Band Name Origins: Stories Behind Band Names

Did you know that the Bee Gees were named following the initials of a deejay called Bill Gates? Did you know that the real story behind the origin of the name of the rock band 10cc is much more trivial and boring than the urban legend that surrounds it? Did you ever wonder why the hell would a person choose to name his band Chumbawamba? Here you could expansive n your knowledge by learning about the origins or rock performers names and pop musicians pseudonyms.

10cc: an urban legend claims that the band who wrote the hit I’m Not in Love has chosen her name as a gesture to the average man ejaculation, which is estimated as 9cc of sperm. As a matter of fact, the band name is originated in a dream the band manager, Jonathan King, had in which he was managing a band by the name of 10cc

Alice in Chains: Lane Stanley and Jerry Cantrell had intended to form a heavy metal band that will perform covers of Slayer while wearing dresses. Although there plan did not come out, the name of the band remained. Alice in Chains is a take off on Alice in Wonderland with an S and M twist.

Bee Gees: The Gibb brothers 1st had in mind the name The Rattlesnakes as a name of their band.

Later they have come up with the idea of honoring the initials of both Brothers Gibb and their close friend and one of their 1st support s, DJ Bill Gates, who has little to do with the founder mof Microsoft.

Chumbawaba: evident ly, one of the band members had a strange dream, in which he may not decide which public toilet door he should enter since the Men and Women signs were replaced with Chumba and Wamba signs.

The Doors: formerly named Psychedelic Ranger, inspired by a William Blake quote: If the doors of perception were to be cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.

Elvis Costello: was born as Declan Patrick McManus. When he had started his musical career, he adopted an alias created by a combination of Elvis Presley and Lou Costello, mainly because he represents the exact opposite of the other Elvis.

The Fall: taken from the title of a novel authored by Albert Camus.

Grateful Dead: originally named The Warlocks. The origin of the cult band  final name has been inspired by an old English folk tale, which themed around a traveler who’s saved by the spirit of a dead individual who’s grateful for the travelers generosity and his willingness to pay the deads man debts in order for him to be buried.

The Happy Mondays: Shaun Rider has been inspired by the happy Mondays he and the other members of the performer were having as unemployed who were spend ing the day that follows the weekend in sleeping while the other people were off to work.

Ice T: the controversial gangsta rapper has chosen to name himself after Iceberg Slim, a famous pimp who later became an author of books that describe gangsta living.

Johnny Rotten: the Sex Pistols leader has been born as John Lydon. He received a stage name that has been found more suitable for an anarchist punk with a session of rotten teeth.

Kraftwerk: the pioneer electronic band adopted the German translation of the term Power Station.

L. LL Cool J: James Todd Smith pseudonym is an Acronym for Ladies Love Cool James.

Marilyn Manson: the bandleader pseudonym mixes two of Americas preferred celebrities: Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson. Other members of the performer are using the pseudonyms Ginger Fish, Twiggy Ramirez and Madonna Wayne Gacy.

Nine Inch Nails: inspired by the nails that attached Jesus to the cross

The Orb: in Woody Allens Sleeper, there is a silver ball that causes individuals who touches it to react in strange ways. This device has been called The Orb.

The Pogues: originally named Pogue Mahone, which is Kiss my Ass in Gaelic, the performer shortened the name to avoid airplay censorship.

Queen: one word that catches both transvestite and royalty connotation was the perfect performer name in the eyes of Freddie Mercury.

The Replacements: according to the myth, the punk rock performer adapted the name following replacing a missing performer in a gig, an incident that made them introduced themselves as The Replacements.

Sex Pistols: Malcolm Mclaren is responsible for the choice of the name, partly to help  promote  the clothes shop called Sex owned by Vivien Westwood who used to be his girlfriend at the time.

TLC: the initials of the band members nicknames T Boz, Left Eye and Chilli. It furthermore suggests the acronym for Tender Loving Care.

UB40: the politically oriented band was named following a kind of British unemployment form.

Velvet Underground: named following the title of an unknown sex book that one of the band members has found lying on the sidewalk

Weezer: the performer front man has been nicknamed Weezer in high school since he has been a geek who suffered from asthma that caused him to make wheezing sounds.

XTC: this punk band was formed in 1976 long before the usage of the drug has been popular. The band had change d its original name Star Park after watching a Jimmy Durante clip in which he states: Im in ecstasy!

Yeah Yeah Yeah: according to Karen O, the inspiration to the hip band name came from the New Yorker phrase, which means something like whatever.