Quoting:
Spandau Ballet were named after a German War Camp.
End Quote

Sorry to stray off topic but...
That brings up an interesting thought. Spandau was actually a prison built by the Allies after WWII and from 1966 to 1987 Rudolph Hess was the only prisoner there. My father was a guard there right after the war ended!

Quoting:
According to the same reliable source, Dexy's Midnight Runners was another name for 'uppers' (type of drug).
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Dexedrine.  If you take Dexedrine you'll be up and "running" at "midnight"!

Quoting:
Pet shop boys name is clouded in controversy as well . . .
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They had friends who worked in a pet shop, they were the original "pet shop boys."  The controversy to which you are referring is the stuff (no pun intended) of urban legends.  PSB were gay, and there were wild stories in the '80s about an alleged fetish among certain gay men, so....

The Communards took their name from the 1871 French Commune.  I forgot who the original "Bronski" was.

Psychedelic Furs chose word "psychedelic" because the psychedelic hippie thing was sooo despised among their punk compatriots, and what's more punk than being contrarian?  They wanted a euphonious with psychedelic.  The chose "furs."

The Fixx were originally "The Fix," but they added an extra 'X' to eschew the drug reference.  What is a "fixx" anyway?

A Flock of Seagulls was inspired by Richard Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Mike Score also said there's part of a Stranglers song (I can't remember which) in which Hugh Cornwell shouts "A flock of seagulls"!  Score was a big fan of The Stranglers.

Icicle Workstook their name from Frederick Pohl's 1960 sci-fi novel The Day The Icicle Works Closed.

Tears For Fearstook their name from a concept developed by Dr. Arthur Janov, pioneer of so-called Primal Scream therapy,* "tears as a replacement for fears."

Elvis Costello paid homage to Elvis Presley with his first name, and to Lou Costello, of the the legendary comedy duo Abbott & Costello.  His real name, as you know, is Declan McManus.  Folks were pretty sore at him because it was 1977, and The King had just died.  EC had a big mouth and a bad attitude in his early days!

Culture Club took their name from the fact that they all came from different "cultures."  Boy George's family, the O'Dowds are Irish, John Moss is Jewish, Michael Craig is West Indian, and Roy Hay is a nice English boy.

Boy George called himself boy to clear up the confusion.  No joke.

Kajagoogoo is a nonsense word. Nick Beggs didn't want a serious name, so he thought of something a baby would say, "goo-gaga-googoo."  He liked it but, wanted something more "casual."  I think their hometown is called Leyton-Buzzard!

Yazoo took their name from the great and venerated blues label "Yazoo," which in turn took its name from the Yazoo River, deep in Mississippi.  There's also Yazoo City.  They truncated the name to "Yaz" for their U.S. releases in deference to an American soul group already using the name.

And I got more...

ZED:
Thanks for mentioning The Residents, my man!!  I was just telling that story to a friend of mine the other night.  However, I've always heard it like this:
The band sent their demo tape with no name on the tape, and no name on the return address.  The label said, thanks but no thanks, and returned it, but without a name anywhere, they just addressed it to "The Residents."
My favorite band The Legendary Pink Dots took their name from the pink dots drawn on the keys of a piano in a room where they used to practice.  Nobody knew who drew the dots, so someone suggested they were "legendary."

Quoting:They had friends who worked in a pet shop, they were the original "pet shop boys."  The controversy to which you are referring is the stuff (no pun intended) of urban legends.  PSB were gay, and there were wild stories in the '80s about an alleged fetish among certain gay men, so....
End Quote

Oh so the controversy had no fact in it? I heard hamsters were involved (I'm not going to continue lol).

Quoting:The Communards took their name from the 1871 French Commune.  I forgot who the original "Bronski" was
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I think the original was Steve Bronski from Bronski Beat.

Some great information there Maxwell, I knew I could depend on you.

Quoting:
http://www.songfacts.com/

Good site to find out about song meanings and info on bands/singers.

berk
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What a great link. Thanks for that, Berkley.  :)

Quoting:


What a great link. Thanks for that, Berkley.  :)
End Quote

No problem.  Once I start snooping around that site I get lost in it and can't stop!!

berk

Quoting:


Oh so the controversy had no fact in it? I heard hamsters were involved (I'm not going to continue lol).



I think the original was Steve Bronski from Bronski Beat.

Some great information there Maxwell, I knew I could depend on you.
End Quote

Careful what you wish for there, bud!
:o
Actually, I believe the whole "hamstering" phenomenon was an urban legend.  Something that was also rumored about Richard Gere, also bogus.  I'm sure somebody somewhere did it, but I can't imagine it was commonplace anytime or anywhere!

Quoting:
Careful what you wish for there, bud!
:o
Actually, I believe the whole "hamstering" phenomenon was an urban legend.  Something that was also rumored about Richard Gere, also bogus.  I'm sure somebody somewhere did it, but I can't imagine it was commonplace anytime or anywhere!
End Quote

Lol. I thought the whole thing was far-fetched.

Some more . . .

'Fine Young Cannibals' named themselves after a movie called 'All the fine young cannibals'. It was made in 1960 and starred Robert Wagner.

'Mungo Jerry' named themselves after a cat called Mungojerri from a TS Elliot book. The group realised it was spelt incorrectly afterwards.

Black Lace named themselves after pornographic novels called 'Black Lace'.

Quoting:


Lol. I thought the whole thing was far-fetched.

Some more . . .

'Fine Young Cannibals' named themselves after a movie called 'All the fine young cannibals'. It was made in 1960 and starred Robert Wagner.
End Quote

Don't forget They Might Be Giants, named after the movie, "They Might Be Giants," (1971), with George C. Scott & Joanne Woodward

Quoting:
the band joy division borrowed their name from the second world war. joy divisions were certain barracks in concentration camps that housed prostitutes to satisfy the nazi guards.
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I believe the name "Joy Division" comes from a novel about the concentration camps, and there were no camp brothels really called "Joy Divisions."  STILL, it's a great name nonetheless.

Quoting:

Careful what you wish for there, bud!
:o
Actually, I believe the whole "hamstering" phenomenon was an urban legend.  Something that was also rumored about Richard Gere, also bogus.  I'm sure somebody somewhere did it, but I can't imagine it was commonplace anytime or anywhere!
End Quote

A few years ago I was off work sick for a few days and I was watching a daytime TV show from my bed. Richard Gere was a guest on the show that was being broadcast from Harrods, the famous store in London. Mohammed Fayed, the owner of Harrods, was sitting next to Richard Gere and he (Fayed) was extolling the virtues of his shop.

"...and of course we have a marvellous pet department where our friends from Hollywood can always get their hands on a hamster!" he joked.

Richard Gere's face was like thunder but he didn't reply!

Quoting:
Don't forget They Might Be Giants, named after the movie, "They Might Be Giants," (1971), with George C. Scott & Joanne Woodward
End Quote

Ah! I've seen that film. That is the one where Scott plays a delusional man who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes - Very good film!

The title is a reference to the novel Don Quixote where the hero is scared of windmills.

Quoting:
Adam Ant got his name from Adam, the first man. Not too conceited, right? ;)

Anyways, the Ant part he got because of the Beatles. He figured they were succesful after naming themselves after a type of insect. There are a lot of explanations behind the Ant part actually.I thought he got his name from Atom Ant,the cartoon character.You know---"up and at em,Atom Ant"Cheers!


Rio
End Quote

:o :o

Quoting:

:o :o
End Quote

I just recently got my Antbox CD and Adam Ant himself explains how he got the name the Ants. I don't have the book with me right now so I'll just summarize it.

Back when he was still looking for musicians, a kid came in auditioning to be guitar player.

Adam suspected this kid was on something because he was acting so spacey. The audition was taking place on the roof of Adams flat, I believe. and the would be guitarist looked down and noted how the people looked like ants from way up there.

Needless to say, this kid didn't get into the band, but the idea of ants did, because Adam liked it enough, it stuck.

Well, thats the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me.

Rio

Quoting:

I believe the name "Joy Division" comes from a novel about the concentration camps, and there were no camp brothels really called "Joy Divisions."  STILL, it's a great name nonetheless.
End Quote

how true. i heard the concentration camp explanation years ago but i did an internet search and found out the novels name and author.the house of dolls by karol cetinsky.

Quoting:
Anybody know the story behind REM?

Howard
End Quote

I explained this in an earlier post. I said:

Quoting:R.E.M. got their name from the dictionary. They chose it because, even though it means "rapid eye movement" (the state at which you begin to dream when you're sleeping), it could mean whatever you wanted it to.End Quote

:D

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:


I explained this in an earlier post. I said:


:D

Absolutely Vile

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Oh,I'm sorry.I didn't see that. :)


Howard

Quoting:
What's the story behind Earth,Wind And Fire? ;D


Howard
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The singer, I think, wanted a name based on his fire signs (or the group's...I don't remember). Since "Earth, Air and Fire" didn't quite sound good enough, he went for the next logical substitute for air: Wind. :)

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:


The singer, I think, wanted a name based on his fire signs (or the group's...I don't remember). Since "Earth, Air and Fire" didn't quite sound good enough, he went for the next logical substitute for air: Wind. :)

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

That's pretty good.Do you know stories behind Doo-Wop Groups? ??? :D


Howard

Quoting:


That's pretty good.Do you know stories behind Doo-Wop Groups? ??? :D


Howard
End Quote

Nope, sorry. I only knew about Earth, Wind & Fire from seeing something on Pop-Up Video. :D

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:


Nope, sorry. I only knew about Earth, Wind & Fire from seeing something on Pop-Up Video. :D

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

you don't like Doo-Wop? ??? if not, what was the story of the group "M"? ;D


Howard

Quoting:
Anybody know the story behind REM?

Howard
End Quote

REM = rapid eye movement
the difference is you pronounce the sleep phenomenon phonetically, but you sound out the letters to the band's name, R-E-M.

Gis wrote

Quoting:
Bono from U2 got his name because he used to hang out buy a shop in Dublin called Bono Vox. I 've been there and have a picture of it too !
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Whereas the Latin word meaning good or great rhymes with Yoko Ono.  The U2 singer's stage name is the only Bono I know of that rhymes with Mono.  How did that get started.  I did not know he hung out at a shop called "Bono Vox."  Good thing he didn't hang out at Fred's Pub.  Imagine--Larry Mullins, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Fred.

Howard wrote:

Quoting:
What was the story behind Mr.Mister?End Quote

Mister Mister? Who cares, who cares? ;D

Quoting:
Do you know the story about Glass Tiger?


Howard
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I know they hailed from Newmarket, Ontario and their singer, Alan Frew, is from Scotland. They were huge in Canada. :)

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:


I know they hailed from Newmarket, Ontario and their singer, Alan Frew, is from Scotland. They were huge in Canada. :)

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

the story about disco group Blondie? :D


Howard

Quoting:



the story about disco group Blondie? :D


Howard
End Quote

They were all fans of Chic Young.  They first called themselves Bumstead.  Sales were poor.  They changed the name to Blondie, and the rest is history! :D

Quoting:

They were all fans of Chic Young.  They first called themselves Bumstead.  Sales were poor.  They changed the name to Blondie, and the rest is history! :D
End Quote

I heard they got the name "Blondie" from cat calls that Debbie Harry would get from construction workers: "Hey Blondie!" That was from something I'd seen on MuchMoreMusic...:)

Absolutely Vile

Quoting:
Adam Ant got his name from Adam, the first man. Not too conceited, right? ;) End Quote

There was also a 1960s TV show in the UK called "Adam Adamant Lives". It was about a sort of Victorian or Edwardian superhero who comes back to life in the modern day...

Now available on DVD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056N5W/qid%3D1079727517/202-9397689-2139048

best wishes
Huw

Quoting:


I heard they got the name "Blondie" from cat calls that Debbie Harry would get from construction workers: "Hey Blondie!" That was from something I'd seen on MuchMoreMusic...:)

Absolutely Vile
End Quote

Yes, that's the true story.  I was trying to make a joke, but it turned out pretty poor!
:-[

Quoting:

There was also a 1960s TV show in the UK called "Adam Adamant Lives". It was about a sort of Victorian or Edwardian superhero who comes back to life in the modern day...

Now available on DVD: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056N5W/qid%3D1079727517/202-9397689-2139048

best wishes
Huw
End Quote

Yeah, but that wasn't the source of his name though :-/, I read in Antbook about how Adam got his name, and he never mentioned a cartoon.

It's funny though, I saw on the AmIright page for band name origins for Adam Ant, someone thought that he got his name from the cartoon  "Atom Ant".  I can't win. :D

I'm not trying to sound fussy, or B!&#@y, Huw, don't think that ;), I'm just a stickler for the facts.

Rio

Quoting:


Yeah, but that wasn't the source of his name though :-/, I read in Antbook about how Adam got his name, and he never mentioned a cartoon.End Quote

Adam Adamant wasn't a cartoon. It was an action adventure series which featured a very dandified hero from the Edwardian period. It was such a hugely popular TV series in the UK (at just the time when Adam was growing up) that I find it impossible to believe that the name doesn't come from there. It would be the level of coincidence of someone deciding to call themselves Steven Startrek and then denying that the idea might have come from a TV series with a similar name...  :)

all the best
Huw