names chillopedia. Before they became the cure, they were the easy cure, which was born out of the name of a song that was written by lol tolhurst, the original drummer of the band. Musicians are greatly inspired by one another, so much so that many artists take their stage names from other music figures who have had a big influence on them. Other bands have tried to use numbers or even symbols as identifying marks not all have failed, obvious exceptions include 999 and those that combine letters with numbers. Can you name the someone and the somethings band names. The mythology goes that eddie vedders grandmother, pearl, used to make a homemade jam with peyote in it and thats where they got their name. Band name origins greatest music, movie, and book lists. Finally, i know why bread decided on that stupid stupid name, and why the ramones name means so much to them. Acdc a band member saw acdc on a sewing machine and figured it has. Dec 17, 2008 literary band names are nothing new, of course. But bands have also used and misused punctuation in their very names to signal their ideological opposition to traditional structures of power and to the hierarchy of advanced capitalism and bourgeois society.
Want to know how your favourite bands got their names. The original coldplay took the name from a book of collected poems called childs reflections. Prince was predated by many years when a forerunner of underworld used just a glyph as the band name. Bachmanturner overdrive a combination of band members last names and the magazine. By bands i mean rock, not stupid pop groups, and this is how cool the name is not how great the band is. A big, openitanywhere book created for music fans and popculture followers of all ages, the band name book explains how or where the bestnamed bands in history got their names. It just goes to show you that sometimes you dont have to think of a band name and it will come to you. Even today, when individualism is rampant, art bears traces of its collective, social origin. Mar 28, 2015 a while back, i shared a list of book titles that would make great band names that one was based on books on my own bookshelves, but every time i visit friends who live nearby, i take a look at their shelves and marvel at all the great band names thatcouldbe.
Keith relf wrote a list with alternative names and the band members decided to choose yardbirds, which was an expression for hobos hanging around. Aragorn aragorn is a character in the lord of the rings by j. We were going to have this band that dressed up in drag and played heavy metal as a joke. Leaving that aside, lets take a look at the very first step of forming a band. Aragorn is a character in the lord of the rings by j. The band members decided to change the name of the band which was at that time the metropolitan blues band. This entertaining book is full of information and trivia about bands from the. Login to reply the answers post wikihow is a wiki, similar to wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are cowritten by multiple authors. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. Gogol is famous for forging a path for writers like kafka and dostoevsky, and the band intends to do the same, merging eastern european music into the englishspeaking world. List edit this is a sortable list, ordered alphabetically, starting with the name that the band is best known as, followed by the band s original name, and any other names they previously used in. How arcade fire, led zeppelin, nirvana, vampire weekend, and 532 other bands got their names dolgins, adam on. The bands listed here must be notable, can be from any genre of music, and includes vocal groups whose members do not play instruments. Quentin millsfenn uptown magazine winnipeg holiday gift guide 2008 20081204 the band name book lists an impressive numbermany hundreds of themwith brief descriptions and background information.
Local bands tend to pad out their bios with inessential information about lineup changes. Those names are profound, clever, silly, provocative or downright obscure. Before u2 got famous, they were a fivepiece rock band called the hype in 1977. His brother would always have to give him a nickel back as change. They got their name from a frederik pohl short story. This book promises just what it says, its the definitions of how all the famous rock bands got their names and why.
The name duran duran was actually taken from the evil character dr. Welcome to a new series here at rocknworld called name origins. Page 3 madina lake the name is arbitray other than that the band sets its music in a fictional town of madina lake in the 1950s which is isolated and turned upsidedown by the disappearance of a famous socialite, adalia. In may 1980, an upandcoming english rock band lost its lead singer to suicide, and when the surviving members of the group decided to continue making music, they chose a new identity to signify the pathway forward. This is a list of band names, with their name origins explained and referenced with reliable sources.
Just change the spelling and thats how they got their name. Oct 08, 2007 this morning, even the times editorial gets in on the act, claiming that all the best names have already been taken and that rock bands are struggling to think of catchy names which dont sound. A bands name is integral to the bands identity, and it is the name that people know from all over the world. Band names rotated with their chaotic gigs, with the group selecting different absurd monikers for each set. Weve gathered the origins behind the names of some of your favorite bands, and some of them may surprise you. Someone and the somethings band names quiz sporcle. To create this article, 8 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. Just because a band has a terrible name doesnt mean the band is bad. In fact, some of the best and most successful bands in the history of music have some of the worst names in the history of. They were called the rain, which was a reference to a beatles bside, before the brit pop band changed their name to oasis. Syd barrett supposedly came up with the name by combining the first names of two lesserknown blues artists pink anderson and floyd council. But when a band names one of its songs after itself or, alternately, when a band names itself after one of its songs its a pretty big deal.
These metalpunk, artdamaged northwesterners borrowed their name from the fifth track on deicides 1992 album legion, whose lyrics also feature the great, asyetunused band name. Here are some bands everyone loves who all have one thing in common. When the idea struck him that this was the bands name, everything else started to fall in place. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries. This walking on sunshine band s name became much less popular in new orleans after a 2005 hurricane. Mar 08, 2017 if youre wondering the same thing, we did some research to find out how this famous band got its name. The new name was suggested by their original bassist, jet harris, because they stood in the shadow of the singer they were originally formed to back cliff richard. So i came up with a list of cool band names that you can get. The year in band names pop culture news, movie, tv, music. Finally, when they got their first paying gig, they kept the lucky name of the night, which happened to be butthole surfers. One of the worlds greatest guitar instrumental bands of the late 1950s and early 1960s had to change their name from the drifters for obvious reasons. Good charlotte got their name from a childrens book, thats pretty funny. As they decided to tour outside of their hometown of escatawpa, mississippi and into foley, alabama, they came up with their official name as they saw a building with a sign with most of its letters.
What are the best band names that havent been used yet. The following list chronicles 16 famous music bands and how they get their names. Sticking just to books i had on shelves not digging into the boxes of books packed away in the closets, because seriously, what do you want from me. For decades, lyricists have abused grammar to fit frameworks that they deemed to be more important such as rhyme, metre, mood, and so on. I bet most of the times were left in confusion because we cant make out the real reason behind why bands select special names to identify themselves. The thing is were not allowed to look at out record collection, but im pretty damn sure she has. Abba an acronym for the first names of the band members. Some will come from interviews with actual band members, some of these are third party hearsay and some bands go as far as giving out several false names but we will attempt to give you the most accurate explanations available.
Named after the 1937 john steinbeck novella of the same name, the only thing that separates the metalcore bands name from the book is the. All band members left their current bands to form together. How arcade fire, led zeppelin, nirvana, vampire weekend, and 532 other bands got their names. By way of explanation, the city of boulder, colorado my home town has an iconic relationship with natural stone formations, located just west of the city, which are called the flatiron.
Feb 23, 2019 music quiz someone and the somethings band names. A few days ago, me and a friend sparked up a little convorsation on whether it was the white stipes or white stripes, and from there, we tried to name as many bands with the at the beginning of them as possible. This name of this alternativerock band comes from harper lees. Paul heaton revealed it was a sarcastic reflection of his dislike of southern england.
Coldplay the band was originally called starfish, while a friends group was called coldplay. This is a list of band names, with their name origins explained and referenced with reliable. Heres how 22 bands got their names alternative press. Ive conducted a brief poll among fellow music lovers to get a solid answer on which decade had the best band names. What better name than new order for musicians looking to forge on under very difficult circumstances. Short for yesterday and today, this band, formed in san fran in 1973, took their name from a beatles album. The band name book delivers the scoop on how pop and rock bands both famous and obscure got their names. The name has to embody who the band is and what the band stands for. Knowing how to start a band is something anyone can learn and do, even if poorly. The original lineup was james hetfield vocalist and rhythm guitarist, dave mustaine lead guitar, lars ulrich drums, ron mcgovney. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1. Uriah heep after using several names during their developing years, manager gerry bron suggested uriah heep, based on the horrible little character from charles dickens novel, david copperfield.
It is the sheer talent and connecting with the fans that determine success. Here is a look at 14 interesting backstories to how bands got their names. According to this book, the band opened a random page of the dictionary and came across the name yes. New power generation or the revolution depends what time era he kept changing it.
Singer matt healy took his band s name from scribbling in a book of beat poetry hed acquired from an artist. The gypsy punk band from new york citys lower east side didnt pull their name from a book title, but from the ukrainianborn russian author nikolai gogol. Durand durand, played by milo oshea in roger vadims 1968 sciencefiction cult film barbarella. Stealth ridiculous these band names arent as laughoutloud idiotic as some of the others well get toin fact, several of our staff admitted that porno for pyros was actually a pretty cool name. Check out these 22 bands and the stories behind their names, below. In that same part he describes them as the most impactful canadian artists alongside beiber and levigne. British new wave band, who charted with whisper to a scream birds fly. How often do you think about the reason why a certain band has a certain name.
Discussions and articles should be directly relevant to music, music technology, or the music business itself articles tweets discussing statements by musicians not relevant to their work are not allowed. In this first edition of how did the band get their name, well answer those questions, and give you the details on other well known british bands. Here are 12 bands that changed their name just before they got famous. If it turns out they got their name from something else then we can disregard this altogether.
The played their debut show in san antonio, but had not yet settled on a name. Art bears the name comes from a sentence in jane ellen harrisons book ancient art and ritual 19. List of band names there have been so many bands in the last 40 years that have contributed to our listening enjoyment. The name of this iconic 1980s band was inspired by one of their favorite clubs in birmingham, england, called barbarellas. Articles discussing events in musicians lives are subject to mod discretion. Many notable bands originally went by different names before their mainstream breakthrough.
This list does not include former band names that have only minor differences, such as stylisation changes, with the bands final band name. On the back page there were loads of suicidal messages and it was dated 1st. The band was formed and solidified in the summer of 20. Noel hudson how, where, when, and why the bestnamed bands got their names. Rate 5 stars rate 4 stars rate 3 stars rate 2 stars rate 1 star. A friend of mine has a book about how certain bands got their names the name of the book has escaped me. I also stuck to nonfiction, since that limitation made things more fun. The b52s from the name of a beehive hairstyle, itself named for the boeing b52 stratofortress babymetal according to kobametal the band s producer, the name came to him by revelation as a divine message. Known now for being one of the most influential bands of the 60s. Here we will venture to explain where bands got their names.
The stories behind numbers in famous band names vh1 news. Inspiring the likes of david bowie, iggy pop and more current bands such as the arctic monkeys singer alex turner told bbc radio 1 that their last album was vastly inspired by their 1985 outtakes album vu. Rock names, the first comprehensive guide to the origins of the names of rock bands, tells the often obscure, sometimes hilarious stories behind hundreds of acts from the 1950s through the 1990s, including. There are also some bands that came up with their name in the simplest way possible, but still a great myth and legend can surround the name. Plus the second most successful band ever behind the beatles got their name from a saying meaning going to fail. Regardless, the band name is unifying and memorable.
Here are 26 bands that christened themselves after books. The band got their name from the british unemployment benefit form ub40 that you fill out to go on the dole. Everything you ever wanted to know about the year in band names. An entire list would be impossible to compile, but below you will find a partial list of great bands from all different decades. This list of original names of bands list only former official band names that are significantly different from the eventual famous name. Here are the 25 bands who, regardless of their own musical quality, have the stupidest names on record. Anyway, the only way for this band to have moved up on the list would be if they had combined the names of two people i care about even more, like tina timberlake or something.
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