The origin of band names
I don't know how accurate this is, but it does make for entertaining reading.
- 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." - 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.
- Goo Goo Dolls - Their label rejected their first name, THE SEX MAGGOTS. They were drunkenly looking through "True Detective" magazine and saw an ad on the back page for a "Goo Goo Doll". It was a doll head that you put your finger in to change it's expression.
- GWAR - Some rumors: "Gay Women Against Rape" (taken from Dave Gibbon's novel The Watchmen), "God What an Awful Racket", "Gods of War", etc.. A band member on the Jerry Springer Show said they were inspired by the "GWWAAAR" sound that monsters make in movies.
- Hole - Courtney's mom used to tell her "you can't go around with a hole in your head, just because you had a bad childhood"[clearly she didn't get the message --ed]
- MC 900 ft. Jesus - Inspired by the 900 foot tall Jesus Oral Roberts claims he saw in Oklahoma. The 900 foot Jesus told Oral Roberts he needed a few million dollars to continue his ministry and some rich sucker gave it to him.
- Nickelback - The bass player used to work at Starbucks coffee and spent many days saying "here's your nickel back."
- The Pogues - Shortened from "Pogue Mahone", which is a distorted version of Póg Mo hÓn, which is Irish Gaelic for "kiss my ass"
- Rush - Two stories: 1- They named themselves after a product called "Rush" that was popular in head shops in the 70's. "Rush" was similar to "poppers" and gave a quick head rush. 2- They were rushing to think up a name before their first gig, and John Rusty's older brother yelled, "Why don't you call your band RUSH?". -- A silly Christian rumor says the band name means "Ruled Under Satan's Hand".
- Spandau Ballet - This was a Nazi guard term for the contortions of Jewish prisoners being gassed to death. There was a large gas chamber in the city of Spandau.
Thanks to Shahin for the tip.
Posted by Casper at January 29, 2005 04:51 PM
