6/15/09

Band Name History

For years, I have been curious about different bands’ names, origins, and why they always sounded so much cooler than anything I could ever think of myself. So after some research, I have found that most of the origins were merely nothing more than coincidence. Below is a list of five bands’ names and the history behind them.

1) Blink 182: The band was originally going after the name “Blink” which they claim has no meaning, but was threatened with a lawsuit from an Irish band named “Blink.” Thus, the band added 182 which is supposedly the number of times the f-bomb is dropped in one of the member’s favorite movie.

2) Chumbawamba: The band claims that in one of their band member’s dreams he couldn’t decipher which restroom to use. The restroom signs in this particularly odd dream said “Chumba” and “Wamba” rather than “Men” and “Women.”

3) LL Cool J: I lost a bit of respect for him after finding out what this actually means… This artist’s real name is actually James Todd Smith. LL Cool J actually stands for “Ladies Love Cool James.”

4) Goo Goo Dolls: Originally the band called themselves the “Sex Maggots,” however when they were told by a local newspaper that their name was too obscene to print; Jonny Rzenick (front man of the Goo Goo Dolls) picked up a magazine from the early 60’s with and add for a doll that cried “Goo Goo” when you turned it upside down.

5) Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan’s real name is actually Robert Zimmerman. He was apparently very fond of the poet Dylan Thomas. Thus, when putting the two names together Robert (Bob) Dylan was born.

There you have it! Hope this helps anyone and everyone out there discover what their band or stage name might be; and/or how to find it. Check back soon for more band names and their origins.


Cameron
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3 comments:

ToOth said...

You can't hate on LL's name. He's from the old skool where what seems corny now was "fresh" back then. But when you do learn the meaning behind some of your favorite band names you can't help but think about them differently. For example, Stone Temple Pilots just like the initials STP, so they pretty much just came up with random words. Not very deep.

Anonymous said...

Best band name ever, "Poop Hammer"!

Joy said...

The 25 Most Ridiculous Band Names
http://www.cracked.com/article_15118_25-most-ridiculous-band-names-in-rock-history.html