How bands got their names - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Craven Morehead · 12-10-2004, 01:18 PM

This is really an interesting site.

Good stories if nothing else.

the_marq · 12-10-2004, 01:25 PM

This one seems a tad cumbersome:

Quote:

BEASTIE BOYS - According to Michael Diamond, BEASTIE stands for Boys Entering Anarchistic Stages Towards Internal Excellence.

But this is still and interesting read and a good way to kill off a friday afternoon.

maleficent · 12-10-2004, 01:38 PM

Quote:

10 CC - the average amount of ejaculate from a healthy male.

Is an urban legend according to Snopes
http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/10cc.htm

Quote:

Origins: It's no secret that plenty of modern day rock bands have names with sexual connotations, but inventing similar explanations for the names of older bands has become a favorite pastime.

So it is with 10cc, who allegedly chose their name as a sly joke indicating that they were just a little bit better than the average guy (whose ejaculation supposedly contains 9cc of semen). Not so, says Jonathan King, who signed the group to UK Records and came up with their name:

I had to give them a name . . . because I'd signed the record, and I went to sleep that night and had this dream that a band of mine on my label made number one on the album and singles charts simultaneously in America, and the band was 10cc. So I gave them that name the next morning. Everybody then decided that this was apparently meant to be the amount of an average male ejaculation. Which was absolutely far from the truth . . . There's a lot of apocryphal stories about names, and unfortunately, most of them are much more amusing than the ugly reality, which in this case is that the name came to me in a dream . . ."

Band member Eric Stewart said essentially the same thing in a 1995 BBC interview:

No, the name actually did came from Jonathan King. Um, he said he'd had a dream the night before he came up to Manchester to listen to Donna. And, he saw a hoarding over Wembley Stadium or Hammersmith Odeon or something like that and said, "10cc The Best Group in the World". So we . . . well, that sounds great to us, we'll call ourselves 10cc. And that's how it came about.

If the name had been deliberately chosen for the reasons cited, it would have been a misnomer: The average male ejaculation actually contains only about 3cc of semen.

Redlemon · 12-10-2004, 01:43 PM

Nice site. I have a whole paperback of band name derivations from about 12 years ago.

the_marq · 12-10-2004, 01:47 PM

I always thought "Pearl Jam" was a euphemisim for semen.

HeAtHeN · 12-10-2004, 01:48 PM

Quote:

PANTERA - Spanish for Panther and also a pretty cool car.

Thought I'd post this as today has special meaning for it.

RIP Dimebag

BlitzkriegKommt · 12-10-2004, 04:19 PM

Rammstein
There is a military airbase in Germany called Ramstein, where they held airshows including jets. In a tragic accident two jets collided into each other and landed on people, around 80 people got killed. Well Rammstein kinda took their name from it, except the fact that they added an extra 'm' to it. Giving it the literal meaning of Ramming Stone. They are pretty good at giving double meaning of their lyrics in their songs.

maleficent · 12-10-2004, 04:36 PM

Gotta wonder where they got their initial info from:

Quote:

KISS - According to Paul Stanley, Kiss just sounded dangerous (kiss of death) and sexy at the same time. Kiss denies the rumors that the name stands for "Kids In Service of Satan" or the saying "Keep It Simple Stupid."

So, why did they choose 'KISS'? According to Simmons, the adoption of that name was surprisingly quick and mundane:

Snopes claims:
http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/kiss.htm
So, why did they choose 'KISS'? According to Simmons, the adoption of that name was surprisingly quick and mundane:
One day Paul [Stanley] and Peter [Criss] and I were driving around, brainstorming for new names. I had thought of a few, like Albatross, but I wasn't happy with any of them. At one point -- we were stopped at a red light -- Paul said, "How about KISS?" Peter and I nodded, and that was it. It made sense. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and since then people have talked about all the benefits of the name: how it seemed to sum up certain things about glam rock at the time; how it was perfect for international marketing because it was a simple word that people understood all over the world. But we just liked the name, and that was that.

OFKU0 · 12-10-2004, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_marq

I always thought "Pearl Jam" was a euphemisim for semen.

It is to ZZTop, God bless them.

RolandGilead · 12-12-2004, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlitzkriegKommt

Rammstein
There is a military airbase in Germany called Ramstein, where they held airshows including jets. In a tragic accident two jets collided into each other and landed on people, around 80 people got killed. Well Rammstein kinda took their name from it, except the fact that they added an extra 'm' to it. Giving it the literal meaning of Ramming Stone. They are pretty good at giving double meaning of their lyrics in their songs.

I think the band denies that their name comes from that airbase, although it is quite obvious. Really strange people....

monkeydriven · 12-13-2004, 12:24 PM

I thought Third Eye Blind referred to the penis?

Zephyr66 · 12-13-2004, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RolandGilead

I think the band denies that their name comes from that airbase, although it is quite obvious. Really strange people....

no, they don't deny it, apparently they first wrote the song "Rammstein" about the disaster, then chose to use it as a band name

God of Thunder · 12-13-2004, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maleficent

Gotta wonder where they got their initial info from:

So, why did they choose 'KISS'? According to Simmons, the adoption of that name was surprisingly quick and mundane:

Snopes claims:
http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/kiss.htm
So, why did they choose 'KISS'? According to Simmons, the adoption of that name was surprisingly quick and mundane:
One day Paul [Stanley] and Peter [Criss] and I were driving around, brainstorming for new names. I had thought of a few, like Albatross, but I wasn't happy with any of them. At one point -- we were stopped at a red light -- Paul said, "How about KISS?" Peter and I nodded, and that was it. It made sense. Hindsight is 20/20, of course, and since then people have talked about all the benefits of the name: how it seemed to sum up certain things about glam rock at the time; how it was perfect for international marketing because it was a simple word that people understood all over the world. But we just liked the name, and that was that.

Same thing I've always heard, never heard of the whole "Kiss of Death" thing

Harry Cox · 12-14-2004, 02:52 PM

I heard that Gene originally thought of calling the band Fuck, but knew that would never fly with radio or the record label so they changed it to KISS.

12-10-2004, 01:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Craven Morehead Custom User Title	How bands got their names This is really an interesting site. Good stories if nothing else.

12-10-2004, 01:43 PM	#4 (permalink)
Redlemon Devoted Donor Location: New England	Nice site. I have a whole paperback of band name derivations from about 12 years ago. __________________ I can't read your signature. Sorry.

12-10-2004, 01:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
the_marq All hail the Mountain King Location: Black Mesa	I always thought "Pearl Jam" was a euphemisim for semen. __________________ The Truth: Johnny Cash could have kicked Bruce Lee's ass if he wanted to. #3 in a series

12-13-2004, 12:24 PM	#11 (permalink)
monkeydriven Addict Location: Boston	I thought Third Eye Blind referred to the penis? __________________ you think i got my eyes closed but i've been lookin' at you the whole f&ckin' time... ------------------------------------------------ Posting from the home of the 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox

12-10-2004, 04:19 PM	#7 (permalink)
BlitzkriegKommt Upright Location: Houston	Rammstein There is a military airbase in Germany called Ramstein, where they held airshows including jets. In a tragic accident two jets collided into each other and landed on people, around 80 people got killed. Well Rammstein kinda took their name from it, except the fact that they added an extra 'm' to it. Giving it the literal meaning of Ramming Stone. They are pretty good at giving double meaning of their lyrics in their songs.

12-14-2004, 02:52 PM	#14 (permalink)
Harry Cox Insane	I heard that Gene originally thought of calling the band Fuck, but knew that would never fly with radio or the record label so they changed it to KISS.