How the Bands Got Their Names, Part Two

“Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?” — Steven Wright

Frank Mastropolo

Here's Part One!

Talking Heads. Sire Records

Talking Heads

New wave band Talking Heads, fronted by David Byrne, got its name from an issue of TV Guide. In the liner notes of Popular Favorites 1976–1972: Sand in the Vaseline, bassist Tina Weymouth said the magazine “explained the term used by TV studios to describe a head-and-shoulder shot of a person talking as ‘all content, no action’. It fit.”

The B-52’s

The beehive was a popular hairstyle of the 1960s; see Priscilla Presley or Marge Simpson for examples. The hairdo was also called the B-52, a reference to the conical nosecone of the military’s Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson wore wigs in the hairstyle that inspired the name of their new wave band, the B-52’s.

The Box Tops

When the Box Tops recorded “The Letter” in 1967, they were named the DeVilles. The band was fronted by 16-year-old Alex Chilton. The song’s hit potential and another band’s use of the name DeVilles mandated a name change. Producer Dan Penn organized a meeting with the band and songwriter Wayne Carson Thompson.

Thompson recalled, “One of the guys joked, ‘Well, let’s have a contest and everybody can send in 50 cents and a box top.’”

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival was named the Blue Velvets, then the Golliwogs, before their famous name was coined. “Creedence” is from the name of Tom Fogerty’s friend from South Africa, Credence Newball. “Clearwater” was inspired by an ad for Olympia Beer, “the clear water brew.” “Revival” marked the band’s commitment to each other after John Fogerty returned from military service.

The Yardbirds

When the Yardbirds formed in 1963 they called themselves Blue-Sounds; their repertoire was American blues and R&B. The Yardbirds name was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s classic On the Road. Kerouac described people he met as he traveled across the US, including those who hung around rail yards. He called them “rail yard hobos.”

Another influence was jazz great Charlie Parker, often nicknamed “Yardbird” or “Bird.”

UB40

British band UB40 took its name from the attendance card issued to people claiming unemployment benefits from Britain’s Department of Employment. The UB40 form stood for Unemployment Benefit, Form 40.

The Doors

Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Krieger were members of Rick and the Ravens before Manzarek’s brothers Rick and Jim left the band. A name change was in order and Morrison suggested the Doors. His inspiration was The Doors of Perception, a book by Aldous Huxley about mescaline.

Huxley took its title from a quote in a book written by William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

Badfinger

In 1968, the Iveys — itself a take on the Hollies — were a struggling British band with a lot of promise thanks to the songwriting of lead guitarist Pete Ham and bassist Tom Evans. Paul Du Noyer writes that the Iveys’ big break came when they were signed by the Beatles’ Apple Records.

The first order of business was a name change. “Bad Finger Boogie” had been the working title of the Sgt. Pepper track “With a Little Help From My Friends.” Badfinger became the new name for a band that looked and sounded uncannily like the Beatles.

The Hollies

It is often said that the Hollies were named for rock legend Buddy Holly but that’s not completely true. Graham Nash told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that early on, the band was asked how they would like to be introduced.

“It was Christmas and a very popular symbol in England is a holly leaf with red berries and stuff. And we all loved Buddy Holly. Obviously, we were doing a lot of Buddy Holly songs. And so we became the Hollies.”

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Former E Street Band keyboardist David Sancious lived at 1105 E Street in Belmar, NJ, where Bruce Springsteen and his group would often rehearse. In his book Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales, saxophonist Clarence Clemons wrote that Sancious was often late and the band was named because they spent so much time on E Street waiting for him.

“My recollection is we were on the bus one night trying to come up with a band name,” said The Boss in “A Conversation with Bruce Springsteen” at Monmouth University. “(E Street Band) seemed pretty easy — it just had a nice ring to it. I don’t remember David being particularly tardy. E Street. E Street. Well, David lives on E Street, David was a big, important part of the band at the time and it just came up.”

The Moody Blues

In early 1964 the Moody Blues called themselves the M&B Five after the local Mitchells & Butlers Brewery. The band hoped to win a sponsorship from the brewery, which owned several music clubs, but that never materialized. Keyboardist Mike Pinder told Classic Bands that a Duke Ellington classic led to the band’s final name.

“When I was very young I heard a piece of music by Duke Ellington called ‘Mood Indigo.’ I really liked the music, but I liked the name of it even better, and it just stuck with me.

“At that time I was very interested in the fact that music changed our moods. It had magical qualities to do things like that. We needed an M. So that was really easy to come up with the Moody, but actually I came up with the Blues part first, because at that time we were playing blues.

“People like Sonny Boy Williamson were touring England, a lot of American blues singers were touring, and we became a backup band for those guys. It was very easy to come up with Blues for that, and the Moody with an M because of my interest in the mood-affecting changes of music. That’s how the name Moody Blues kind of happened, tied in with the M&B beer.”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of the new series, New York Rock & Roll History. Catch up on our books and latest projects at Edgar Street Books.