Mr. Write's Page

Friends, I am no highbrow intellectual, no scholarly sophisticate.

Sure, I appreciate fine art and weighty science. I like galleries and museums. I subscribe to National Geographic.

But I also enjoy the humor, irony, and silliness that we as a society spontaneously generate. I have a special fondness for the low end of the spectrum — politics, popular culture, crude jokes.

For example, I’ve always appreciated the creative names that music groups adopt in their quest for stardom. Band names can be clever, philosophical, funny, irreverent, descriptive, and more. What’s not to like?

With the help of the Google, I assembled a list of band names that I think are downright awesome — regardless of, or in spite of, the quality of the music.

I divided the list into two groups: (1) the more successful, bigger-name bands; and (2) bands that are barely known and probably going nowhere, but have excellent names nonetheless.

Here is the first group, the A-List bands…

AC/DC — When their sister saw the abbreviation of “alternating current/direct current” on a sewing machine, the Young brothers knew it symbolized the driving energy of their music. Never mind that AC/DC also means bisexual.
Average White Band — A name given to the band by music scene insider Bonnie Bramlett, the first white backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner. Bramlett is famous for decking Elvis Costello after he used a racial slur.
Bad Livers — An “acoustic metal bluegrass”  band from Austin, Texas.
Barenaked Ladies — A rock band from Toronto noted for humor and improvisation.
The Beatles — A classic band name that’s hard to beat. Hey, that’s a pun!
Blue Öyster Cult — Taken from a poem written by their manager in which aliens are secretly guiding Earth’s history. The umlaut, added on a whim, was later copied by Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, and Queensrÿche.
Butthole Surfers — That was the name of one of their early songs. They adopted it as their name in 1984, after a concert announcer got them confused with the song.
Camper Van Beethoven — Originally “Camper Van Beethoven & the Border Patrol.”
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Tom Fogerty had a friend named Credence. The “clear water” came from an Olympia Beer commercial.
Depeche Mode — A French fashion magazine. It roughly means “fashion update.”
Dire Straits — A name suggested by the drummer’s roommate.
Duran Duran — From a character in the film “Barbarella,” Dr. Durand Durand.
Fine Young Cannibals — Named for the 1960 film “All the Fine Young Cannibals.”
Flesh for Lulu — The band claims they got it from the title of an old horror movie, but I couldn’t find it online.
Grateful Dead — The term used when the soul of a dead person shows gratitude to someone who arranged their burial in an act of charity.
INXS — INXS (“in excess”) was dreamed up because the guys liked the name of the English band XTC (“ecstasy”).

The Jesus and Mary Chain — Inspired by a coupon on a cereal box. You sent off the coupon to get a gold chain depicting Jesus & Mary.
Judas Priest — From Bob Dylan’s song “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest.”
L7 — Supposedly comes from a 1950s slang term meaning “square.” Expressed by using your hands to form the letter L and the number 7 with fingertips touching. L7 probably has a naughty connotation, too, but I’m too square to know for sure.
Led Zeppelin — Early detractors predicted the band would fall like a lead balloon.
Lynyrd Skynyrd — Named after their high school PE teacher, Leonard Skinner.
Megadeth — After he was fired from Metallica, guitarist Dave Mustaine found a political pamphlet on the floor of a bus. It read, “The arsenal of megadeath can’t be rid, no matter what the peace treaties come to.”
Modest Mouse — From a line by Virginia Woolf about “modest, mouse-colored people.”
Motörhead — That was the name of the last song the Motörhead founder wrote for his previous band before they dumped him. (Also see Blue Öyster Cult.)
Mott the Hoople — The title of a novel by Willard Manus about a misfit (Mott) who resists becoming an ordinary working stiff (a Hoople).

Nine Inch Nails — Trent Reznor said the name has no significance. It just sounded good and “abbreviated easily.”
Pink Floyd — From the names of blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.
R.E.M. — The stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement.
7 Mary 3 — One of the radio call signs in the old TV cop show “CHiPs.”
Sonic Youth — Named for musicians “Sonic” Smith and “Big Youth” Gordon.
Soul Coughing — The lead singer began as a slam poet, which might explain how they ended up with a name like that.

Southern Culture on the Skids — Known for throwing fried chicken and banana pudding into the audience.
Spinal Tap — Yes, they’re a parody of a rock band, but it’s a great band name.
Spooky Tooth — Originally, the band was known as “Art.” After their second album “Spooky Two” was surprisingly successful, they changed their name.
Steely Dan — A mechanical device from “Naked Lunch” by William S.  Burroughs.
The Stone Poneys — Taken from the title of a 1929 song “The Stone Pony Blues.” I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but “stone pony” is a slang term for a toilet.
Stone Temple Pilots — As kids, the band members liked STP Motor Oil stickers. They kicked around various “STP” combinations and settled on Stone Temple Pilots.
Supertramp — From “Autobiography of a Super-Tramp” by W. H. Davies, 1908.
Talking Heads — A television term that describes people speaking on camera in head-and-shoulders close-ups.

10,000 Maniacs — From the low-budget horror movie “Two Thousand Maniacs!”
Thin Lizzy — “Tin Lizzie” is a nickname for a Ford Motel T. Also the name of a robot in a comic book read by the band’s guitarist. They changed “tin” to “thin” for kicks.
Three Dog Night — Founded in 1968 and still performing. The name comes from an aboriginal Australian saying that an extra-cold night requires three dogs in the bed.
Toad the Wet Sprocket — Made up to be as nonsensical as possible.
The Tragically Hip — The term came from “Elephant Parts,” a 1981 collection of videos and skits by Michael Nesmith, formerly of The Monkees.
The Velvet Underground — The name of a 1963 book by Michael Lee about orgies and stuff in New York subculture.
Violent Femmes — As the band was forming, guitarist Brian Ritchie, trying to impress the others, falsely bragged that his brother also was in a band. When asked which one, he made up the name Violent Femmes. They promptly adopted it.

Seeing as how this is my list, I feel free to name my favorites.

The best band name of all time is Toad the Wet Sprocket. That’s just the way it is. Not far behind: The Beatles, Steely Dan, and The Stone Poneys.

In my next post, the list of not-so-famous bands with great names.