HeaThen WoRLD ~ Origins of Band Names[A-E]

This list has been happily helping the online community waste brain cells on music trivia since 1996. There are similar sites online. You just found the original. ~ Enjoy!

2 LIVE JEWS - Parody of the Florida rap band 2 LIVE CREW.

5IVE - There are 5 guys in this British teen band (get it?).

7 YEAR BITCH - A twist on movie "The 7 Year Itch".

10CC - Manager Jonathan King had a dream including a band called 10CC. There is a fun rumor that the average man ejaculates around 9cc of sperm and the members of 10cc decided they were a bit more macho than the rest of us. That rumor is wrong.. the average man only ejaculates 3CC of sperm. - Source - Snopes Urban Folklore Site

12 RODS - The bass player picked up a children's bible as they were trying to think of a name. He opened it to a page that said "The 12 Rods of the Apostles" (Numbers 17:1-13) and decided 12 RODS wasn't bad .. They couldn't think of anything better.

24-7 SPYS - They were looking (spying) for sex 24 hours a day, 7 days a week..

60 FT. DOLLS - One night the trio was hanging out in a bar chatting with a friend who collected toys from the '60s. The singer later dreamed that an alien who told him to name the band 60 Ft. Dolls.

88 FINGERS LOUIE - 88 Fingers Louie was a piano thief that sold Fred a hot piano in an episode of The Flinstones.

98 DEGREES - They rejected names like JUST US, NEXT ISSUE and VERSE FOUR and settled on 98 DEGREES because they felt it conveyed the same atmosphere of heat and romance present in their music. The band is from Ohio.

311 - There is a consistent and somewhat silly rumor that 311 stands for KKK (K is the 11th letter in the alphabet). The band has denied the rumor many times and nothing about their persona or music reflects the bizarre Christian racist beliefs of the KKK.
The official story : 311 is an Omaha police code for indecent exposure. One rainy day, P-Nut and some friends went skinny dipping in a public pool. They were apprehended by police. One of P-Nut's friends (Jim Watson) was arrested, cuffed (naked) and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311 (indecent exposure). We thought this was funny, so we took it as our band name. .. Since most interviewers always ask us "What does 311 mean?", we have come up with lots of different answers over the years." - Source = 311's official website

764-HERO - Signs along the highway in the Seattle area say "Report Car Pool Lane Violators (360) 764-Hero." Source= several emails.

808 STATE - Quoting from their official website: "They got the name from the Roland drum machine TR 808 and the state of mind that they shared.

1000 HOMO DJ'S - Al Jourgeson and some friends were listening to an unauthorized remix of a REVOLTING COCKS song. Jim Nash of Wax Trax records reassured Al that the only people that would hear the remix are 1000 Homo DJ's.

10,000 MANIACS - Inspired by an old horror movie called "2000 Maniacs".

A CERTAIN RATIO - A line in a Brian Eno song (On Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy).

A&M RECORDS - This huge record label was started by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. Their initials made the name.

A-HA - Band members were originally in various Norwegian bands including SPIDER EMPIRE, SOLDIER BLUE and BRIDGESHE. They liked A-HA because it meant basically the same thing in several languages.

ABBA - Abba is "father" in Hebrew. It's also an acronym for the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Anderson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.

AC/DC - Angus Young read AC/DC on the back of a sewing machine and figured it has something to do with power. He was right, it means "Alternating Current / Direct Current". The band didn't realize AC/DC was also slang for bi-sexual, which caused a few awkward moments in their early days. There's a silly rumor kicking around that claims AC/DC is an acronym for "Anti-Christ Devil's Children".

ACE OF BASE - Their original studio was in the basement of a car repair shop, leading to "base" and they were masters of their own studio, so it was "ace of base".

AEROSMITH - It was evidently a word Joey Kramer wrote all over his notebooks in high school. Some think they were inspired by the 1925 book "Arrowsmith" by Sinclair Lewis.

AGENT ORANGE - Double meaning.. they were from Orange County, California and AGENT ORANGE is a famous dioxin-based "defoilant" used by the US military in the Vietnam War.

AGGRESSION - Describes the sound of this hardcore band from the early 80's very well.

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT - Considering that this is a skinhead band on Resistance Records, Aggravated Assault is probably an appropriate name.

AÏBOFORCEN - This electronic band from Belgium reversed and screwed up the spelling of "necrophobia".

AIR SUPPLY - Graham Russell saw the name on a marquee in a dream 5 years before the band was signed.

ALAN'S FEAR - This old Arizona band tried to get a Christian friend named Alan to play drums.. he was too afraid of punk.

ALICE IN CHAINS - A masochistic parody of Alice in Wonderland. The original idea (which evidently never happened) was they would do Slayer covers wearing dresses.

AMBOY DUKES - After a great 1942 pulp novel about Brooklyn street gangs written by Irving Shulman. TED NUGENT was in this band before going solo.

TORI AMOS - Her real name is Myra Ellen Amos. A friend suggested that Tori sounded better.

THE ANDRIOD SISTERS - A mutation of the Andrews Sisters. The band features strange female vocals and electronics.

ANTIETAM - A Civil War battle.

ANTHRAX - Scott Ian heard about the virulent bacteria anthrax in a high school biology class. He decided it would be a great name for a band. The band's official website jokingly mentions changing their name to BASKET FULL OF PUPPIES to distance them from the deadly Anthrax letters that were delivered in the United States.

APHEX TWIN - The A in Aphex stands for the acid quality of his music, while the ph is a reference to the pH-value of acid. Richard D. James' brother died three years prior to his birth and carried the exact same name as Richard David James. The twin is therefore a token of recognition for the brother Aphex Twin never knew, but who he feels is watching over him like a guardian angel.

ARCHERS OF LOAF - It basically means nothing, but they make up things to fool people.

ARHOOLIE - This great archival record label took its name from "Hoolie" which is slang for "field hollar" (work songs sang by field workers).

ARMY OF GOD - Named after some militant Christians responsible for kidnapping a couple of abortion providors in the 80's, and now suspected in various bombings in Atlanta. The band flirted with Satanic imagery, sucked eachother's blood on stage, and generally tried to shock audiences.

ART OF NOISE - Named after the 1913 manifesto called "The Art of Noises" by Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo. Russolo made noise machines, wrote music for them, and also recorded sounds from the environment for musical pleasure.

ASWAD - Means "Black" in Arabic

B-52's - The beehive hairstyle popular in the 1950's was called a B-52. B52's are also a type of US Air Force bomber.

B*WITCHED - The manager of this Irish all-girl teen band thought they were "bewitching" as they talked him into managing them. The * looks cool but maybe wasn't the best idea... it makes them harder to find in search engines and * is an illegal character for domain names.

BAADER MEINHOF - Named after the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a German terrorist group from the 70's intertwined with the RAF and SPK.

BABES IN TOYLAND - The name of a 1934 movie starring Laural and Hardy, A 1961 Disney musical featuring Annette Funicello, and a stage production.

BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE - A combination of band members' last names and the trucker's magazine "Overdrive". They were originally called BRAVE BELT, then BACHMAN-TURNER, then the final name.

BACK STREET BOYS - Named after a shopping area called "The Back Street Market" near Church Street Station in Orlando, Florida. - Source = a cool fan.

BAD COMPANY - A 1972 movie by Jeff Bridges.

BAD ENGLISH - They used to play pool and were bad at "putting english" (spin) on the ball.

BAD RONALD - Their name is from a bad 1974 horror movie called BAD RONALD.

BADFINGER - The working title of the BEATLES song "A Little Help From My Friends".

BAND OF SUSANS - Three members of the band were named Susan.

THE BANGLES - They wanted to be the BANGS, but there was already a band using that name.

BARENAKED LADIES - It is supposed to be sexual, but somewhat innocent, as in a child seeing a bare naked lady for the first time. They thought it up while bored at a Dylan concert. The name gets people's attention too..

BAUHAUS - Named after the style of graphic design and famous school of architecture

BAY CITY ROLLERS - They blindly stuck a pin on a map. It landed on Bay City, Michigan.

BBMAK - One of the British band's members, Steven "Ste" McNally named it after the first letter of their last names: Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Ste Mcnally. Then, Ste changed part of the band name from "Mc" to "Mak".

BEASTIE BOYS - "Beastie" is an acronym for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Toward Internal Excellence".

THE BEATLES - A few stories floating around about this one.. Stuart Sutcliffe came up with THE BEETLES in 1960, which was evidently a play on Buddy Holly's CRICKETS. They went by THE QUARRYMEN and THE SILVER BEETLES awhile later, then shortened and mutated that to THE BEATLES. Lennon and Sutcliffe may have also been influenced by the film "The Wild One", which featured a motorcycle gang called the Beetles. John Lennon is generally credited with combining Beetles and Beat to come up with THE BEATLES spelling. Lennon was also fond of saying he had a vision as a child of a flaming pie in the sky that said "You are Beatles with an "A"...

BEBORN BETON - This German electro-pop band's name is a combination of "Be Born" shortened to BEBORN and BETON, which is German for "Concrete". The result means something like "Be Born Concrete". HeaThen WoRLD is still confused...

THE BEE GEES - They first called themselves "The Rattlesnakes", then Wee Johnny Hays, then the BGs, then the BEEGEEs. According to a few fanclub sites "Brothers Gibb" is the origin. A local DJ named Bill Gates (not the Microsoft Bill) was one of their early supporters. Some sites point out the BG in his name as well.

BELLE & SEBASTIAN - This band from Glasgow, Scotland named themselves after a children's cartoon on French TV.

BEN FOLDS FIVE - The keyboard player is Ben Fold. They are a trio, but liked the sound of BEN FOLDS FIVE. ..also, they were told they made enough noise for 5 people.

BERSERKR - Named after the Berserkers, a feared group of ancient Norse warriors who wore bearskins, ate hallucinogenic mushrooms and charged into battle with psychotic ferocity.

BETTER THAN EZRA - There are many somewhat plausible stories about the name's origin. Band member Kevin Griffin has said the story behind their name is one that "always lets people down whenever we finally tell them what it means. Trust me, it's better left unsaid."

BETTIE SERVEERT - This Dutch band is named after Bettie Stove, a Dutch tennis star of the 70's. Bettie Serveert means "Bettie serves".

BIG STAR - The name of a supermarket chain in the Southern United States.

BIKINI KILL - Lois Maffeo and Rebecca Gates (of the Spinanes) did a one-time performance in gorilla suites and called it BIKINI KILL. Toby Vail called one of them and asked if she could use the name.

BIRTHDAY PARTY - This legendary Australian band was named after a play by Harold Pinter. NICK CAVE was the singer until they broke up in 1983.

BLACK CROWES - originally named "Uncle Crowe's Garden" after a children's fairy tale.

BLACK FAG - Parody of the band name "Black Flag"

BLACK FLAG - Anarchists have been flying black flags for a long time. The earliest use of a black flag is attributed to French anarchists in the late 1800's. Side note: When ADAM ANT first played in California.. BLACK FLAG gave out buttons that read: "Black Flag kills Ants" .. ("Black Flag" is also a brand of bug killer).

BLACK METAL - This extreme Nordic style of Heavy Metal took its name from VENOM's second album "Black Metal" released in 1982.

BLACK SABBATH - they were originally a cover band called EARTH. The band saw Boris Karloff's 1963 horror movie "Black Sabbath" one night and were inspired to call their first original song "Black Sabbath". They found out at a gig that there was another band called "Earth", so they changed their name to BLACK SABBATH.

BLACK VELVET FLAG - Parody of the band name BLACK FLAG

BLACK UHURU - Uhuru is Swahili for freedom, so the name means "Black Freedom".

BLACKHOUSE - this Christian industrial band's name is a reaction to the extremes of WHITEHOUSE

BLAQUE - This "futuristic" R&B group's name stands for "Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest for Unity in Everything".

BLINK-182 - They were originally called BLINK, but were forced to change their name because a techno band from Ireland was already called that. 182 doesn't actually mean anything. The band has helped start rumours about 182 like: Al Pacino said "fuck" 182 times in Scarface, Al Pacino said "fuck" 182 times in "The Godfather", etc. Source = interviews with the band.

THE BLOODHOUND GANG - a skit on the "3210 Contact" TV show

BLUE CHEER - 60's nickname for high-quality LSD.

BLUE MEANIES - This Chicago band is named after characters in the BEATLES' "Yellow Submarine" cartoon.

BLUE MOON BOYS - This Rockabilly band from Indiana named themselves after the first band Elvis put together.

BLUE OYSTER CULT - A combination of a recipe the band's manager read in a book and the band's fascination with the occult. The name is also an anagram of Cully's Stout Beer.

BLUES TRAVELER - They were inspired by Gozer the Traveler in Ghostbusters 1.

BLUR - The band was originally called "Seymour", but a condition of their record deal was they had to pick a new name from a list that the label supplied. "Blur" was on the list.

THE BOBS - Dog and Cat show jargon for "Best of Breed"

BODY COUNT - Ice T was inspired by Sunday night news broadcasts in Los Angeles. The week's tally of dead from gang activities would always be mentioned right before sports.

BONGWATER - Water only fools would drink

BON JOVI - A mutation of Jon Bon Jovi's real name: John Bongiovi, Jr.

BONO - (the singer of U2) Paul Hewson was inspired by a hearing aid store in Dublin, Ireland called BONOVOX, which means "good voice" in Latin.

BOOKER T. & THE M.G.'S - Booker T. led the band and M.G. stands for Memphis Group.

BOOMTOWN RATS - from a gang in Woody Guthrie's "Bound for Glory".

DAVID BOWIE - He took his last name from the Bowie Knife (which he adored as a young lad). He didn't go by his given name "David Jones" because he didn't want to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.

BOSS HOG - A motorcycle (Thunderbolt V8).

BR5-49 - This fun band out of Nashville took their name from the phone number Junior Samples always said in his used car salesman sketch on the Hee-Haw TV show.

BRANIAC - Superman's arch enemy.

BRATMOBILE - A twist on Batman and Robin's Batmobile.

BREAD - Slang for money.. an improvement over their first name PLEASURE FAIRE.

BREEDERS - Homosexual slang for heterosexuals

BUCKCHERRY - The name of a transvestite that used to hang out outside a club they played at.. The transvestite liked to flick lit cigarettes at them.

WILLIAM BURROUGHS - His real name. This groundbreaking author came from the family that developed the Burroughs adding machine, but never saw any of that money. Burroughs was the first to use the term Heavy Metal Music (in 1964). He inspired the band names STEELY DAN and SOFT MACHINE and influenced underground culture from the early 50's until his death in 1997.

BURZUM - Varg Vikernes created this Black Metal sensation. He is currently in prison for the murder of Euronymous of the Norwegian band MAYHEM. Varg took the name BURZUM from JRR Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Tolkien described BURZUM as "the supreme and wide darkness, the plural form of BURZ". Sources : an interview in Terrorizer zine and the BURZUM website.

BUSH - Named after a neighborhood in London called "Sheperd's Bush".

BUZZCOCKS - Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto bought a copy of "Time Out" when in London one weekend trying to find a SEX PISTOLS show. There was an ad in the paper for a new series called "Rock Follies". The headline said "It's the buzz, cock" .. Howard Devoto combined the last two words. Source: Pete Shelley interview

BYRDS - They were originally called the BEEFEATERS. A British group called THE BIRDS emerged at the same time, but faded away.

CABARET VOLTAIRE - Named after the famous dada cafe/performance space in Zurich.

CAFE TACUBA - This fun band from the suburbs of Mexico City named themselves after a restaurant called CAFE TACUBA open in downtown Mexico City since the early 1900's. HEATHEN WORLD likes these guys and recommends their "Re" cd on WEA/Latina.

CALVARY - This Black Metal band's name is Greek for GOLGOTHA

CAN - This was a great German band from the 70's. Keyboard player Irmin Schmidt once defined CAN as an acronym for "Communist, Anarchism, Nihilism"

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART - Inspired by a strange Uncle of Don Van Vliet's who would expose himself, squeeze his dick until the head turned purple, then comment about it looking "like a big ole' beef heart"

WENDY / WALTER CARLOS - Walter Carlos had a huge hit with "Switched on Bach". Walter got a sex change operation and now records as Wendy Carlos.

CASSANDRA COMPLEX - Is a reference to Greek mythology; Cassandra had the gift of prophecy with the curse of no one ever believing her.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS - Not sure about this one... NICK CAVE was frontman for THE BIRTHDAY PARTY before this band. That band released an album called "The Bad Seed" in 1982. One rumored inspiration is the 1956 movie "The Bad Seed".

CBGB'S - "Country, Bluegrass, Blues" (the bar was there long before punk)

RAY CHARLES - His real name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he wanted no confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Ray Charles didn't go blind until 7 years old, and would ride his bicycle around his home town AFTER going blind.

CES JACUZZI AND THE SLUMLORDS - In reference to a crappy Los Angeles apartment complex the band used to live in. The advertised jacuzzi was actually more like a cess pool.

CHAKA KHAN - Yvette Stevens' African name, Chaka, means "fire".

CHEAP TRICK - They asked a Ouiji Board what they should call their band.

CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS - Inspired by Cheetah Chrome of the DEAD BOYS.

CHEMICAL BROTHERS - They were originally named "The Dust Brothers" after the famous American producers until the real Dust Brothers caught wind of this. "Chemical Brothers" was derived from a song of theirs called "Chemical Beat", which was allegedly inspired by all the drugs in the clubs they played.

CHEMLAB - Quoting an interview on Sonic Boom: The name Chemlab was chosen because we needed something for the cover of the "Ten-Ton Pressure" EP and it looked good so we kept it. Dylan and I were complaining finishing the artwork and I was mumbling, "My head feels like a chemical lab.", and suddenly it clicked. We both liked it and it made sense.

CHERRY POPPIN DADDIES - Their first song "Cherry Poppin Daddy Strut" was inspired by a lyric from an old jazz song.. they thought the band would last for about 1 gig and decided on the name while drunk. They were originally a punk band called the JAZZ GREATS (they sucked at their instruments back then). This band is great live!

CHICAGO - Their first album was released as "Chicago Transit Authority", then the city of Chicago sued them. Chicago Transit Authority is the name of Chicago's public transportation department.

CHUBBY CHECKER - Dick Clark's wife thought up the name as a take off on Fats Domino.

CHUMBAWAMBA - Based on a band member's dream.. he didn't know which door to use in a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba" instead of "Men" and "Women"

CINDERELLA - Named after a porn movie and deliberately chosen for its utter lack of heavy-metal connotations.

CIRCLE JERKS - A circle jerk is a group of guys in a circle masturbating. The motivation was probably smart-ass shock value. Their first album fit the theme nicely.. it was called "Group Sex". Their 2nd album "Wild in The Streets" was named after a classic movie from the late 60's..

CLANNAD - The band members were all from a large family that lived in Gweedore in the county of Donegal (Northwest Ireland). CLANNAD is a contraction of "Clann as Dobhar", which means "the family from Gweedore". Source : ENYA's Official webpage.

THE CLASH - Taken from a newspaper headline describing "A Clash With Police"

CLOCK DVA - This ground breaking electronic band from Sheffield, England formed in the late 70's and is still active. DVA is the number two in Russian. There are two stories about CLOCK: 1- After the Movie and book "Clockwork Orange" 2-symbolizing the "time-code the world operates on". CLOCK DVA is a HeaThen WoRLD favorite.

CMX - A mutated abbreviation from Cloaca MaXima (the great arsehole) which was the main sewer system in ancient Rome. Band members have also claimed that CMX stood for "Cosmic Mental Xplosion" or "CliMaX" just to have some fun with the issue. CMX is a Finnish band with a great reputation.

COAL CHAMBER - Dez Fafara wanted the name COAL and Meegs wanted the name CHAMBER. They compromised.

COCTEAU TWINS - They were named after an old Simple Minds song first called "Cocteau Twins", then renamed to "No Cure". All this was inspired by a set of twins that spoke a language they created that sounded like gibberish to everyone else.

COCK ROBIN - From Disney's Who Killed Cock Robin?

COLLECTIVE SOUL - A phrase in "The Fountainhead", by Ayn Rand

COMMODORES - chosen at random from a dictionary. It's an old US Navy rank now referred to as Commodore Admiral.

COMSAT ANGELS - Named after a communications satellite. They went by CS Angels in the US for legal reasons.

CONCRETE BLONDE - suggested by REM's Michael Stipe.

ALICE COOPER - They were first called the EARWIGS, then NAZZ before settling on ALICE COOPER. The name was inspired by their Ouija Board, which put them in contact with a spirit named Alice Cooper. The singer hogged the name and went solo.. he tours occasionally and spends time at his sports bar in Phoenix, Arizona.

COSEY FANNI TUTTI - Born Christine Newby. She was a member of the HeaThen WoRLD fave band THROBBING GRISTLE. "Cosi Fan Tutte" is a Mozart opera, which translates to something like: "Women are all the same" or "All women are at it".

ELVIS COSTELLO - His Great Grandmother's last name was Costello and his father performed as DAY COSTELLO. ELVIS updated the COSTELLO name and ran with it. His real last name is MacManus.

COUNTING CROWS - When Duritz and Bryson first performed as an acoustic duo they call themselves Counting Crows after an English divination rhyme. "...if you hang on to the flimsyness of anything, you might as well be standing there, counting crows..."

WAYNE / JAYNE COUNTY - WAYNE COUNTY and his band THE ELECTRIC CHAIRS were a hit in the New York punk scene in the late 70's. After a sex change operation he/she emerged as JAYNE COUNTY.

COVEN - A coven is a group of witches. Their first album was called "Witchcraft- Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls". One side was a dramatization of a black mass. Their only hit was "One Tin Soldier", which was the theme song for the movie "Billy Jack".

CRACKER - Derogatory slang for white people.

CRACK THE SKY - They noticed a crack in the sky while driving through a rain storm outside New York.

CRACKOUT - Singer Steven Eagles was inspired by a TV show called "My Circle Of Life". A cool character on the show was Brian Crackout.

THE CRAMPS - The story is... Ivy was buzzed one night, trying to think of a name that somehow exhuded images of gangs, something warped, something problematic.. It came to her while staring at a Kinks album cover. CRAMPS! American slang for period pains. A legendary band was named. Source : "Wild Wild World of the Cramps" by Ian Johnston. This band is a HeaThen WoRLD favorite.

CRANBERRIES - The name started as "Cranberries Saw Us" (a stupid play off of "Cranberry Sauce"). When Dolores O'Riordan joined, she recommended shortening the name.

CRASH WORSHIP - Evel Knieval evidently coined the phrase to explain the behavior of people who love to watch daredevils crash.

CRASS - Summed up their opinion of the culture and governments around them. The "A" looked nifty turned into an anarchy sign as well. They released one single as Creative Recordings And Sound Services.

CREAM - Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker are great musicians with big egos. They considered themselves the "Cream of the crop".

CREED - A creed is a formal statement of religious belief; a confession of faith.

CREEDANCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL - Name inspired by a logo on Olympia beer cans. Their first label called them the GOLLIWOGS (without the band's permission).

THE CURE - They started in 1976 as THE EASY CURE . That was the name of a song written by original drummer Lol Tolhurst. Source : mostly the band's website

CURRENT 93 - David Tibet found CURRENT 93 in Aliester Crowley's writings (Crowley's name for Thelema). If you're not familiar with Crowley, you should be .. a HeaThen WoRLD favorite! Crowley has influenced plenty of people including Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne and Daryl Hall of Hall and Oats.

DADA - Named after the wacky and brilliant Dada art movement.

DANZIG - Danzig was a free City-State from after World War I until the Nazis envaded during World War II. The city is now called Gdansk and is in Poland. Glenn Danzig was in the MISFITS and SAMHAIN before creating the band DANZIG

DASH RIP ROCK - This zany Louisiana band was named after one of Ellie Maye's boyfriends in the Beverly Hillbillies.

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND - A couple similar stories : 1- a club owner mistakenly announced them as THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND and popularity made it hard to change the name later 2- a printer shortened "Dave Matthews and his band" to DAVE MATTHEWS BAND for an announcement. The band was going to think of a new name but never got around to it.

DAY-GLO ABORTIONS - They used to be called the SICK FUCKS until hearing about GG ALLIN'S band with the same name. A promoter gave them an entire case of "Day-Glo" brand spray paint to promote their next show with. The band decided their name would be DAY GLO + "whatever word was used the most in tomorrow's paper". The next day's paper had a huge story about a prominent doctor caught performing ABORTIONS.. The rest is history. Source = interview with a band member aired on the radio (1100 AM) in Pheonix, AZ, Halloween night 1999.

DEAD CAN DANCE - Brendan Perry was reportedly inspired by the idea of making "animacy out of inanimacy" .. such as making lively music out of the dead wood of instruments. This band is a Heathen World favorite.

DEATH IN JUNE - Named after a night in June when Hitler ordered the execution of Ernst Roehm, leader of the Nazi Brown Shirts. Roehm was one of Hitler's earliest supporters, but Hitler became annoyed by his open homosexuality and demands of more money for the Brown Shirts.

DEEP BLUE SOMETHING - Their original name LEPER MESSIAH attracted a heavy metal crowd, and the new name came out of a suggestion of a name "Deep Blue... something"

DEEP PURPLE - Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother liked the BING CROSBY's song "Deep Purple"

DEF LEPPARD - Joe Elliott came up with Deaf Leopard while in school and they decided on the unique spelling in 1975. Rumors about his inspiration include a drawing of a leopard with no ears, a drawing of a leopard with a hearing aid , etc. Source: Band's Official website

DEICIDE - The name means "death of God"

DEINE LAKAIEN - This German Darkwave band's name translates to "Your Lackeys"

DEPECHE MODE - Their name was taken from a French magazine. It translates to "Fast Fashion" or "News in Fashion"

DESTINY'S CHILD - They were originally DESTINY, but there are other bands with that name. They were inspired to add CHILD to the name after Beyonce's mother found a picture of the four girls in a family bible. The picture had "Child" written on it.

DEVO - Short for "de-evolution", which the bands thinks the human race is experiencing.

DEXIE'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS - A drug the band was reputedly fond of - Dexedrim.

D.I. - The band's publishing rights are under "Damned Immature". Many fans prefer "Doggy Intercourse". "Drunken Injuns" was another band.

DICKIES - Named after the luckily now obsolete fashion item.

DIE KREUZEN - Slight modification of "Die Kreuze", which is "TheCrosses" in German.

DIE TOTEN HOSEN - German for "dead trousers". This is German slang for either a lazy bastard, out of style or VERY bad in bed.

DIG DUG - named after the underground smash arcade hit, they were almost named Pole Position.

DIMMU BORGIR - This Norwegian black metal band's name means "black castle" in Icelandic. There is a mountain in Iceland called DIMMU BORGIR.

DINOSAUR JR. - They were DINOSAUR, but Robert Hunter, the lyricist for the GRATEFUL DEAD, already had a band called DINOSAUR.

DION AND THE BELMONTS - The BELMONTS named themselves after a street in their hometown, the Bronx.

DIRE STRAITS - It describes the financial situation they were in when forming the band.

DISHWALLA - A term for people who sell satellite dishes on the black market in India. Rumor has it they were earlier called LIFE TALKING and DISH.

DJUR DJURA - This amazing singer and group of musicians are named after Mount Djurdjura near the singer's birthplace in Algeria.

DMX - Earl Simmons called himself DMX, or the "Divine Master of the Unknown" and included that in his first single "Born Losers" in 1992. He also goes by "Dark Man X".

DOA - Dead On Arrival.

THOMAS DOLBY - His real name is Thomas Morgan Robertson .. Dolby Labs (who make Dolby Noise Reduction) sued him and now he has to always use THOMAS when he uses DOLBY.

DOOBIE BROTHERS - Doobie is slang for marijuana joint. Their first name was PUD (no kidding!). People like to point out that "always be a DO-Bee" was a staple phrase in the 70's children's show Romper Room.

DOORS - From a William Blake quote "If the doors of perception were to be cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite". The Aldus Huxley's novel "The Doors of Perception" was probably also inspired by the same quote. Before the DOORS.. Robbie Krieger and John Densmore were the PSYCHEDELIC RANGERS.. Ray Manzarek started a band called RICK AND THE RAVENS with his two brothers. Morrison and Densmore later joined RICK AND THE RAVENS.. Krieger joined after they called themselves the DOORS.

DOPPELGANGER - Inspired by a CURVE record called "Doppelganger".. the German word roughly translates to "alter-ego" or "body double". Source = interview in MK ULTRA magazine (no rel;ation to the band with the same name) 1999.

DR. DRE - His name is "Andre" and people started calling him that in his early DJ days. He was also a fan of basketball star Dr. J.

DRAIN S.T.H. - This Swedish band was DRAIN until realizing there was already a DRAIN in the USA. STH stands for "Stockholm International Airport". "Slam Those Heinikens" and "Straight To Hell" are fun, but wrong.

DREAM THEATER - They originally met in Boston and called themselves MAJESTY. That had to change because of another band with the same name. Mike's father suggested the name DREAM THEATER as taken from a movie house in Monterey, California. - Source = www.dreamtheater.net

They had to drop their original name "Majesty" due to copyright problems and named themselves after a theater in their LA neighborhood.

DREAM SYNDICATE - named indirectly after an avant garde combo which include Lamonte Young and John Cale.

D.R.I. - "Dirty Rotten Imbeciles" .. this fast as hell punk band has been alive and kicking since about 1981.

DROWNING POOL - Stevie Benton realized that while he lost his virginity the movie "The Drowning Pool" was playing in the background. Source : band's official website.

DRU HILL - The band is from Baltimore. DRU HILL was the local nickname for "Druid Hill Park" in West Baltimore. Source : numerous stories found on the web.

DURAN DURAN - A villan in the 1967 movie "Barbarella".

DURUTTI COLUMN - A Spanish Civil War brigade led by libertarian anarchist Buenaventura Durruti.

BOB DYLAN - His real name Robert Zimmerman was too long and he was a big fan of Dylan Thomas.

THE EAGLES - Their first name was TEEN KING AND THE EMERGENCIES. There are a couple stories past that 1- they were inspired by the BYRDS, who were a big influence. 2- They all wanted an American sounding name, Henley wanted something Native American and Frey just wanted a kick-ass band name..

EBBA GRÖN - Joakim Thastrom started this popular Swedish punk band in 1977. The band broke up in 1983. EBBA GRÖN was the codename for an operation that resulted in the arrest of terrorist Norbet Kröcher.

EBM - "Electric Body Music". This is not a band. It's a style of music. FRONT 242 thought up the term. It refers to the heavy synth sound of bands like FRONT 242, SKINNY PUPPY, FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, etc.

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - They stuck BUNNYMEN in there to keep from taking themselves too seriously. There are conflicting stories about ECHO.. 1- Official story is that ECHO was the brand of drum machine used in their early demos. 2- there is no such drum machine and they just made up ECHO

ED GEIN'S CAR - Named after the famous serial killer/cannibal farmer from Wisconsin. Ed Gein's car was on display at Wisconsin State Fairs for a few years in the 50's after he was caught.

EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN - Translates to "collapsing new buildings".

EL DUCE - This lovably offensive wino drummer forTHE MENTORS borrowed Mussolini's nickname. Both EL DUCEs are now dead.

ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB - There were a few "Hellfire Clubs" throughout history. They were decadent, blasphemous social clubs intent on amusing themselves and scandalizing everyone else.

ELTON JOHN - His real name is Reginald Dwight. He took the stage name from two other British musicians, Elton Dean and John Baldry.

ELVÉZ - El Vez is a crazy Latino guy from Los Angeles who claims to be the "Mexican Elvis". ELVÉZ is "Elvis" with a Mexican twist. ELVÉZ is a HeaThen WoRLD favorite. If you get a chance to see him live, do it.

ELVIS AND THE SHITHEADS - I don't know how this name came about. Their music sucks, but the website is kind of funny - click their name to check it out.

ELVIS HITLER - Same idea as Marilyn Manson.. combine two famous people with very different reputations for shock value.

EMINEM - His name is Marshall Mathers, the initials are M&M.. so he spelled it EMINEM (pronounced M&M)

EPMD - acronym for "Eric and Parish Making Dollars"

ERNIE'S RUBBER DUCKIE - Inspired by the Sesame Street character Ernie.

EMF - acronym for "Epsom Mad Funkers". The rumoured "Ectasy Mother Fuckers" is funny, but wrong.

EPITAPH RECORDS - Epitaph fit the tombstone logo used on the first BAD RELIGION ep.

EPPERLEY - They were the BUGS until copyright problems prompted a name change.. EPPERLEY is a friend's last name (his father is a classical composer)

EPPU NORMAALI - This Finnish band was inspired by a scene in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. Igor steals a brain for Frankenstein's creature labelled "Abnormal". Igor thought the guy's name was "Abbey Normal". "Eppu Normaali" is Abbey Normal translated into Finnish.

EURYTHMICS - a system of music instruction from the 1890s that emphasizes physical response.

EVE 6 - An episode of X-Files featured 10 clones of a girl named Eve. The 6th clone was a crazy psycho, hence EVE 6.

EVERCLEAR - Named after "Everclear" brand grain alcohol. At 190 Proof (95%) alcohol, this is the strongest legal alcohol available in the United States.

EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL - Inspired by a sign in a local furniture store that read "for your bedroom needs, we sell everything but the girl."

EVE'S PLUMB - One of the band members was friends with Eve Plumb, who played Jan on THE BRADY BUNCH.

EXTREME - They were originally DREAM, but someone was using the name. While thinking of something like ex-Dream, EXTREME came up.

EYELESS IN GAZA - An Aldous Huxley Novel. Also, Samson's eyes were burned out when he was held captive in Gaza in the legend of Samson and Delhia.

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