THE ORIGIN OF GROUPS & ARTISTS NAMES

The origin of Band names and artists names or pseudonyms.

1) Named after musicians & bands:

DAVE BERRY (named after his hero, Chuck Berry)

ELVIS COSTELLO (after Elvis Presley)

HOLLIES, THE (after Buddy Holly)

ELTON JOHN (after Elton Dean & Long John Baldry)

RALPH McTELL (after blues musician Blind Willie McTell)

PINK FLOYD (after blues musicians Pink Anderson & Floyd Council)

RAMONES (after Paul MacCartney's pseudonym during his Silver Beetles days, Paul Ramon)

ZZ TOP (after bluesman ZZ Hill)

2) Named after songs (titles or lyrics):

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS (lyrics from the song Toiler On The Sea - THE STRANGLERS, 1978)

BOYS DON'T CRY (I'm Not In Love-10cc, 1975 / "big boys don't cry")

CANNED HEAT (Canned Heat Blues-TOMMY JOHNSON, 1928)

COCTEAU TWINS, THE (Cocteau Twins-JOHNNY & THE SELF ABUSERS, 1977 / later recorded by their successors SIMPLE MINDS as "No Cure" in 1979)
DEINE LAKAIEN (Die Genaue Zeit-EINSTURTZENDE NEUBAUTEN, 1983 / auch Lakaien haben taktgefuehl)

DEACON BLUE (Deacon Blues-STEELY DAN, 1978)

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE (Death Cab For Cutie-THE BONZO DOG DOO-DAH BAND, 1967)

DEEE-LITE (It's De-Lovely-ELLA FITZGERALD [COLE PORTER], 1956 / "it's de-lightful")

DEEP PURPLE (Deep Purple-NINO TEMPO & APRIL STEVENS, 1963)

FELT (Venus [De Milo]-TELEVISION, 1977 / how I felt)

GODSMACK (God Smack-ALICE IN CHAINS, 1992)

GOLDEN EARRING (Golden Earrings-BRENDA LEE, 1947)

JET (Jet-PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS, 1974)

JUDAS PRIEST (The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest, 1967)

LADYTRON (Ladytron-ROXY MUSIC, 1972)

LIGHTNING SEEDS, THE (Raspberry Beret-PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION, 1985 / misheard lyrics: "The thunder drowns what the lightning sees")
LILAC TIME, THE (from a line in Nick Drake's song ''River Man'')

LOVIN' SPOONFUL, THE (Coffee Blues-MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT, 1963 / I wanna see my baby 'bout a lovin' spoonful)

LUKA BLOOM (Luka-SUZANNE VEGA, 1987)

MADNESS (Madness-PRINCE BUSTER, 1963)

MOTORHEAD (Motorhead-HAWKWIND, 1975)

NAZARETH (The Weight-THE BAND, 1968 / I pulled into Nazareth)

PRETENDERS, THE (The Great Pretender-THE PLATTERS, 1955)

PRETTY THINGS (Pretty Thing-BO DIDDLEY, 1955)

RADIOHEAD (Radio Head-TALKING HEADS, 1986)

RAINING PLEASURE (Raining Pleasure-THE TRIFFIDS, 1988)

RIGHT SAID FRED (Right Said Fred-BERNARD CRIBBINS, 1962)

ROLLING STONES, THE (Rollin' Stone-MUDDY WATERS, 1948)

ROXETTE (Roxette-DR. FEELGOOD, 1974)

SEETHER (Seether-VERUCA LAKE, 1994)

SIMPLE MINDS (The Jean Genie-DAVID BOWIE, 1972 / "so simple minded")

SISTERS OF MERCY, THE (Sisters Of Mercy-LEONARD COHEN, 1967)

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (Stiff Little Fingers-THE VIBRATORS, 1977)

TRANS X (Trans Europa Express-KRAFTWERK, 1977)

URGE OVERKILL (Funkentelechy-PARLIAMENT, 1977 / ideas brought to you by the makers of Mr. Prolong, better known as Urge Overkill)

WATERBOYS, THE (The Kids-LOU REED, 1973 / "I am the water boy")

WET WET WET (Gettin' Havin' & Holdin'-SCRITTI POLITTI, 1982 / wet, wet with tears)

also:

STARSAILOR (named after Tim Buckley's album Starsailor, 1970)

3a) Named after movies:

A MAN CALLED ADAM (A Man Called Adam, 1966)

ALL ABOUT EVE (All About Eve, 1950)

ALPHAVILLE (Alphaville, Une Etrange Aventure De Lemmy Caution, 1965)

BAD COMPANY (Bad Company, 1972)

BANDOLERO (Bandolero! 1968)

BELINDA CARLISLE (named after her mother's favorite movie, Johnny Belinda, 1948)

BLACK SABBATH (Black Sabbath, 1963)

CINDERELLA (porn movie Sinderella, 1972)

DANNY WILSON (Meet Danny Wilson, 1951)

FANTASTIC SOMETHING (It Came From Outer Space, 1953 / "that fantastic something")

FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS (All The Fine Young Cannibals, 1960)

GAZEBO (The Gazebo, 1959)

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 1976)

JOHN PAUL JONES bassist of LED ZEPPELIN (John Paul Jones, 1959)

KANE GANG (Citizen Kane, 1941)
KINGS GO FORTH (Kings Go Forth, 1958)

MINDBENDERS, THE / WAYNE FONTANA (The Mind Benders, 1963)

MUDHONEY (Mudhoney, 1965)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (My Bloody Valentine, 1981)

NIAGARA (Niagara, 1953)

BILLY OCEAN (Ocean's Eleven, 1960)

? (QUESTION MARK) & THE MYSTERIANS (The Mysterians, 1957)

SAM THE SHAM & THE PHARAOHS (inspired by Pharaoh Rameses (Yul Brynner) in The Ten Commandments, 1956)

SPIRAL STARECASE (Spiral Staircase, 1945)

SWING OUT SISTER (Swing Out, Sister, 1945)

10.000 MANIACS (Two Thousand Maniacs! 1964)

TEXAS (Paris, Texas, 1984)

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (They Might Be Giants, 1971)

TIME BANDITS (Time Bandits, 1981)

TRIFFIDS, THE (The Day Of The Triffids, 1962)

VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE (Spanish movie Spirit Of The Beehive, 1973)

WATERFRONT (On The Waterfront, 1950)

WESTWORLD (Westworld, 1973)

WHITE ZOMBIE (White Zombie, 1932)

WU TANG CLAN (Shaolin & Wu Tang, 1981)

3b) Named after movie characters:

ANTHONY ADVERSE (Julia Gilbert named her project after the main character played by Fredric March in Anthony Adverse, 1936)

CLOUSEAU (Belgian band named after Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther, 1963)

DURAN DURAN (from the character played by Milo O'Shea in Barbarella, 1968)

FOXY BROWN (from the main character played by Pam Grier in the homonymous movie in 1974)
ROONEY (from the character Ed Rooney in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"

TOM JONES (from the main character played by Albert Finney in Tom Jones, 1963)

VIKTOR LAZLO (from the character played by Paul Henreid in Casablanca, 1942)

TRAVIS (from the character played by Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas, 1984)

and

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB (from the gang in The Wild One, 1953)

FRATELLIS, THE (from the criminal family in The Goonies, 1985)

HOUSE OF PAIN (from the torture room in The Island Of Doctor Moreau, 1996 / based on the novel by H.G. Wells)

IRON MAIDEN (from a torture device in The Man In The Iron Mask, 1977)

KLAATU (from the line "Klaatu Barada Nikto" in the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still, 1951)

also (from TV sereis)

T'PAU (a Vulcan high priestess played by Celia Lovsky)

4) Named after books (plays, novels, poems etc.):

BIRTHDAY PARTY, THE (The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, 1958)

BLUE NILE (The Blue Nile by Alan Moorehead, 1962)

BOO RADLEYS, THE (after a character in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960)

DIVINE COMEDY (The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri)

DOORS, THE (The Doors Of Perception by Aldous Huxley, 1954)

ELOY (a human race in The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, 1895)

EYELESS IN GAZA (Eyeless In Gaza by Aldous Huxley, 1936)

FALL, THE (The Fall by Albert Camus, 1956)

GENERATION X (Generation X by Charles Hamblett & Jane Everson, 1965)

GO-BETWEENS, THE (The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley, 1953)

HEAVEN 17 (a fictional band in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1962)

HOUSE OF LOVE, THE (novel A Spy In The House Of Love by Anais Nin, 1954)

ICICLE WORKS, THE (short story "The Day The Icicle Works Closed" by Frederic Pohl, 1959)

JOY DIVISION (prostitution wing in a nazi concentration camp / The House Of Dolls by Yehiel De-Nur, 1955)

LEVEL 42 (the computer's answer to "the meaning of life" in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1979)
MAGNETIC FIELDS, THE (Les Champs Magnetics by Andre Breton, 1920)

MARILLION (The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1977)

MOBY (novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, 1851)

MOLOKO (the word for milk in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1962)

MOTT THE HOOPLE (Mott The Hoople by Willard Manus, 1967)

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE (Ecstacy: Three Tales Of Chemical Romance by Irvine Welsh, 1996)

PERE UBU (the protagonist of the play Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, 1896)

PRIMAL SCREAM, THE (The Primal Scream by psychiatrist Arthur Janov, 1970)

SAVAGE GARDEN (The Vampire Chronicles: The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, 1985 / "The mind of each man is a Savage Garden")

SOFT MACHINE (novel The Soft Machine by William S. Burroughs, 1961)

STEELY DAN (a giant dildo in the novel The Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, 1959)

STEPPENWOLF (novel Der Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, 1927)

SUPERTRAMP (The Autobiography Of A Super-Tramp by William Henry Davies, 1908)

JOEY TEMPEST, singer of EUROPE (drama The Tempest by William Shakespeare, 1611)

URIAH HEEP (a character in the famous novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, 1850)

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (The Velvet Underground by Michael Leigh, 1963)

5) Named after cartoons

ARCHIES, THE (The Archie Show)

BELLE & SEBASTIAN (French anime TV series)

HALO JAMES (named after the main character of The Ballad Of Halo Jones)
TOPPER HEADON (drummer of The Clash, named after the comic book "The Topper")

LOIS LANE (Superman's girlfriend)

LOVE & ROCKETS (a b&w comic book)

MAGIC DE SPELL (Hellenic rock band named after the sorceress)

PEBBLES (Perri McKissack nick-named herself after Baby Flintstone)

THOMPSON TWINS (the 2 detectives in TinTin)

6) Named after actors

BARDOT (Australian girl group named after Brigitte Bardot)

GABIN (Italian band named after Jean Gabin)

HEPBURN (British girl group named after Audrey Hepburn)

MARILYN MANSON (Marilyn Monroe & Charles Manson)

7) Named after artists (painters)

DANDY WARHOLS (after US artist Andy Warhol)

FRA LIPPO LIPPI (after Italian painter Fra Filippo Lippi)

MATISSE (after French painter Henri Matisse)

REMBRANDTS, THE (after Dutch painter Rembrandt Van Rijn)

8) Named after writers & poets

BOB DYLAN (after Welsh poet Dylan Thomas)

JAMES (after Irish writer James Joyce)

SCHILLER (after German poet Friedrich Schiller)

9) Named after scientists

EDISON LIGHTHOUSE (after Thomas Edison)

TESLA (after Nikola Tesla)

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR (after the invention of Robert J. Van De Graaff)

10) Named after music instruments

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN ("echo" was the nickname of their drum-machine)

808 STATE (from their Roland TR-808 drum machine)

HOOTERS (hooter was the nickname of their keyboard melodica)

PRODIGY (from Liam's first Moog Prodigy)

PSEUDO ECHO (froma phrase in a synthesizer manual)

NICK RHODES (of DURAN DURAN) (after his Rhodes keyboard / some claim he took his pseudonym after the Hellenic island)

11) Named after drug related terms

DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS

DOOBIE BROTHERS, THE

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

JESUS & MARY CHAIN, THE

MARY JANE GIRLS

MOTORHEAD

PROZAC