Band Naming

Sandbox - This is a test site

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:01:00 +0000

Hello visitor,

As you may have noticed, this website is not always in perfect shape! In fact this is my sandbox: I use this site to develop and test functions and layout for another site: www.bandnameexplained.com.

If you want to read about many more bands on a site with (almost) no flaws, then go to www.bandnameexplained.com.

If you want to see me struggle with things like automatic import of posts, layout and functions, feel free to look around every once in a while. Your comments are always appreciated.

Enjoy!
The website developer of the Pomuzi Press team
Email: bandnameexplained@gmail.com.

NG post title2

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 18:44:00 +0000

NG post title

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 18:44:00 +0000

10CC

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:40:00 +0000

The line-up of these art rockers from Stockport (England) is impressive, with names as Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and, in particular, Graham Gouldman (the latter the spiritual father of such splendid songs as For Your Love, Bus Stop, Look Through Any Window and No Milk Today).

Producer Jonathan King is supposed to have been the inventor of the name 10CC, convinced as he was that an average ejaculation yields about 9 cc semen and therefore that 10 cc is an enviable quantity.

Two comments need to be made on this subject. One is that later King came back on his words and claimed the name 'had come to him in a dream' (can happen to any man of course), the other is that the '9 cc-story' is wrong from a biological viewpoint: the end shot of an average man - whoever he may be - actually can not be estimated very well; it varies from 0.1 cc to (yes!) 10 cc.

Volume-wise Premier League, this English band.

Active: 1972-1983; 1991-1995; 1999-present, GBR

See also: Lovin' Spoonful

Zebra Three - Wake up guys!

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:56:00 +0000

Not to be confused with the just as American hard rock band Zebra from New Orleans, Louisiana, that - quite predictably - performs in vertically striped shirts.

Contrastingly Zebra Three owes its reputation mainly to its most prominent band member, Troy Hess, who was promoted by his father, Bennie Hess, at the age of only two! When he was entitled to be called a veteran - Troy was seven years old by then - this child prodigy recorded the song Please Don't Go Topless, Mother.

Later he formed the band Zebra Three, a kind of cover band that vents its herd instinct by playing mediocre songs performed much earlier and much better - or at least more professionally - by the original artists.

The band name Zebra Three has been pinched as well, because with this name Troy and his colleagues in fact refer to the American Starsky & Hutch television series, degenerated to camp by now. In that series Zebra Three was the code name (radio call) the fictional Bay City Police Department used to wake the two Homicide Division detectives up or bring them into line.

Active: ca. 1978-present, USA

Yardbirds, The - Adopt a hobo

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:58:00 +0000

Known as the London blues band in which a very young Eric Clapton played for a short while (from October 1963 until May 1965 to be exact), only to walk out upset when the repertoire became too poppy to his taste.

A yardbird of course is a prisoner or a convict. It is also a nickname for idlers, loafers and hobos, which suggests that the Yardbirds members did not hold themselves in very high esteem.

There are sources pointing out that jazz musician Charlie Parker was nicknamed Yardbird. His repertoire included a song titled Yardbird Suite.

Active: 1963-1968; 1992-present, GBR

XTC band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 +0000

After a period of going through longer band names (such as The Dukes of Stratosphear, Terry and the Lovemen and The Three Wise Men), the new wave band from Swindon, England changed its ways and it became XTC.

It has been stated that the band name can not be a reference to the well known party drug XTC (with active ingredient MDMA or 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) because the band came before the drug, but that theory is built on slippery ground, because German manufacturer Merck experimented with MDMA as early as the beginning of the twentieth century.

E. Merck's patent for MDMA, 1914

XTC's singer/songwriter Andy Partridge once said that an old Jimmy Durante film gave him the idea. In that film Jimmy apparently spoke the immortal words ‘That's it - I'm In Ecs-T-Cy'.

Details about this movie however are nowhere to be found, although there are indications that This Time For Keeps from 1947 is meant. We will keep an eye out and will let you know as soon as it is shown at a cinema near us.

Was (Not Was) band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:21:00 +0000

There are always those bands who feel they can only exist if all members are willing to use one and the same last name. The Ramones are convincing evidence. That is also the case with Was (Not Was): the founders of this pop rock band originating from Detroit, Michigan, David Weiss and Don Fagenson, go through life musically as Don and David Was.

Make sure to say the name correctly: say wââhs and not wos. To give the fans a helping hand a band name was conceived of that - for all we know - is unique in the sense that it includes a compact pronunciation guide. So in fact we need to read Was (Not Was) as Wââhs (Not Wos).

Will you please keep this in mind from now on? Thank you.

Violent Femmes band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:37:00 +0000

Not wild ladies, but instead firmly rocking gentlemen formed the strength of the folk punk band Violent Femmes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Out of respect for the multilingual capabilities of our readers, we will refrain from translating Violent Femmes, and limit ourselves to the observation that the name has an ironic meaning. A femme in Anglo-Saxon countries is the female component of a lesbian couple, let's say the fudge that is the soft inside of the rock hard jawbreaker.

The imagination the band displays by uniting the concepts of femme and 'violence' is admirable.

Uriah Heep band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:34:00 +0000

Many hold Uriah Heep responsible for the birth of English hard rock, together with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.

The London band earns at least some credit because they published one of the most beautiful record-covers of all time: the cover of their debut LP Very 'eavy, Very 'umble (1970), which at first glance shows the mug of a corpse in a state of decomposition. Upon closer inspection however it concerns a somewhat flattering portrait of the former singer, David Byron.

In America they would have none of it: an alternative cover was brought out there.

Uriah Heep - Charles Dickens - David Copperfield

Uriah Heep is, as virtually all observant English boys and girls know, an evil character from one of Charles Dickens’ novels, David Copperfield (1850). Heep is a fraudulent bookkeeper who ruins an aunt of the leading character, Betsey. Fortunately he does not escape his deserved punishment, because Uriah ends up in prison.

Pearl Jam - Makes you think...

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:14:00 +0000

This alternative rock band once started as Mookie Blaylock, the famous basketball player of that name. The perhaps most famous band member of the formation from Seattle, Washington is singer/guitarist Eddy Vedder.

Peyote cactus

Eddy had a great-grandmother who was called Pearl and who took pleasure in filling hefty preserving bottles with jam. One of her specialties was a 'white version' that had every right to be called ‘alternative' because a fair amount of peyote was added to it, with all its hallucinating consequences.

At least that was the story Vedder dished up rather convincingly in the beginning of Pearl Jam’s career. Later however, in a Rolling Stone interview, Eddy qualified this statement as total bullshit with the same ease, although he admitted that his great-grandmother actually was called Pearl. Other band members claim that their group name was Pearl at first, and that later - because of their preference for endlessly spreading out their songs - Jam was added.

Many fans hold the view that if one imagines a slithery, white substance with a pearly luster, one’s thoughts will inevitably turn to sperm.

Active: 1990-present, USA

Toto - Man's best friend

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Tue, 07 May 2013 10:05:00 +0000

Musical omnivore from Los Angeles, California, with an appetite for all contemporary genres: pop, rock, soul, funk, R&B and jazz – the overall effect is soft rock according to some experts.

In an interview guitarist Steve Lukather once joked that Toto is derived from the real surname of the singer and frontman at that time, Bobby Kimball. It was a corny joke that would dog the band for many years to come.

Completely unfounded of course, because the real dog behind the band is the cute two-year-old female Cairn terrier that plays a role in the film The Wizard of Oz (1939, director Victor Fleming).

Pleasant side-effect of this name: toto is the Latin word for 'everything' – completely matching Toto’s repertoire.

Active: 1977-2008; 2010-present, USA
Site: http://www.toto99.com/blog2010/index.php?/categories/1-Hot-News

Snow Patrol band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Tue, 07 May 2013 09:26:00 +0000

Bangor, in County Down, Northern Ireland, is the birth place of rock band Snow Patrol.

In the early years, when the formation was still called Polar Bear, a less bright friend of the band asked over and over again ‘And how's Snow Patrol?’.

Once it became clear that the name Polar Bear was already being used by another band, the men did not hesitate and changed to the name pitched at them by their friend.

R.E.M. band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:09:00 +0000

The name of the rock band from Athens, Georgia is explained pretty much anywhere by referring to the medical term Rapid Eye Movement, the uncontrolled, rapid eye movements that occur when someone is in deep sleep.

There is however a large contingent of fans that stubbornly holds on to the claim that the name does not mean anything at all: the abbreviation is said to either have been dug up 'at random' from a dictionary, or someone chalked the letters on one of the outside walls of a church building used as a rehearsal hole by the future R.E.M.

Very cute is the explanation that Michael Stipe learned the abbreviation from his grandma. In this version the little old lady told Michael to enjoy every moment of his life: Remember Every Moment!

Quiet Riot band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 08:43:00 +0000

Los Angeles, California is the home of this heavy metal/hard rock band.

Little women

Thanks to a radio interview with the band in 1979, we know how the name Quiet Riot came about. Singer Kevin DuBrow was talking to Rick Parfitt of the British band Status Quo and told Parfitt that he intended to call the band Little Women. To which Parfitt replied that he himself would prefer a band with the name Quite Right. But because Londoner Rick pronounced the two words with a heavy Cockney-accent, the American thought Parfitt had said Quiet Riot.

Orbital band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:43:00 +0000

Duo from Sevenoaks, England, that makes its way in the world playing techno, house, rave and ambient techno.

Probably named after the ca. 188 km long motorway around London, the M25, universally known as the London Orbital.

London Orbital is also the title of a book by Iain Sinclair in which the writer tells of his experiences during a walk that took him along the entire course of the London ring road.

*N Sync - Uri Geller saw it in the star

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:22:00 +0000

The name of American boy band *N Sync (Orlando, Florida) falls within the same naming category as that of ABBA, although the approach is different. Of all the names of the five band members the last letters were written down: JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, LansteN and JC.

Uri Geller claims - and band member Justin Timberlake confirms - that the asterisk in the *N Sync-logo was his idea. 'Put that star on the cover of your next single and feature it in everything you do and you will be Number One,' Geller is quoted as saying.

Active: 1995-2002, USA

Men They Couldn't Hang, The band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:33:00 +0000

One of the founders of The Men They Couldn't Hang, bass player Shanne Breadley, was also at the basis of The Nipple Erectors, the first band of Shane MacGowans of the later Pogues. For this reason it’s not so strange that The Men They Couldn't Hang from London added a drop of punk music to their folk rock style numbers.

The band is named after John 'Babbacombe' Lee, nicknamed The Man They Could Not Hang. Early 1885 Lee was convicted to the noose because he was accused of having killed his employer, Emma Keyse, at her home (she lived in Babbacombe Bay near Torquay) on 15 november 1884. The evidence against him was largely circumstantial, but an old criminal record and an inexplicable wound to his arm proved fatal to John.

On 23 February 1885 the executioner, James Berry, made three futile attempts to hang Lee; three times the drop defied the laws of gravitation and stayed where it was. The execution was called off and later the Home Secretary at the time, Sir William Harcourt, changed Lee's penalty into life imprisonment. Technical research showed that the drop fell effortlessly as long as there was no weight on it. In 1907, after having put in many petitions for pardon, Lee was released.

By the way, there has been another man in penitentiary history they could not hang: Englishman Joseph Samuel, condemned to death because of a brutal murder in Australia, whose noose failed three times. The public considered it a sign of God, which made the authorities decide that Samuel, who suffered no more than a sprained ankle during his adventures on the scaffold, to grant him pardon.

Lady GaGa - Technical problems

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:53:00 +0000

Extrovert, trendsetting singer / songwriter from New York, previously known as Jo Calderone, née Stefani (‘Stef’) Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

It was her music producer, Rob Fusari, who helped Lady GaGa to her name. Fusari found that her voice bears some resemblance to that of Freddy Mercury. In order to emphasize that opinion, whenever Stef entered the studio Rob sang Radio Ga Ga, the Queen song.

He also texted the name to Stefani, but Radio was unintentionally changed into Lady by the auto-correction program of Rob's smartphone. When Stefani saw the text message with the auto-error she promptly sent back a short reply: 'That's it.'

According to Rob Fusari former Stef does not ever want to have anything to do anymore with any of her previous ordinary names: 'she's like, "Don't ever call me Stefani again."'

Active: *1986, USA

King Crimson band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:16:00 +0000

All-round experimental rock group from Dorset, that does not shrink from playing genres such as jazz fusion, progressive and experimental rock. No wonder, with laurelled men like Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew in its retinue.

Sources disagree on the origins of the band name: one maintains that King Crimson is another name for the devil, another thinks it is a matter of tomatoes. A tomato called Plum Crimson does exist ('ideal for sauces and salads'), so who knows ...

Jefferson Airplane band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:37:00 +0000

Certified psychedelic rock pioneers, coming from San Francisco, California and also the first band from SF that was commercially successful.

The origins of the band name are being disputed. Jefferson Airplane seems to be the nickname of an ingenious tool that can be made at home, consisting of a lucifer split at one end, burnt or not. In such a do-it-yourself roach clip one can stick one’s joint, so that it can be smoked to the bitter end.

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Former band member Jorma Kaukonen however rejects this explanation. The name supposedly was invented by his friend Steve Talbot, as a kind of parody of the names of blues artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson (photo).

In 2007 Kaukonen apparently said the following: ‘I had this friend [Talbot] in Berkeley who came up with funny names for people. His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane. When the guys were looking for band names and nobody could come up with something, I remember saying: you want a silly band name? I got a silly band name for you!’. See also Blind Lemon.

Incubus - Looking for female victims

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 16:29:00 +0000

American rock band from Calabasas, California, formed by three high school students who will presumably have graduated by now.

A medieval Jewish-Christian popular belief has it that a succubus (patience please, we will come back to incubus in a moment) is a female demon. The name succubus is derived from Latin succubare or ‘ly under'. This devilish lady feeds on the energy and / or male hormones of her victims, usually resulting in death (of the victims presumably).

The male counterpart of the succubus - see, now we are getting there - is called incubus (plural incubi and derived from Latin incubare or 'ly on').

The incubi look for female victims – so many demons, so many tastes!

Active: 1991-present, USA
Site: http://incubushq.com/

Hawkwind band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 15:43:00 +0000

'Rock' is a central concept for the English group Hawkwind (Ladbroke Grove, England) and in their case many rock subtype specifications are applicable, resulting in genres as hard, proto, psychedelic, space and acid rock.

Le Pétomane or The Farter

One of the band members from the very beginning, saxophonist Nik Turner, gave Hawkwind its name. Turner had the habit to hawk and at the same time let out thundering farts.

By the way, for a moment Hawkwind was called Hawkwind Zoo, probably meant to put Turners cacaphonic digestive organs, which make him a contemporary Pétomane, in the right context.

Aconite Thrill band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:13:00 +0000

Metal band qualified on the internet in the following way: ‘Like the name itself: Aconite Thrill are a puzzle to be unwrapped.’

Fact is that the name looks like a compound of two randomly chosen words.

Aconite by the way is a poisonous, turban buttercup-like plant. Perhaps to an extent this explains the music of Aconite Thrill.

Time and place: 2002-approx. 2009, GB
Band site:

10,000 Maniacs band name meaning

noreply@blogger.com (Niels Grommé) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:21:00 +0000

Still raving after all these years, this college rock band from Jamestown, New York - although over time the line-up has often been shaken up.

The band name was taken from a B-movie recorded in 1965, directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis and given a more modest title: Two Thousand Maniacs, to be exact.

It should be added that the original plan was to call the movie Five Thousand Maniacs. May be this caused the band to - quite wrongly – trust on some kind of collective memory and persist in believing that the correct movie title was 10,000 Maniacs.

By the way, in 2005 a horror movie by director Tim Sullivan was brought out entitled 2001 Maniacs. Do not despair; before you know it we will have reached the ten thousand madmen.