Posted July 19, 200816 yr hmm... thought this might be interesting. hows about listing where artists got their names from?.. might need some thought but heres a couple to kick off right said fred ...... took their name from a 1962 hit by bernard cribbens the lotus eaters .... took their name from a bbc drama set in greece (late 70's i believe)
July 19, 200816 yr I used to know loads of these, let me see.................. DEACON BLUE - took their name from a song of the same name by STEELY DAN. DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - named themselves after the slang term for a pep pill called DEXEDRINE DURAN DURAN - named after a character in the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella ELTON JOHN - Real name: Reginald Dwight. Created from two other British musicians: Elton Dean and Long John Baldry FLEETWOOD MAC - a simple one. They just took the last name of drummer Mick Fleetwood and a form of bassist John McVie's last name HEAVEN 17 - took their name from a group mentioned in the novel A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess that was made into a popular film by Stanley Kubrick. PINK FLOYD - taken from the names of two Georgia bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council - from the early days when the band saw itself as a blues band. SIMPLE MINDS - taken from a line in the David Bowie song "Jean Genie". 10 CC - the average amount of semen ejaculated from a healthy male THOMSON TWINS - two characters in the Tintin comics by the late Belgium artist Herge T PAU - after a high priestess from the planet VULCAN in the American TV series STAR TREK UB40 - Code number of a form people in Britain have to fill out to receive unemployment benefit. ICICLE WORKS - Named after the 1960 short story "The Day The Icicle Works Closed" by science fiction author Frederik Pohl JOY DIVISION - From a sado-masochistic novel 'The House of Dolls' by Karol Cetinsky. Joy Divisions were lines of huts in which deported women were forced to prostitute themselves to Nazi officers on leave. SCRITTI POLITTI - The title of political writings by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist. SPANDAU BALLET - the band changed their name after a visit to Berlin where one of their roadies saw some graffiti refering to Spandau Prison.
July 19, 200816 yr A few I can remember off the top of my head: The Beatles - named as a fellow insect inspiration after Buddy Holly's backing group The Crickets, but with an A instead of an E on the insistance of John Lennon for its musical reference. Lightning Seeds - took their name from a lyric in Prince's Raspberry Beret Radiohead - named after a Talking Heads song. Simply Red - named by Mick Hucknall as a combination of the colour of his hair, the colour of the political party (Labour) that he supported & the colour shirt worn by the team he supported (Manchester Utd) Oasis - Named by Liam because he liked the name of the Swindon music venue his elder brother Noel was at as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets (I was at that really good gig!). The Kooks - Named after the famous David Bowie song from Hunky Dory. Belle & Sebastian — from Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry. Depeche Mode — inspired by a French fashion magazine of the same name. Green Day — is a slang term for spending a day smoking marajuana. Iron Maiden — Steve Harris named the band after the iron maiden torture device as shown in the film, The Man in the Iron Mask & the media nickname given to then Conservative opposition leader Margaret Thatcher. Kaiser Chiefs — Named after the South African Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the former team of long-serving former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe. The Pogues — Originally called Pogue Mahone - Gaelic for "Kiss my arse." Eventually shortened to avoid offence.
July 19, 200816 yr Author A few I can remember off the top of my head: The Beatles - named as a fellow insect inspiration after Buddy Holly's backing group The Crickets, but with an A instead of an E on the insistance of John Lennon for its musical reference. Lightning Seeds - took their name from a lyric in Prince's Raspberry Beret Radiohead - named after a Talking Heads song. Simply Red - named by Mick Hucknall as a combination of the colour of his hair, the colour of the political party (Labour) that he supported & the colour shirt worn by the team he supported (Manchester Utd) Oasis - Named by Liam because he liked the name of the Swindon music venue his elder brother Noel was at as a roadie for the Inspiral Carpets (I was at that really good gig!). The Kooks - Named after the famous David Bowie song from Hunky Dory. Belle & Sebastian — from Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry. Depeche Mode — inspired by a French fashion magazine of the same name. Green Day — is a slang term for spending a day smoking marajuana. Iron Maiden — Steve Harris named the band after the iron maiden torture device as shown in the film, The Man in the Iron Mask & the media nickname given to then Conservative opposition leader Margaret Thatcher. Kaiser Chiefs — Named after the South African Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the former team of long-serving former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe. The Pogues — Originally called Pogue Mahone - Gaelic for "Kiss my arse." Eventually shortened to avoid offence. belle and sebastian was also dramatised as a childrens tv show in the 60's... see the tv themes thread in resources :) good stuff guys... keep em comming!
July 20, 200816 yr Everything But The Girl took their name from a clothes shop, most likely a mens clothes shop!
July 20, 200816 yr The Futureheads got there name from The Flaming Lips album 'Hit From A Futurehead'.
July 20, 200816 yr Ladytron are named after a Roxy Music song. Blur were reputedly named after the sound of someone being sick.
July 20, 200816 yr Level 42 - the answer to life, the universe, everything - from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Norma
July 21, 200816 yr Aerosmith got their name because Joey Kramer would write the word Aerosmith on his school books. He got the name after listening to Harry Nilsson's album Aerial Ballet. At first no one really wanted it because they thought it sounded too much like Arrowsmith, a Sinclair Lewis novel they had to read at high school. “No, not Arrowsmith,” Kramer explained. “A-E-R-O...Aerosmith.” :D
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