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I’m obsessed with Flight of the Conchords right now. I just got the series on DVD and have been trying to limit myself to a couple of episodes every night to stretch out the delightfulness. I’m actually listening to FOTC right now (If You’re Into It, in case you were curious). With a name like Flight of the Conchords, though, you have to wonder what the inspiration was. And that is the inspiration behind today’s Quick 10 – where bands got their names. I’m going to pick some random ones, but if you have a good story about band name origins, stop by the comments and leave us a note.
How 10 Bands Got Their Names
1. Modest Mouse comes from the Virginia Woolf story The Mark on the Wall. There’s a quote that says, “Even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people…”
2. a-ha got their name because it means the same thing in multiple languages.
3. Duran Duran took their name from the villain in the movie Barbarella – Dr. Durand-Durand.
4. R.E.M. was named when Michael Stipe opened the dictionary and randomly pointed to a word.
5. The Pogues were originally called Pogue Mahone, which is Gaelic for “kiss my arse.” It was shortened later.
6. The Bay City Rollers, are, as you might suspect, named after Bay City, Michigan. But none of the band members are actually from Bay City (They’re Scottish); the city was just plucked from the map.
7. The Killers took their name from a fictional band. The “band” was featured in the New Order music video for their song “Crystal”.
8. 10,000 Maniacs adapted their band name from the horror movie Two Thousand Maniacs.
9. Steely Dan is named after an… erm… adult toy… in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch.
10. Flight of the Conchords came about when Bret, one of the band members, had a dream about flying guitars that looked like Concordes. He was telling the other band member about it and the name was invented. They went with “Chord” instead of “cord” as sort of a tribute to the Beatles who used “beat” instead of “beet”.
Comments (37)
Comment
I’ve heard that the Misfits take their name from an old Marilyn Monroe flick.
posted by ARJ on 6-4-2008 at 2:43 pm
Ohhhh FOTC, how I love them. I don’t even care how they chose their name, just give me more!
posted by Liz on 6-4-2008 at 2:54 pm
The name Beatles, said a man on a flaming pie, in part, is a tribute to Buddy Holly & The Crickets.
posted by Paul on 6-4-2008 at 3:12 pm
LMAO!! FOTC!!! Sweet! I was just listening to Foux Du Fa Fa! Baguette!!!
I think they deserve their own post or feature in the magazine!!
posted by Em on 6-4-2008 at 3:16 pm
Switchfoot is a surfing term. They have publicly declared that now that they have that name there are no more cool band names left.
posted by Witty Nickname on 6-4-2008 at 3:26 pm
There’s a documentary on this topic of band-naming: “Ladies & Gentlemen, Please Welcome…” directed by Allen Verbrugge. Google it!
posted by PJ on 6-4-2008 at 3:33 pm
Travis is named after the main character in the movie Paris, Texas.
The appropriate spelling of the Irish phrase the Pogues got their name from is pog ma thon.
posted by Erin on 6-4-2008 at 3:41 pm
Heaven 17 was an album cover in a record shop in the film A Clockwork Orange.
posted by Jim on 6-4-2008 at 3:53 pm
Death Cab for Cutie is named after the a song in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. It was a parody of Elvis Presley songs.
posted by Chris S on 6-4-2008 at 4:14 pm
How could you forget “Toad the Wet Sprocket”? Like “The Killers” they were named after a fictonal band . . . in a Monty Python Sketch about Rock News!
posted by Michael on 6-4-2008 at 6:04 pm
#9: A steam-powered adult toy, IIRC.
posted by anon1234 on 6-4-2008 at 6:31 pm
I’ve always loved telling people where “Toad the Wet Sprocket” comes from, and then informing them that it’s a verb. People make some great faces when they figure it out.
posted by Jonathan on 6-4-2008 at 6:48 pm
Lynyrd Skynnyrd took their name from a strict PE coach from a school several members attended. He had a dislike of boys with long hair.
posted by Jeff on 6-4-2008 at 6:52 pm
Conductors 14
This Captcha thing down there is like an instant band name genrator!
posted by Scotty A on 6-4-2008 at 7:43 pm
That ‘Death Cab For Cutie’ song is by the Bonzo Dog Band.
The White Stripes got their name from a line in the movie ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains’ i do believe.
scotty A - my new band is named ‘kishon have’ according to the captcha
posted by dimestore on 6-5-2008 at 12:15 am
I just saw FOTC live FOR FREE about two weeks ago. Such a funny show.
posted by Amy on 6-5-2008 at 6:16 am
What the hell is an ‘arse’ anyway?
posted by Jim on 6-5-2008 at 6:42 am
Amy - so jealous. They were in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago but it was midweek so I couldn’t make it :(
posted by stacy on 6-5-2008 at 8:22 am
Jim — it’s a heinie. A butt. A behind. A tush … Oh, heck, it’s what the Brits call their asses.
posted by lleachie on 6-5-2008 at 8:47 am
There are still some good band names. One of my favorites from ‘Scrubs’ is ‘Seven Car Pile-up’. And according to the Captcha, my new band name is ‘Forum Tumors’. Hmm…
posted by Henna on 6-5-2008 at 11:52 am
As with R.E.M., “Grateful Dead” was also picked by opening a dictionary and pointing.
And, according to Captcha, my new band name is “Character Quished”. I kind of like that…
posted by PJ in SF on 6-5-2008 at 3:59 pm
Scissor Sisters…..it’s um……a delicate thing between two ladies of the same persuasion. My favorite band name/explanation ever. Ever.
posted by Josh on 6-5-2008 at 4:15 pm
mmm, My captcha was ‘were doubled’, infers a story line///
posted by Sean on 6-6-2008 at 2:04 am
Pretty cool info. Check out lyrics.com it has more info on where band names came from.
posted by troy on 6-6-2008 at 2:51 am
Radiohead got their name from a Talking Heads song, Radio Head, from the albom True Stories.
posted by Kevin on 6-6-2008 at 4:09 am
Radiohead took their name from a Talking Heads song, Radio Head, from the album True Stories.
posted by Kevin on 6-6-2008 at 4:13 am
green day got there’s from they’re principal they told him they were leaving school school and the principle said it will be a green day in hell before you guys are rock stars.
posted by jim on 6-6-2008 at 4:54 am
It’s “pog mo thoin” , far from pogue mahone
posted by as gaeilge on 6-6-2008 at 6:50 am
I thought REM came when they got their friends to write possible names for the band on the wall of the studio they were practicing in??
Here are some then that I made up too….
Metal licker - James Hetfield loves the taste of spoons!
Guns and Roses - they are all love struck cowboys!!
Led Zeppelin - went down like a lead balloon!!
My Chemical Romance - they all have love affairs with cleaning products!!
New Model Army - the lead singer was bored with his army lego set so asked for a new model army for Christmas and the name stuck!!
Faith No More - they all went to church as kids and were so dissatisfied with the teaching they felt they had faith no more!!
Neil Diamond used to work as a diamond cutter, one day he dropped a load of diamonds and had to get down on the floor to pick them up!!
Madonna - this is supposed to be ironic because the original Madonna was not an egotistical, over sexed, freak!!
posted by scran on 6-6-2008 at 9:28 am
Nickleback got it’s name when he lead singer, whose name I’ve forgotten, went to his brother for help. His brother worked at Starbucks, where if you paid over $2, you got (here we go…) a nickel back.
posted by Seltrah on 6-6-2008 at 11:21 am
10cc…apparently the average amount of semen a man ejaculates!!!
posted by tony on 6-6-2008 at 12:10 pm
The Lovin’ Spoonful - exactly the same as 10cc
posted by jonesy on 6-6-2008 at 1:20 pm
haha. i liked it.
aaand according to the captcha, my band name is Yesterdays Obstacles.
that actually sounds like a good band name, haha.
posted by Kate on 6-6-2008 at 2:29 pm
led zeppelin go their name after a reporter said that their band will sink like a led zeppelin
ac/dc got their name after seeing that angus yougs (lead guitarist) sister’s sewing machine was made by a company called ac/dc
Pink floyd got their name by combining the names of two blues artists
posted by iamme on 6-6-2008 at 3:53 pm
the group founatains of wayne got there name from a gardening store
posted by alex on 6-8-2008 at 10:25 am
“ac/dc got their name after seeing that angus yougs (lead guitarist) sister’s sewing machine was made by a company called ac/dc”
…ummm, no. AC/DC stands for Alternating Current/Direct Current. It means that the appliance in question can run on both types of electric power currents. Other than that, the story of the sewing machine is correct.
posted by Iâran on 6-9-2008 at 5:58 pm
HA! My captcha says “Senator Traps”! Band name or tell all book?
posted by jplanet on 6-10-2008 at 1:21 pm