Band Name Origins

I always wondered this... xD

 

John's Children had previously been named the Silence. Their manager, Simon Napier-Bell (former Yardbirds manager), renamed the group to put bassist John Hewlett's name in the name of the group. As Hewlett was the least gifted musically of all the members of the group, this move was meant to protect him from being ousted (original guitarist Geoff McClelland had already been fired to make way for the more talented Marc Bolan).

 

Van Der Graaf Generator. Self explanatory.

 

MFSB, an acronym of Mother, Father, Sister, Brother. But also Mother F@cker Son of a B!tch.

 

Fine Young Cannibals named after the movie All the Fine Young Cannibals which is not a horror movie.

 

From what I just read, though your info is correct, your timeline is slightly off, as Napier-Bell named them John's Children before Bolan took McClelland's place, though he did name them after Hewlett for the reason you cited.

 

Ah, I hadn't realized the Steely Dan Dildo was also an invention of/homage to William Burroughs! Thanks for connecting the dots.

 

Not an origin story but Zappa's "Mothers of Invention" are of couse, necessities. I like to think that it refers to the rest of his band.

 

Level 42 from "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
Radiohead from a Talking Heads song from "True Stories"

 

Biffy Clyro seem to be having fun coming up with preposterous explanations for their name.

 

Iron Maiden got their name from a Medieval Torture Device!

 

I thought he got it from actor James Bolam who he shared a flat with before either of them had any fame...

 

I suspect it origin was assyrian.

 

The story goes that Syd had an album by the two of them called "The Pink/Floyd Sound", but I'm not finding it on discogs. Anyone ever seen it?

There's an interview on YouTube where Frank says they were originally just calling themselves The Mothers (as in "motherf***ers") but the label demanded they not go there. Given the originality and inventiveness of Zappa's style, I think the final name was, fortuitously, far more befitting and appropriate.

 

Assyrian? Ancient? or Medieval?

I though it was a Spanish Inquisition invention...

You know, the "Godly" thing to do.

 

And what about them Crickets - named during a garage rehearsal wherein the little bugs were heard chirping along.

 

According to Wikipedia the origin is in Ancient Greece, but I have studied the Middle East and I am sure that in Assyria they already had this type of gadget. Surely from the Middle East it came to Greece through the Hittites.

Likewise, the Spanish Inquisition has a bad reputation but in the rest of Europe this institution was also ingrained, in fact Miguel Servetus was burned for questioning the dogmas in Switzerland.

 

Thanks for this information.

As a fellows student of History, I agree there was plenty of ignorance and religious and politically-fueled torture ALL across Europe back in the Middle Ages. I did not mean to single out your beloved and lovely country, I assure you!

PS: Never trust a Hittite bearing gifts!

 

And speaking of religious, another heavy metal band, Judas Priest, got their name from a Bob Dylan song:

"The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest", from John Wesley Harding (1967).

 

I know, you don't need to apologize!

What year are you in? I finished the History degree in 2019, and I started the Patrimony Master but it was totally disappointed...

 

I got my B.A. in History in 1998. I got my Master's Degree in History in 2008.

Both my Senior Project and my Master's Thesis were focused on Music History.

Please see the current 1971 thread for the Thesis briefly explored.

 

Green Day - A day devoted to smoking reefer - and they did A LOT of that when they were young.

 

My BA degree is also in History!

 

I'm afraid to think about the band name origins of many of my favorite British Folk-Rock bands, and then realized this timely thread might hold some answers if not clues:

For example: Magna Carta is a great band that obviously got their name from the... well, erm..., Magna Carta, 1215.

But here are sum British band's who's names may have been lost in translation crossing the Trans Atlantic, at least to this punter:


So, please help, what the Hell is a:

Dando Shaft?
Hedgehog Pie
Spriguns of Tolgus
Steeleye Span
and a
Caedmon??


Anyone?


Cheers!

 

Heaven 17 got its name from the Stanley Kubrick movie “A Clockwork Orange”, where in the record shop scene the name appears as “Heaven Seventeen”.