The where bands got their name from thread

[Steveweiser]

And here's how some girl bands got their names...

Spice Girls: Originally called Touch, but were asked to change their name by their record company - they came up with Spice, as each girl was different from the others, like lots of spices are different, but there was already a rapper called Spice, so "Girls" was added.
Sugababes: Put together as the alternative to the Spice Girls, so looking at the rhyme "Sugar and Spice", they were "Suga" rather than Spice and "Babes" rather than Girls.
Girls Aloud: Wanted to name themselves Aloud, but a French dance act already took the name, so they added "Girls" to the name.

[drjayphd (feat. Pitbull)]

Test Icicles: Purportedly from a practice in prehistoric times of testing icicles for strength to see if they'd be suitable weapons. Except that's blown out of the water because a couple of the band's members were in another band named Balls.

Papa Roach: Jacoby Shaddix's (teehee) grandfather's nickname.

Alien Ant Farm: Guitarist Terry Corso was daydreaming and thought humans had been placed on Earth, not unlike a... well, you know, and that aliens were just watching us.

[Dr. Marzvon Zombie M.D.]

The Misfits - Glenn Danzig named his horror punk band as a tribute to Marylin Monroe and her last movies, which was named The Misfits.

[Franchise]

System of a Down: Named after a poem written by guitarist Daron Malakian called "Victims of a Down".

[Lord Rahl]

Godsmack- Sully (lead singer) was makin fun of a buddy for having a cold sore, the next day, he had one. He called it a "god smack" hence the name...not stolen from Alice in Chains as others believe

Cold- The bans original name, Grundig, was already taken by a German speaker company. When they finally got signed to a major label, and was about to tour with Limp Bikit, the company refused to let them use the name. Limps guitarist Wes Borland said, "Man thats Cold"

[weaselboy]

Madness-named after the Prince Buster song

Motorhead-named after the last song Lemmy wrote for Hawkwind, Motorhead being his band nickname due to his penchant for speed

David Bowie-had to change his name as his real name David Jones was already being used by The Monkees leadsinger, named after Alamo Hero Jim Bowie and the Bowie knife

Iggy Pop- nickname "Iggy" stems from Orsterburgs days as a drummer for the covers band the Iguanas

Velvet Underground-name stolen from an erotic novel

REM-named after the condition Rapid Eye Movement usually incurring during sleep

[Corporate H]

Apr 4, 2008 14:05:26 GMT -5 Steveweiser said:

Spice Girls: Originally called Touch, but were asked to change their name by their record company - they came up with Spice, as each girl was different from the others, like lots of spices are different, but there was already a rapper called Spice, so "Girls" was added.

From Wikipedia.org:

The name 'Sugababes' originates from Buchanan's school nickname, 'Sugar baby'. While recording the album the band was officially known as "The Sugababies" (an unreleased track from these sessions repeats over and over "Sugababies on the run, shake it shake it"). When all the band members were aged just fourteen, they were offered a record contract by London Records and tweaked their name to the more mature "Sugababes".[3] This is also possibly due to the fact that there was already a band called "Sugababies".

I never heard of the Sugababes before and was interested to see if this was actually true. But hey, it's Wikipedia...

[Panda Bear]

Pixies: Joey Santiago just looked in a Dictionary and the first word he saw was "Pixies", simple as that.

Sonic Youth: Combination of MC5's Fred "Sonic" Smith and the reggae musician Big Youth, previously called "Male Bonding" and "Red Milk.

Nine Inch Nails: The Nails used to crucify Jesus were 9 inches long, but the origins of the name are hazy.

The Smashing Pumpkins: It was a joke that Billy Corgan made up. As a kid, he used to go around telling people he was in a band called the Smashing Pumpkins, even though he wasn't really in a band. As an adult, when he first formed the band with James, the Smashing Pumpkins was the inevitable name.

Radiohead: the name of a Taking Heads song.

[Milkman Norm]

Barenaked Ladies: Ed Robertson & Steven Page got bored at a Dylan concert and started to question each other about fictonal bands that played at Woodstock. One of them was Barenaked Ladies. When the started to perform together it was the first name Robertson could think of to give the bar owner

Southern Culture on the Skids- The lead singer read an article that called rem the new sound of southern culture. He decided that he would rather be southern culture on the skids.

Foo Fighters- WWII slang for a UFO

The Band- Originally Levon Helm and the Hawks. Once they joined Dylan they were known as Dylans Backing Band and eventually the Band

Dire Straits- Came for a coment made about the bands lack of financal security

Joy Division- A joy division was a nick name for SS units that lead children to the gas chambers in concentration camps

UB40- The UK unemployment form

[Virt McGirt]

Apr 4, 2008 18:51:19 GMT -5 Panda Bear said:

...The Smashing Pumpkins: It was a joke that Billy Corgan made up. As a kid, he used to go around telling people he was in a band called the Smashing Pumpkins, even though he wasn't really in a band. As an adult, when he first formed the band with James, the Smashing Pumpkins was the inevitable name...

There are several stories actually, but this is the most plausable one.

My contribution:

The Traveling Wilburys - "Wilburys" was a slang term coined by George Harrison and Jeff Lynne during the recording of Cloud Nine as a reference to recorded "flubs" that could be eliminated during the mixing stage (i.e. "'We'll bury' them in the mix"). The term was used again when the entire group was together. Harrison suggested "The Trembling Wilburys" as the group's name, but Lynne suggested using "Traveling" instead. Everyone agreed.

[Ace Diamond]

Uriah Heep: Named for a character from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Jethro Tull: Named after the English agriculturalist who invented the seed drill

The Marshall Tucker Band: Named after an old blind guy that tuned pianos in the band members' native town of Spartanburg.

Rush: A play on words referring to the frantic attempts by the band members to come up with a name at the last minute before their very first gig.

Tears for Fears: Named for the Primal Therapy treatment of the same name developed by Arthur Janov. Primal Therapy is also a sort of inspiration for their song "Mad World", which was also the name of one of the chapters of Janov's book.

[DiBiase is Good]

10cc

The average ejaculation of semen is 9cc. The band wanted to be better than that.
Note : Band member Kevin Godley has said that is just a myth but his main cohort in the band, Lol Creme, has confirmed it is true.

[Cucumber Jones:The Walkin Dude]

Tool: Straight from the Maynard's mouth-
"Tool is exactly what it sounds like: It's a big dick. It's a wrench.... we are... your tool; use us as a catalyst in your process of finding out whatever it is you need to find out, or whatever it is you're trying to achieve."

A Perfect Circle: Maynard, when asked at a news conference, stated that the name "A Perfect Circle" originates from the friendships of the band members, all of them met one another in a way resembling "a perfect circle of friendship.

The Bloodhound Gang: name of the young detectives on the 80s PBS show "3-2-1 Contact"

Sevendust: May be derived from the incesticide Carbaryl, often referred to as Sevin Dust

[syndr0me]

Radiohead: Talking Heads song

[Rapper & Actor Sammy Davis III]

GWAR- Oringnally was spelled GGWWWAARRRHHHHH or something. It was just something Oderus yelled. Not an acronym at all as some believe.

[Virt McGirt]

The Presidents of the United States of America - The way I understand it, at one of their first gigs, they'd introduce themselves as made up names, and this was one of the ones that stuck.

Edit: Not too complicated a story, I admit, but I just wanted to take the time to let it be known that they have a new album out, and you can download their song, "French Girl", for free at Amazon.com till April 7th (And it's quite good, IMO)

[wrestlesmarks]

Apr 4, 2008 23:06:56 GMT -5 Ace Diamond said:

Jethro Tull: Named after the English agriculturalist who invented the seed drill

That may be the lamest thing I have ever heard.

[Ace Diamond]

Apr 5, 2008 1:58:14 GMT -5 @wrestlesmarks said:

Apr 4, 2008 23:06:56 GMT -5 Ace Diamond said:

Jethro Tull: Named after the English agriculturalist who invented the seed drill

That may be the lamest thing I have ever heard.

Well one of the band members was a history buff so that's what happens.

And I like history.

plus the seed drill was the first innovation that helped lead towards modern gardening techniques today.

but anyway

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Apr 5, 2008 2:00:27 GMT -5 Ace Diamond said:

Apr 5, 2008 1:58:14 GMT -5 @wrestlesmarks said:

That may be the lamest thing I have ever heard.

Well one of the band members was a history buff so that's what happens.

And I like history.

plus the seed drill was the first innovation that helped lead towards modern gardening techniques today.

but anyway

Yeah and to this day I hate that f***in' band because of that. Cept Locomotive Breathe.

In grade 7 I was taking a test I didn't study for. It was multiple choice. It asked who invented the seed planter. It gave 4 options. I knew it wasn't Eli Whitny, whoever another option was...the last one was Jethro Tull. Well, I knew Jethro Tull was a band, so it sure as shit wasn't them..........f***ers. I even complained to my teacher about it.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Blind Melon--With the final band member added, they were complete but needed to find a name for their new found band. They considered Brown Cow, Gristie, Frog, Mud Bird, Naked Pilgrims and Head Train. One day Brad asked, “What’s happening, blind melons?” It was how his father used to greet some hippie neighbors back home. There were about ten of them renting the house next door to the Smith’s, none with any discernible source of income so the image fit.

www.blindmelon.org/bio/ch1.htm