The Swedish composer Bjorn Ulvaeus once admitted in an interview that he never cared much for ABBA as a name. When pressed further, he suggested that Roxy Music, The Rolling Stones or Depeche Mode were more serious contenders. Whether you agree with him or not regarding his name preferences, I'm sure we'd all agree that having a great band name can do wonders for your music career. For me, names such as the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Ramones or the Smiths immediately come to mind.
A name defines an artist or band, whether it's the Edge, Sting or the Clash, your name acts as a point of reference, grabs the attention, and if it's captivating enough can propel your music to astonishing heights, particularly if you have the music to back it up. Clearly in the long term it is the music that really counts, just ask Elton John, but in the short term, the band's name and the image they project ultimately provide the keys to the citadel.
I have no doubt that the early and rapid success of the Jesus and Mary Chain was largely because of their name. It was their name that got them the initial attention, and landed them the London shows providing the perfect platform for their musical talent to shine through. I know this because I was around back then, and although they only had one single out at that particular time, everybody was talking about this Scottish band with the unique name. It sometimes makes me wonder how many great bands we may have missed out on over the years perhaps because they didn't get the name or the image quite right, because clearly the image of any given band is equally important.
Gary Numan always cited Ultravox as a major inspiration, and when he was asked why he felt the original line up featuring John Foxx never got the recognition they deserved, he suggested it may have been because 'they didn't get the look right'. Gary Numan had both a number one album and single at the ripe old age of 21, and clearly understood the power of imagery. Changing his name from Gary Webb to Gary Numan was as inspired as his icy stage presence and exotic outfits. He clearly knew his stuff, as did a certain Midge Ure who took over from John Foxx on lead vocals, and transformed Ultravox's image with tremendous success in the eighties. Clearly sound and vision work together in harmony.
Many other great band names have fascinating origins and mythologies underpinning them, and none more so than the Rolling Stones. The story of their name, as once reiterated by Mick and Keith, was that when Brian Jones was on the phone and landed their first gig in London, they also landed a major problem, they didn't have a name for their band to perform under. In something of a panic, Jones apparently looked around the room for inspiration only to spot a Muddy Waters album with the song 'Rolling Stone' featured on the track listing, and the rest of course is musical history.
The reggae band UB40 provide another interesting story as they were all unemployed and living off benefits when they came up with their name. For all those of you not from the UK, the name UB40 refers to the identity card each member had to present to the unemployment office in order to claim their social security benefits. Talk about rags to riches, from miserable dreamers to multimillionaires courtesy of an unemployment card and a handful of decent tunes.
Nigel Morton, original manager of the rock band New Model Army, told me that he landed their first major break through gig because the highly influential promoter John Curd loved the name. He booked them to play without listening to a tape because he thought it was such a 'superb name'. This was clearly significant, and proved to be a game changer for the band from Bradford. I remember seeing their early posters around the city centre and thinking to myself what a brilliant name for a band. I can't imagine they would have managed to garner their army of loyal followers over the years under any other name despite their compelling music. The same could perhaps be said of many other artists and bands.
You could perhaps start with Simon and Garfunkel who were originally known as Tom and Jerry, or maybe 'On a Friday' who changed their name to Radiohead. Other contenders include Queen, who changed their name from Smile, the Obelisk who became the Cure, the Pendeltons who became the Beach Boys, or alternatively, Mr Crowe's Garden who became the Black Crowes. Then there's the Young Aborigines who became the Beastie Boys. Does anyone remember Wicked Lester who became Kiss, or perhaps the Screaming Abdabs who became Pink Floyd.
Would Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem have succeeded without the name Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Or the Pulka Tulk Blues Band who became Black Sabbath? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I heard somewhere that Credence Clearwater Revival were originally known as the Golliwogs. Alternatively, when it comes to solo performers how does David Jones measure up against David Bowie, or James Newell Osterberg compare with Iggy Pop? Sometimes artists get lucky and they have a great birth name like Elvis Presley or Taylor Swift, but then again if you consider the likes of Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Snoop Dog, Lorde or Pink, surely they all benefitted from a bold new aesthetic approach.
There are so many fascinating stories I have come across over the years, far too numerous to mention here, and no doubt many like-minded musicians, will have spent many an hour pondering over what their newly formed band name should be. Not an easy task, so perhaps there is an element of luck involved, or maybe you have to just dig deep and look within.
The appeal of Nirvana for me is quite a compelling one. Where Curt Cobain one of the most brilliant and tragically tortured artists of all time, a man who struggled with drugs and mental issues throughout his life opted for the name Nirvana. The irony of this name was not lost on too many people. Nirvana to this day remains one of my favourite band names, and a great band to boot. They still have an astonishingly high stream count, despite not having released any music for three decades. What a tragic loss to music his short life was.
Now you may argue, and you may be right, that clearly there are many bands who hit the top without particularly inspiring names and deservedly so. I love the 1975 but never cared much for their name, the same goes perhaps for U2, the Killers and Coldplay, all who have enjoyed enormous success without the assistance of a clearly identifiable name or image. I also used to be a fan of UK prog rockers Supertramp who had huge success in the seventies, but I disliked both their name and their image. It's nice to know that sometimes music really does conquer all. But if you want to get noticed in this game, a good name can go a long way to achieving this. It doesn't matter how good your band is, if no one gets to hear it or see it. Which reminds me of the old Chinese proverb. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Good question.
Incidentally, two of my favourite bands of all time, the Psychedelic Furs and the Only Ones both have great names. Apparently, singer Richard Butler came up with the name Psychedelic Furs because he loved the word 'psychedelic', and combined the adjective with 'furs, lifted from the Velvet Underground song 'Venus in Furs'. It's also well documented that the Only Ones name came from a dream that singer songwriter Peter Perret had, which seemingly just floated into his head one night, something of a gift from the Gods perhaps. Alternatively, Marc Bolan decided to shorten his bands name Tyrannosaurs Rex because producer Tony Visconti used to abbreviate the name to T Rex when he wrote it in his diary for a forthcoming session. A man who wrote the classic anthem 'Children of the Revolution', a song which I still play to this day.
Which conveniently brings me to on to the subject of children's music. As we all know children's music is a relatively new genre, having only really taken off in the nineties largely as a result of the incredible success of the Wiggles. Their inspired choice of name would clearly never have worked for a rock band, but for a kids' band it's perfect. Clearly, children's bands have a bit more room to be experimental with their names, and don't need to concern themselves with what is regarded as cool or in vogue, by an increasingly fickle and somewhat cynical music press.
My favourite kids' band name of all time has to be the Relative Minors, what an absolutely brilliant name, and one which would no doubt work in many other genres. I also love the Mudcakes, Bounce Patrol and Itty Bitty Beats. All these names are right on the money, and if you are interested in other contenders please check out my earlier blog post from July which features a list of my favourite all time kids' band names. In the meantime, I take my hat off to the truly exceptional, imaginative and resourceful use of names that have come to light over the years. If you have any band names that you like and consider to be worth mentioning then feel free to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.
That's the name of the game.
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