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FAITH NO MORE - The band was originally called SHARP YOUNG MEN, but changed to FAITH NO MAN when their front man was Mike "The Man" Morris. Mike "The Man" left in 1982, so they evolved into FAITH NO MORE.
FALCO - named after East German ski jumper Falko Weissflogg.
THE FALL - A novel by Albert Camus.
FANNY - The band claims the name referred to a woman's spirit, but their records usually showed the women in butt accentuating tight bell bottom pants.
PERRY FARREL - His real name is Perry Bernstein and his brother's name is Farrel Bernstein.. hence, PERRY FARREL.. it kinda sounds like "Peripheral". Perry Ferrel is the front man for JANE'S ADDICTION and PORNO FOR PYROS. Note : a book in the early 90's incorrectly stated his real name is Simon Bernstein.
FASTBALL - The name of their favorite porn flick.
FASTER PUSSYCAT - After the Russ Meyer movie "Faster Pussycat Kill! KIll!"
FAT TUESDAY - The day before Ash Wednesday, which is the last day of Mardi Gras. It's usually a paid holiday for workers in New Orleans.
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM - "The Nephilim was something I'd known about since I was really young. If you're familiar with the first book of the Bible, Genesis, you see the sons of God seduce some of the women on the earth and they produce a race of people known as the Nephilim. According to legend they taught man about war, astrology, and magic." - Carl McCoy in Cornerstone Magazine, 1989. Most of the original Biblical references to the Nephilim were taken out of the Bible by the Catholic Councils of 633 and 637.
FIG DISH - This Chicago band was inspired by the German phrase FICK DICH, which basically means Fuck You.
FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS - Inspired by the movie "All The Fine Young Cannibals"
FLAMING LIPS - Hot peppermint candy lips.
FLEETWOOD MAC - Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie played together in John Mayall's Blues Breakers. Peter and Mick left to start PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC FEATURING JEREMY SPENCER. John McVie left Mayall's band a couple months later to join them. They shortened the long name down to FLEETWOOD MAC.
FLIPPER - After the happy television dolphin
FOGHAT - "Lonesome" Dave Peverett's (founding member and singer) and his brother invented the word in a Scrabble game. Source = Dave Peverett's obituary as printed in several newspapers.
FOO FIGHTERS - David Grohl was fascinated by the Roswell incident and sci-fi in general. He decided to name his new project after a slang expression used in World War II by US pilots to describe the alien-looking fireballs they sometimes saw over Germany (specifically, betueen Hagenau in Alsace-Lorraine and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in the Rhine Valley). Foo is a mutation of the French word for fire, "fue". Sources: the band's official website and an NME biography.
FOREIGNER - British guitarist Mick Jones started the band in New York. Since he was a foreigner that became the name.
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE - The name of a store in Wayne, New Jersey that sells fountains.
FREE BEER - Fliers for their shows were sure to grab people's attention.
FRONT 242 - According to band member Patrick Codenys the name doesn't mean anything. 242 has no significance other than it looks good.
FUDGE TUNNEL - Slang for anal cavity
FUGAZI - Vietnam War slang meaning "fucked up situation". This is what the band had in mind. Some say fugazi is an acronym for "Fucked Up, Got in an Ambush and Zipped In", or something similar, but HeaThen friends in the military say that's a load of crap and maybe people are thinking of FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition). Fugazi is also Italian slang for fake.
FUGEES - Three band members' parents were refugees. Their label is called Refugee Camp.
THE FUGS - When Norman Mailer first published "The Naked and the Dead" in the US he had to replace all the "fucks" with "fugs"
FUNKER VOGT - This dark sounding German band was inspired by a friend who was a radio operator in the German Armed Forces. "Radio operator" in German is FUNKER. The friend's name was Stephan VOGT, so he was FUNKER VOGT.
FU MANCHU - This stoner rock band named themselves after the character FU-MANCHU. He first appeared in "The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu" by Sax Rohmer (pseudonym for Arthur Sarsfield Ward), then in a series of movies.
GALAXIE 500 - The cool car from the 1960's
GANG OF FOUR - Group of old-style Chinese rulers who all ended up dead or in prison
GBH - It's a British police acronym for "Grevious Bodily Harm". The band has always just called themselves GBH.
GARBAGE - Band members once claimed "You have to send away and the music company gives you a choice of names. There were only two names left HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH and GARBAGE and we choose the better one" ..total bullshit but funny anyway.. The most common explanation is that a friend heard one of the band's early demos and said "it sounds like garbage"
GEGGY TAH - Band member Greg Kurstin's little sister used call him "Geggy" and Tommy Jordan's little sister used to call him "Tah". They later learned that the name means "mouth thanks" in Scottish.
GENESIS - The first book in the Bible. The name was part of their first album's title "From Genesis to Revelation". Their producer Jonathan King suggested the name since it was his first production project and their first album.
GENTLE GIANT - Pantagruel and Panurge were two "gentle giants" in the satiric writing of Francois Rabelais. Many of the band's songs are loosely based on his writings.
GEORGE CLINTON AND THE P-FUNK ALL STARS - A combination of George Clinton's two earlier bands PARLIAMENT and FUNKADELIC.
G.G.F.H. - The band started in Berkeley in the mid 80's. There was some mock Satanic graffiti around town including a popular one with the tag "Goat Guys From Hell". This was their first inspiration. They later changed it to "Global Genocide Forget Heaven". Source: Info page on this fan site.
GHOUL SQUAD - A Chinese friend told the band they were an "army of ghosts".
GIN BLOSSOMS - Late 1800's slang for burst capillaries on the face from drinking for many years (WC Fields nose). Gin was a popular drink of the downtrodden back then.
GO BETWEENS - The band claims they simply liked the sound of the name.. They evidently were not inspired by the 1971 Joseph Losey movie or the 1954 book by LP Hartley, both called "The Go-Between".
GODSMACK - Couple stories here: most say it derived from a joke about one band member making fun of another's cold sore. The next day he had a cold sore too, so he got GODSMACKED.. as in "hit by karma"... There is an ALICE IN CHAINS song called GODSMACK, which some say inspired the band's name.
GODSNATAS - The guitar player saw the word in a footnote while reading Dante's "Divine Comedy". Someone pointed out months later that the name was "Satan's Dog" backwards. So Dante used backmasking! And those preachers thought LED ZEPPELIN started that silliness.
GOLDEN EARRING - They were originally the Tornadoes, but there was a British band with that name. A movie called GOLDEN EARRINGS was the inspiration.
GOLDFINGER - named after the James Bond movie.
GOLGOTHA - This Black Metal band's name comes from the Mount Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified near Jeruselam. In Hebrew it means "Hill of the skull".
GOO GOO DOLLS - Their label rejected their first name, THE SEX MAGGOTS. They were drunkenly looking through "True Detective" magazine and saw an ad on the back page for a "Goo Goo Doll". It was a doll head that you put your finger in to change it's expression.
GOTHIC MUSIC - BAUHAUS is generally considered the first Gothic band, but the origins of the term are more vague. Evidently a British journalist first called BAUHAUS "Gothic" in a negative review and somehow the term stuck.
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD - A mutation of "The Grand Trunk Railroad", which is a Michigan landmark. They were originally called "The Pack".
GRATEFUL DEAD - Refers to a series of Old folk tales with the same basic theme. A traveler enters a village and finds the villagers desecrating, or refusing to bury the body of a dead man because he died owing creditors money. The traveler pays the dead man's debts and sees to a decent burial. Later in his travels the man is saved by a mysterious event, which is credited to the dead man's grateful spirit. Hence, The Grateful Dead. The band was originally the Warlocks, and picked Grateful Dead out of a dictionary after realizing there was another band called the Warlocks.
GREAT BIG SEA - The name came from a Newfoundland folk song called "Great Big Sea Hove In Long Beach."
GREEN DAY - A bunch of stories: 1- If you smoked pot and goofed off all day, you just had a "Green Day". They used to skip high school and do this. 2- When the band members dropped out of high school to work on the band, their principal said "it'll be a green day in hell before you make anything of yourselves". 3- A sign in the movie "Soilent Green" contained GREEN DAY. The band's first name was SWEET CHILDREN.)
GREEN RIVER - This Seattle area band was named after the Green River Killer, who terrorized that region and was never caught.
GREEN JELLY - They were originally called GREEN JELLO, but makers of Jello gelatin sued the band for using their brand name.
GTO'S - Girls Together Outrageously.. Frank Zappa produced one album by this goofy bunch of hippie band groupies.
GUN CLUB - Actually thought up by Kieth of CIRCLE JERKS. Jeffrey Lee Pierce thought of CIRCLE JERKS and they traded names.
GUNS AND ROSES - From Axyl Rose and Tracii Guns' names.. Some think it's a combination of LA Guns and Hollywood Roses.
GUTTERMOUTH - Someone who swears alot.
GWAR - Some rumors: "Gay Women Against Rape" (taken from Dave Gibbon's novel The Watchmen), "God What an Awful Racket", "Gods of War", etc.. A band member on the Jerry Springer Show said they were inspired by the "GWWAAAR" sound that monsters make in movies.
NINA HAGEN - Hagen is her real last name. Hagen is also a murderous character in a an important 13th Century mythological poem called the Nibelungenlied. The Nibdlungenlied also inspired Wagner to write "The Ring of the Nibelung"
HAGFISH - a small eel-like fish with no jaw, a round sucking mouth and horny teeth.
HANSON BROTHERS - The goofy and rough hockey playing brothers in the Paul Newman movie "Slapshot"
THE HAPPY MONDAYS - A couple stories: 1- A response to New Order's "Blue Monday" 2- The band was all unemployed, so after weekends full of beers and pills other people had to go to work.. they had a Happy Monday sleeping late.
HARDCORE - A genre, not a band. The actual origin is mysterious, but bands like the DEAD KENNEDYS and BLACK FLAG were part of the "hardcore" scene in the early 80's. These bands played much faster and harder than the slower, more slovenly punk bands of the late 70's. Some people now use HARDCORE to describe aggressive techno music.
HARRY CREWS - This short lived band featured Kim Gordon of SONIC YOUTH and Lydia Lunch. It was named after the strange and unpredictable author Harry Crews.
HARVEY DANGER - Taken from graffiti on the newsroom wall of the University of Washington Daily.
HAWKWIND - There are a couple stories 1- (HeaThen WoRLD's favorite) Nik Turner looked like a hawk and farted a lot, hence HAWKWIND 2- from "Hawkmoon" in the "Runestaff" books
HAUJOBB - Taken from a German version of Blade Runner. It is a translation of "Skinjob" spelled slightly wrong.
HEATHEN WORLD - This website was inspired by THROBBING GRISTLE's album HEATHEN EARTH.
HEAVEN 17 - A fictitious band mentioned in the movie "Clockwork Orange"
HEAVY METAL - A genre, not a band. WILLIAM BURROUGHS published the book SOFT MACHINE in 1961. One of the book's characters is "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal kid". His book NOVA EXPRESS came out in 1964. Here's a quote: "With their diseases and orgasm drugs and their sexless parasite life forms – Heavy Metal People of Uranus wrapped in cool blue mist of vaporized bank notes – And The Insect People of Minraud with metal music - Cold insect brains like white hot buzz saws sharpened in the Ovens." .. No one knows exactly what was going through the brilliant and drug addled brain of Burroughs back then, but SOFT MACHINE has the earliest reference to "Heavy Metal music" that HeaThen WoRLD is aware of..
Millions of people first heard "Heavy Metal Thunder" in the lyrics of STEPPENWOLF's song "Born to be Wild", which was a huge hit in 1968. The song is referring to the sound of a motorcycle, not music.
Music writers Lester Bangs and David Marsh are often credited with coining the term "Heavy Metal" with no real proof... they definitely weren't writing about it before 1961!
HEDNINGARNA - Means "The Heathens" in Swedish
(HED)PE - "Hed" means "of the mind" and "pe" means "planetary evolution" or "planet earth".
HELDON - The name of a city in Norman Spinrad's novel "Iron Dream", which claims to be written by a parallel universe Adolph Hitler who joined Sci-Fi fan clubs instead of armies. Heldon was a great ambient French band in the 1970's.
HELIOS CREED - Helios was an ancient sun god. The Collosus of Rodan (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) was a huge statue depicting Helios. The band's leader calls himself HELIOS CREED. He was a founding member of the legendary early 80's band CHROME.
RICHARD HELL & THE VOIDOIDS - He wrote a book called THE VOIDOID before forming the band. Source = official website (see link)
HELMET - They were originally called "Purple Helmet" and decided to tone down the penis reference.
H.N.A.S - This was a groundbreaking electronic, industrial, soundscape, whatever band from the 1980's. The name is short for "Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa", which according to Babel Fish translates to "Deer not on the sofa". (somehow that translation sounds wrong)
HOLE - Courtney's mom used to tell her "you can't go around with a hole in your head, just because you had a bad childhood"
HOLLYHOTCHERS - The bass player heard about a game called Hollyhotch (pronounced Hi-ho-che) while on vacation in Spain. The directions are to see who can pee the farthest.
HONEYMOON KILLERS - This great New York band was named after a piece of 1970 film noir.
HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH - There was a kid in Darius Rucker's high school who looked like and owl. They called him Hootie. There was another kid with puffed up cheeks that they called Blowfish. Hootie is also the nickname of the legendary Kansas City jazz pianist Jay McShann.
HORACE PINKER - The villian in the 80's horror movie "Shoeker".
HOT TUNA - Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady started a band in high school called the TRIUMPHS. Some stories have them working on a side project later called HOT SHIT.. which was toned down to HOT TUNA .. The name also shows up in an early song of theirs called "Keep on Truckin' Mama.
HOT WATER MUSIC - Named after a Charles Bukowski book. Bukowski was a wino who wrote incredible stuff.
HOWLIN' WOLF - Howlin' Wolf was a name in a FUNNY PAPA SMITH Record. It also described Wolf's voice very well. Source = History Channel special which aired in January, 2000.
HP LOVECRAFT - Named after the reclusive horror writer by the same name
HUFFAMOOSE - Canadian slang for blowjob. The band is from Philadelphia.
HUGGY BEAR - The black informant on "Starsky and Hutch".
ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK - Named himself after the composer of "Hansel and Gretel".
HOWLIN' WOLF - This brilliant blues singer made it big in Chicago in the 50's. He howled in many early songs and had an extremely powerful voice. HEATHEN WORLD recommends you listen to this guy!
HÜSKER DÜ - In a 1987 interview the band said the name was taken from the Danish language. It translates to "Do you Remember?". They didn't know about the board game at first. They later met George Beck, the guy who created the boardgame and actually played a game with him. Bassist Greg Norton won. Sources: several articles in the Star Tribune (a paper in the band's home town).
ICE T - Inspired by a legendary pimp from decades past called ICEBERG SLIM. ICEBERG SLIM switched to writing "gangsta" books to stay out of prison in his later years. The HEATHEN WORLD highly recommends "Pimp", which is his best known book.
ICICLE WORKS - From Frederick Pohl's short story "The Day the Icicle Works Closed"
IMPOTENT SEA SNAKES - strange little creatures that live in fish tanks. This band is a theatrical transvestite punk band somwhere between a low budget JIM ROSE and GWAR in a horny mood. Their live shows are very fun and probably illegal in some states. Click on the band name to see their website.
INDUSTRIAL MUSIC - Peter Christopherson of the assaultive electronic band THROBBING GRISTLE coined the term. Monte Cazazza, a collaborator with the band, started promoting the phrase "Industrial Music for Industrial People". THROBBING GRISTLE released albums on their label INDUSTRIAL RECORDS from the mid 1970's to 1981. Members split up to start COIL, CHRIS & COSEY, and PSYCHIC TV.
INSANE CLOWN POSSE - They moved to Detriot and started a street gang called INNER CITY POSSE. The other Detriot gangs basically terrorized them into non-existence. Shaggy and Violent J wisely changed their name and started rapping. Source is their official website. The website also mentions a story about ghosts inspiring the band's existence, but it's too silly and long to bother with here.
INXS - Three members are brothers with the last name Farriss. They narrowly decided on INXS over Farriss Brothers. INXS is a cool way to spell "In Excess", which they hoped their music would be. There is an old story that their girlfriends approached XTC saying their boyfriends were in a band called the "Farris Brothers".. and they wish their name was as cool as XTC's.
IRON BUTTERFLY - The band wanted a name that sounded heavy and beautiful at the same time. Trivia: Their biggest hit was "In A Gadda Da Vida", which was originally called "In The Garden of Eden". The singer was so trashed on LSD one rehearsal that it came out "In A Gadda Da Vida", and the band decided that was a better name for the song.
IRON MAIDEN - Nasty Medieval torture device.
IRVING KLAW TRIO - Irving Klaw was a photographer best known for his photos of Bettie Page in the 50's.
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY - They were hippies from San Francisco.. what do you expect
JACK OFF JILL - Originally JACK AND JILL until MARILYN MANSON inspired the name change.
JAMES - Named after James Joyce.
JAMIROQUAI - A quote from their official website : Jay chose the name - synonymous with both the man and the band - for its reference to the Iroquois tribe, reflecting his own empathy for their displaced status and earth aware mentality.
JANE'S ADDICTION - Similar but differing stories here... 1- they are named after a drug addicted manager they worked with named Jane. 2- the name comes from a hooker named Jane who was a huge fan in their early days. 3- a heroin addict name Jane who lived in a house with Perry Farrell.
JAWBOX - According to Mark Anderson's book "The Dance of Days", "the trio took the name Jawbox from a derisive term for tv." The book is not just about JAWBOX, it's about the Washington DC punk scene in general.
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE - Inspired by the blues player Blind Lemon Jefferson and the name of a friend's dog. Some say JEFFERSON AIRPLANE was slang for a paper match split to hold a joint.
JESUS CHRYSLER SUPERCAR - Parody of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar".
JESUS JONES - While on a vacation in Spain, the band noticed they were Joneses (Brits) surrounded by people named Jesus.
JETHRO TULL - Jethro Tull was a British inventor/farmer in the 1800's who invented the precursor to the modern plow. The band used to change their name to get gigs, and Jethro Tull proved to be a lucky one.
J.F.A. - "Jody Foster's Army". They called themselves THE BREAKERS until after their first show. JFA was a song they wrote about the shooting of Ronald Reagan. A bunch of skate punks in Phoenix made and wore JFA arm bands to the show. The band was inspired to change the name. Sources: the original bass player and the band's official website.
JIMMIE'S CHICKEN SHACK - A shady blues restaurant in Harlem where young Charlie Parker and Malcom X hung out. There are a lot of "Jims" in the band, too.
JOHN COUGAR CONCENTRATION CAMP - A parody of the pretentious Indiana rock star John Cougar Mellencamp.
AL JOLSON - Al and his brother were singing waiters, "The Singing Yoelson Brothers", in a rough New York bar called Callahan's Dancehall Saloon. He switched to the "Jolson" spelling when going solo.
TOM JONES - His real name is Thomas Jones-Woodward.. he dropped the Woodward part.
JOY DIVISION - They formed in 1976 as the STIFF KITTENS, then changed the name to WARSAW, then settled on JOY DIVISION. They were inspired by a lurid novel about sadomasochism in Nazi concentration camps. The novel was "The House of Dolls" by Karol Cetinsky. JOY DIVISIONS were the lines of huts female prisoners were forced to live in when they were forced to prostitute themselves to the Nazi officers on leave.
JUDAS PRIEST - from the BOB DYLAN tune "The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest". Also a mild curse.
KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS - from a band led by MUDDY WATERS in the 50's called the Headchoppers.
KID ROCK - The official story is that when Bob Ritchie was in high school he used to jam in Basement parties with his turntables.. people would say "look at that kid rock!" Another story is that he used to be called CRACK ROCK 'cause he was known to like doing up a rock before performing at parties.
KILLDOZER - Inspired by the Theodore Sturgeon's book from 1944 called KILLDOZER.. about a killer bulldozer. There was also a 1974 TV movie inspired by the story.
KILL ME KATE - " taken from the movie "From Dusk Til Dawn"
BB KING - Riley B. King was a hit on SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON's radio show in the early 1950's. He wanted a catchy name.. he first called himself BEAL STREET BLUES BOY, then shortened that to BLUES BOY KING, then settled on BB KING. He is famous for calling his guitar LUCILLE. That name came from a night in the 1950's when he nearly died saving his guitar after a venue caught fire in the middle of his show. The fire was caused by two guys who knocked over a kerosene lamp while fighting over a woman named Lucille. Source = Official BB KING website.
KING ADORA - Band member Maxi was trying to think of a name as he passed a local sex shop. There was a sex toy called "King Adora" waving at him from the window.
KING CRIMSON - Their original lyricist, Peter Sinfield, thought of the name. "The name King Crimson is a synonym for Beelzebub, which is an anglicized form of the Arabic phrase B'il Sabab". BEELZEBUB was Satan's chief lieutenant among the fallen angels.
KING MISSILE - A Japanese Comic book character.
KISS - According to Paul Stanley, Kiss was a momentary inspiration that sounded dangerous and sexy at the same time. Kiss denies the silly fundamentalist rumor that the name stands for "Knights In Satan's Service".
KLF - Kopyright Liberation Front - which sums up their attitude towards using samples from other artists.
KLIRRFAKTOR - This German synth-pop band's name means "Distortion Factor" in German.
KMFDM - KEIN MEHRHEIT FÜR DIE MITLEID .. it somewhat translates to "No sympathy for the majority". According to Babel Fish it means "No Majority for the Compassion". The following acronyms are fun, but wrong: "Kill MotherFucking Depeche Mode"., "Krispy Melted Fish Dealing Mescaline", "Kyle Minogue Fans Don't Masturbate".
KONSTRUCTIVISTS - Named after the Russian Constructivists art movement, which stressed engineering and structural elements.
KORN - A couple quotes from Jonathan Davis: "Korn" popped in my head, and I'm like 'What about "Korn"?' ... and we're all like, 'Fuck yeah!'" .. "To me it kind of means that it doesn't matter what your band is called. Name or not, the music makes a name, you know... 'cause "Korn", that's a dumb name, but once a band gets established, then it makes a name cool. -- There are two other persistent rumors: 1- Korn means "Kiddy Porn" 2- a story that includes eating corn, a party, felching and diarrhea .. You can put the details together yourself since they're different every time someone tells the story anyway.
KRAFTWERK - German for "power station". A fitting name for this pioneering electronic band.
KRS-ONE - A couple stories: acronym for "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone", or his old graffiti tag KRS, which is short for his name Chris.
KULA SHAKER - They met a guy who called himself Kula Sekhara, and he told them about the original Kula Sekhara, who was a 9th century mystic and emperor who was into God, poetry and music. They modified the name to the familiar spelling. Earlier names included OBJECT OF DESIRE and THE KAYS. - Source = unofficial fan sites
KYUSS - There is a Dungeons and Dragons character(s) called the "Sons of Kyuss". There was probably a father to the sons of Kyuss too, but HeaThen WoRLD couldn't find any reference to that.
L7 - Couple possibilities: 1- The Gibson L7 is an old model of guitar 2- L7 is old slang for "square" (as in the Rick James album "Bustin' Out of L7")
LACRIMOSA - This European Goth band took its name from a Latin word that means "The part of the tears", which is a common part of the Latin rite of a Requiem mass.
LAIBACH - Tomaz Hostnik and Miran Mohar, both members of the Yugoslavian army, started LAIBACH in 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia. The group was the musical section of the political art movement NSK, which stands for Neue Slowenische Kunst (New Slovenian Art). Ljubljana was called Laibach during the Second World War when it was under German occupation. - Sources = official LAIBACH site and fan sites
LAST RITES - Brothers Paul and Nod Wright started the band after leaving FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM. Their last name inspired the RITES part.
LEAD INTO GOLD - Reference to something Alchemists kept trying to do
LED ZEPPELIN - In the late 60's Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Entwistle started putting together a new project, so far named THE NEW YARDBIRDS. Keith Moon told them "that'll go over like a lead zeppelin". Moon's suspicions make sense given the time.. the YARDBIRDS sounded somewhat awkward in their last months when they performed Page's new song "Dazed and Confused". The "Led" spelling insured that people would pronounce the name right. Somehow Entwistle didn't end up in the final Zeppelin lineup.
LEMONHEADS - a type of candy.
LESS THAN JAKE - Quote from their official website: "My parents had an 80 pound English bulldog. He had his own private space on the couch, my parents would get take out food just to feed him, and he was treated like a king. His name was "JAKE". So, everything in my house was less...than...JAKE. Also, "jake" is an old twenties term for "average, smooth, .."
LEVEL 42 - A supercomputer in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" spit out an answer to basically everything.. it was "42". There were copyright problems with actually calling the band "42", so they tacked on "Level". The rumor that they are named after a sign in the movie "Brazil" is wrong.
LFO - This pop band started in 1999 and calls themselves the Lyte Funky Ones
LFO - There is also a well-respected electronic band called LFO that started around 1990. Their name is derived from Low Frequency Oscillator.
LITTLE RICHARD - His first stab at commercial music was singing blues. There were lots of Blues singers with "Little" in their name, so Richard joined the crowd. Source = cable TV special which aired early 2000 (on Entertainment Network?)
LIMP BIZKIT - A few stories here.. 1- According to a few websites, a bunch of emails and MTV: Fred Durst used to have a dog named Bizkit.. and the dog limped after spraining its leg. 2- According a bunch of websites: Limp Bizkit got its name from a conversation with a roadie. The guy was somewhat stoned and said he couldn't think 'cause his brain felt like a limp biscuit. 3- and HeaThen WoRLD's favorite: named after the sordid "Soggy Biscuit" game .. which involves guys jacking off onto a biscuit and the last one to ejaculate has to eat it.
LIPPS, INC. - pronunced 'lip-sync'.
THE LITTLE RIVER BAND - This Australian band was named after a signpost on the road from Melbourne to Geelong.
LL COOL J - acronym for "Ladies Love Cool James".
LOVE AND ROCKETS - An excellent comic by the Hernandez Brothers
LOVIN' SPOONFUL - from the lyrics of JOHN HURT's "Coffee Blues". It's also slang for sperm.
LOS LOBOS - Spanish for "The Wolves"
LUCIFER - Named after Lucifer (duh).
LUZIFER SAM - This German "gothic groove dark metal wave" band was inspired by the song "Lucifer Sam" on the classic early PINK FLOYD album "The Piper At The Gates of Dawn".
LUSCIOUS JACKSON - A slight misspelling of "Lucious Jackson", an old basketball player.
LYNYRD SKYNYRD - Named after Leonard Skinner, who was an annoying gym coach some band members had in high school
MADONNA - A not very slutty Christian icon. The singer goes by Madonna Louise Ciccone.
MAN OR ASTROMAN? - The 60's movie SPACE ZOMBIES featured aliens that were hard to tell from real men. They were called Astromen.
MANO NEGRA - Mano Negra was an Anarchist group that formed in Andalusia, Spain in the late 1800's. MANO NEGRA translates to "Black Hand".
MANOWAR - A huge famous battle ship.
MAN WILL SURRENDER - A twist on the song "Man Should Surrender" by Pailhead.
MANIC STREET PREACHERS - James Dean Bradfield was inspired by a manic street preaching tramp one day.
MANSUN - They were originally called GREY LANTERN, then were inspired by the Verve song "A Man Called Sun". Their first album had a printing error and spelled the band's name MANSON. The band debunks the rumor that they asked Charles Manson for permission to use his name (and he said "no").
MARCY PLAYGROUND - The singer used to go to a hippie grade school called Marcy Open School. He was afraid of bullies on the playground.
MARILLION - Inspired by JRR Tolkein's "Silmarillion" and probably modified to avoid copyright problems.
MARY PRANKSTER - Inspired by Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, who were those hippies known for hosting many Acid Tests in San Francisco.
MARILYN MANSON - Combination of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.. two of America's favorite celebrities.. Rumour has it the band played with several possibilities including DAISY BERKOWITZ, TWIGGY RAMIREZ and (my favorite) MADONNA WAYNE GACY.
MASTER/SLAVE RELATIONSHIP - Inspired by her personal interest in S&M.
MAYHEM - This band from Norway was arguably the original Black Metal band. They were inspired by the VENOM song "Methods of Mayhem". The band is still active.
MC5 - The band liked the name for some reason before thinking up the acronym "Motor City Five" (they were 5 loud hippies from Detriot).
MC 900 FT. JESUS - Inspired by the 900 foot tall Jesus Oral Roberts claims he saw in Oklahoma. The 900 foot Jesus told Oral Roberts he needed a few million dollars to continue his ministry and some rich sucker gave it to him.
McCOYS - Named after the VENTURES song McCOY.
MDC - "Millions of Dead Cops", "Multi-Death Corporation", "Millions of Dead Chickens", etc.. depending on which of their albums you look at.
MEATLOAF - Marvin Lee Aday's high school football coach in Dallas called him "Meatloaf" because of his size.
MEGADETH - Dave Mustane was inspired by a government pamphlet after getting kicked out of METALLICA. A Megadeath is a military term for one million dead people, so World War II was responsible for 80 Megadeath. MEGADETH is the phonetic spelling for Megadeath.
MEKONS - Sci-fi villans in the "Dan Dare" cartoon strip in a British publication called the Eagle Comic.
MELETRON - This German synth pop band's name is a slight misspelling of Mellotron. Mellotrons were first produced in 1963 and were a tape-based precursor to digital samplers.
MELVINS - You give someone a melvin by approaching from behind, and yanking up on the waistband of their underwear as hard as you can. Melvin was also a local character in Washington State arrested for stealing a Christmas tree.
MENTORS - They were into fusion music while growing up, and would "mentor" other people by playing it for them and convincing them that it was great stuff. They used the word already and it evolved into the group's name. The title links to their official website. Il Duce is dead but the band lives on.
MEPHISTKAPHELES - MEPHI meaning the devil, SKA is the type of music they play, and PHELES means people - "Devil Ska People"
METALLICA - A couple stories kicking around: 1- Lars Ulrich was helping a friend think of a name for a metal fanzine. The magazine went with METAL MILITIA and Lars kept METALLICA, which was one of the suggestions. There's an old METALLICA song called "Metal Militia". 2- Some claim METALLICA is a combination of "Metal" and "Vodka".
MIAMI'S HAIRY PUSSY - Inspired by John Lennon's pet name for Yoko Ono (!)
THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES - This ska/punk band was originally the BOSSTONES in tribute to their home town (Boston). After they realized there was a 1950's Harvard acapalla group with the same name a bartender friend recommended the MIGHTY, MIGHTY part.
MILLI VANILLI - The producers liked the name SCRITTI POLLITI so they created a variation of it. Then they found a studio band, a couple pretty guys to lip synch, and a star was born!
MIND BENDERS - This 60's band was named after a 1962 British horror movie.
MINISTRY - Inspired by the 1944 Fritz Lang movie "The Ministry of Fear"
MISFITS - A 1961 movie starring Clarke Gable and Marilyn Monroe.
MK ULTRA - There are (at least) 3 music related entities that go by MK ULTRA. They were all most likely inspired by the same thing. MK ULTRA was the CIA's code name for years of wildly irresponsible experiments with LSD and other "mind control" technologies. So who are the 3 MK ULTRA's? 1- MK ULTRA Magazine - a metal/goth/punk/whatever magazine and website run by Chicago crazy man Alex Zander. 2- MK ULTRA - a lame pop band that has already disbanded. 3- MK ULTRA - a Jungle producer that works with Jungle Sky records.
There are two rock entities that share the name MK ULTRA.. a cool gothic tabloid from Chicago and a lame band from San Francisco (the band broke up in 1999).
MOBY - he is a relative of Herman Melville, who wrote MOBY DICK.
MODERN VENDING - The name of a snack company in Indianapolis. Vans are often seen in the city with MODERN VENDING painted on the side.
MODEST MOUSE - Two Stories: 1- A phrase practiced by people with speech impediments. Evidently the lead singer has a lisp. 2- Inspired by composer Modest Mussorgsky (the guy who wrote "Pictures from an Exhibition")
MOLLIES REVENGE - Molly is British slang for prostitute.
MOLLY HATCHET - Named after a famous 17th Century axe murderess who had a habit of beheading her lovers. Source = their official website.
MONSTER MAGNET - Wham-O put out a toy called the Monster Magnet in the 1960's. It was a big red strong magnet with a molded plastic handle. Frank Zappa has a song about Monster Magnets as well. Source = interview on Rockline.
MOODY BLUES - They were originally "M&B 5" because they wanted to perform in a Birmingham brewery called "Mitchell's Bottlery." The building had a big "MB". It didn't work so they changed names.. DUKE ELLINGTON's "Mood Indigo" was one member's favorite song.
MORPHINE - Exciting fun for kids of all ages
MORTIIS - Rumor has it that he originally thought it translated to "death" in Latin. He noticed it was spelled wrong a couple years later but liked the look anyway. MORTIIS used to play bass in EMPEROR (a legendary Black Metal band from Norway). Heathen World recommends that you listen to this guy!
JELLY ROLL MORTON - "Jelly Roll" is slang for penis. This New Orleans piano player and pimp was one of the first Jazz musicians ever.
MOTHERS OF INVENTION - originally just called the Mothers (polite for Motherfuckers) - their label asked them to add "of Invention".
MOTLEY CRUE - An observant friend said "What a Motley looking Crue".
MOTORHEAD - Lemmy thinks it is American slang for a speed freak, which may be true somewhere.. A MOTORHEAD in American slang is more commonly someone who loves to work on cars or motorcycles. Lemmy wrote a song MOTORHEAD when in HAWKWIND.. then created his own band a couple years later.
MOTT THE HOOPLE - from a novel of the same name by Willard Manus. The book is about an eccentric that works in a circus freak show. The band was originally called SILENCE.
MR. BUNGLE - named after an old 1950's sketch about a boy who didn't fit in, featured on an early episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse.
MR. MISTER - From a T-REX song on the Tanx album.
MR. T EXPERIENCE - They were first called EMPTY EXPERIENCE, then MTX, then MR. T. EXPERIENCE. .. Mr. T (the goofy television tough guy) must have something to do with it, too.
MU330 - MU330 is the classroom in St. Louis University High School where the jazz band practiced. The band members were all in the jazz band and met in that room.
MUDDY WATERS - His grandmother started calling him that after watching him play in a creek as a child.
MUDHONEY - A Russ Meyer movie.
MUGWUMPS - from a William Burroughs novel. Cass Elliot and John Sebastian were in this band (before the MAMAS AND POPPAS and LOVIN' SPOONFUL).
MUSSOLINI HEADKICK - Mussolini and his wife were killed, then dragged to a square where their bodies were hung up in front of a crowd. Their bodies were stoned, etc. until they fell on the ground. Then the crowd started kicking at the bodies.. Mussilini's head was a popular target. "Do The Mussolini Headkick" is also an old CABARET VOLTAIRE song.
MxPx - Their original name was Magnified Plaid. On a poster for one of their shows, the guitarist put M.P., but the periods looked like little x's so people thought they were MxPx. The nickname stuck.
MUSLIMGAUZE - This unique Middle Eastern influenced industrial project was named after a play on the words MUSLIM and GAUZE. Bryan Jones created Muslimgauze in the 80's and died in 1999.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE - This Irish / English band was named after a horror film they never even saw.
MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT - They originally wanted to create a movie with this name. The movie never happened, but much of the soundtrack became their first album, "I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits".
MYSTERY MACHINE - The name of Scooby Doo and his gang's vehicle.
N17 - Short for November 17. This was a dangerous Greek terrorist group that started in the 70's, and was finally brought down in 2002. The terrorist group named itself this because the Greek government violently crushed a student rebellion on November 17th, 1973.
NAKED LUNCH - The title of the famous William Burroughs book.
NASHVILLE PUSSY - On Ted Nugent's "Double Live Gonzo" album he dedicates his song "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang" to "All that Nashville Pussy.."
NATAS - There are two bands names NATAS.. Funny note: Neither band has control over their namesake's webspace. Natas.org is the website for the National Asbestos Training and Accreditation Scheme and Natas.com is a porn site.
NATAS - (The rap group from Detriot) Their name stands for Niggaz Ahead of Time and Space. Source: an interview in Murder Dog magazine.
los NATAS - (The space rock group from Argentina) NATAS happens to be SATAN backwards.. NATAS also means "cream" in Purtugese.. HeaThen WoRLD doesn't know.. pretty cool band, though.
NAZARETH - It's that old city in the Bible. It also pops up in the first line of the Band's song "The Weight".
NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN -The title for an episode of "The Goon Show", which was an old show featuring Peter Sellers.
NEGATIVLAND - The band's name and their label's name (Seeland) are song titles by an obscure German band NEU.
NERF HERDER - What Princess Leia called Hans Solo in the Empire Strikes Back.
NEW ORDER - "The New World Order" and "New Order" were famous expressionsused by Hitler (and George Bush during the Gulf War).
NEW WAVE - New Wave and Punk were originally marketed as basically the same thing, then New Wave evolved into a term for the quirky happy bands that weren't as pissed off as Punk bands, but still wanted to avoid the BILLE SQUIRE type muck popular at the time.
NEW YORK DOLLS - Named themselves after the New York Dolls Hospital, a place in New York that repairs children's toys. Source: "New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon" by Nina Antonia.
NICKELBACK - The bass player used to work at Starbucks coffee and spent many days saying "here's your nickel back."
THE NICE - Keith Emerson was in this band before Emerson Lake & Palmer. The band name comes from a SMALL FACES song about amphetamines called "Here Comes the Nice"
NICO - She disliked her given name Christa because it sounded "so German". A photographer called her NICO in tribute to a friend of his named Nico Papatakis.
NINE INCH NAILS - Trent Reznor thought NIN looked cool when he wrote it down, and this is evidently the length of coffin nails. Some think the nails used to crucify Jesus were nine inches long, but inches were not a unit of measurement back then.
NINE POUND HAMMER - This is a band Blaine was in before forming NASHVILLE PUSSY (an infamous and rockin' band from Kentucky). NINE POUND HAMMER is an old Merle Travis song.
NIRVANA - In Buddhism it means the state of perfect blessedness attained through the annihilation of the self.
NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS -What caused those messy sheets this morning.
NOFX - Fat Mike says this on the band's website: "I said NO FX after a band who had put out one record and broken up called NEGATIVE FX. Mike agreed that it was the best one so far. There seemed to be a lot of gimmicky bands around at the time. We like to think that our name meant we were against that shit."
NOTA - Stands for "None Of The Above". This great punk rock band from Tulsa, Oklahoma has been around since 1980 or so.
'N SYNC - From the last letter of each band member's name: justiN, chriS, joeY, lanstoN and jC.
GARY NUMAN - His real name is Gary Webb. He took "Neuman" from a Yellow Pages listing for a plumbing company and modified the spelling.
OASIS - Oasis is the name of a Sports Centre in Swindon, England. Noel Gallacher was the roadie for a band that played there once. The band has also claimed: a Manchester cab company, a chain of women's clothing stores, and a local Indian Restaurant.
THE OD'S - The Orange Doe-nuts (they were a great punk band from Kansas City in the 1980's).
THE OFFSPRING - Two stories: 1- They consider themselves the musical offspring of the DESCENDENTS 2- The 80's B-horror movie "The Offspring - They Were Born To Kill"
OINGO BOINGO - Swahili for "thinking while dancing". They started out as a musical theater group called "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo".
O'JAYS - Named after the Cleveland dj Eddie O'Jay, who helped the band out in their early days. They were originally called The Mascots.
OMD - Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE - reflects the age of this band.. possibly the only senior citizen punk rock band in the world.
THE ORB - A device in Woody Allen's movie "Sleeper". The Orb was a silver ball that made people very buzzed when they touched it. Woody Allen hogged it at a party until someone snatched it away.
ORGY - Refers to the "orgy of sound" they create. The sexual connotation surely wasn't lost on them either..
OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS - A big improvement over their original name the BUFFALO CHIPS. The Ozark Mountains are actually hills in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.
OZOMATLI - The Aztec God of dance.
OZZY OSBOURNE - "OZZY" was his childhood nickname.
OSTZONENSUPPENWURFELMACHENKREBS - Words squished together from a headline in the German tabloid BILD. It translates to "Soup cubes from East Germany cause cancer"
OUR LADY PEACE - This Canadian band named themselves after a 1940 poem by Mark Van Doren.
-------------------- People are like pieces of a puzzle. We all fit together, but not all of us connect. Berichten: 6985 | Plaats: Zeist | Geregistreerd: Jul 2002
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