Naming a band is a make or break proposition, not just externally, as in the impact on the audience, but also internally, as in the band surviving the fights that go down while trying to decide. Oftentimes, the story behind the name is kind of a letdown, because the real inspiration is so mundane. Like Men at Work was named after -- you guessed it -- men working. Colin Hay saw a sign that said as much, then drove by the men advertised. Boom, band name. Serendipitous band naming happens more often than you'd think.
Still, a good band has to have a good name, or at least a few good stories behind it. Band names are the stuff of lore. And the bigger the band, the bigger the legend. So it's also frequently hard to tell fact from fiction. But hey, it's only rock 'n' roll, so that makes these origin stories even better.
The Velvet Underground
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, the velvet underground]()
Oftentimes, bands will be inspired to name themselves after a work of art that has inspired them. Which is what Lou Reed, John Cale and company turned to when neither "The Primitives," nor "The Warlocks," nor "The Falling Spikes" could stick. They finally agreed on The Velvet Underground, the name of a popular paraphilia paperback by journalist Mike Leigh, whose cover promised to be "a documentary on the sexual corruption of our age." Well, he wrote that sexual depravity documentary in 1963, so by the time Lou and the boys got a hold of it, circa 1965, the sexual corruption had only gotten worse. So it seemed like the right fit for a band that had already ripped off the name of a song, "Venus in Furs," from the title of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel about sadomasochism, bondage, and submission. Wait, aren't those the same things?
Weezer
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, weezer]()
When frontman Rivers Cuomo was a kid, he had noticeable asthma. Which sucks. But it sucks much more when you're a kid, cause you get made fun of for gasping instead of earning sympathy for struggling to remain alive. Anyway, everyone called Cuomo "Weezer," so he named his band that. Perhaps as a giant "F--k You" to all his old schoolmates, who are no doubt poorer than him now. Hey, at least they didn't give him my nick name in school: "Jewy Smurf." Although come to think of it, that's a pretty excellent band name.
Three Dog Night
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, cheech and chong, three dog night]()
Even though these guys are best known for singing more obscure songwriter's songs -- Hoyt Axton's "Joy to the World," Paul Williams' "An Old Fashioned Love Song," Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come" -- that doesn't mean they couldn't come up with an ingenious name on their own. Well, kind of on their own. One of the three singers, Danny Hutton, was going out with actress June Fairchild, a.k.a. the Ajax snorting lady from the scene (above) in Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke." Fairchild told Hutton about an article she was reading on indigenous Australians who were in the habit of sleeping with their dogs, one on a warm night, three on a cold one. Which at least makes more sense than the lyrics to "Never Been to Spain," which was no doubt written by guys on Ajax.
Parliament - Funkadelic
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, parliment, funkadelic]()
In 1955, when George Clinton was the funkiest hairstylist in Plainview, New Jersey, he named his doo-wop group the Parliaments after a pack of Parliament cigarettes, which were smooth as can be, thanks to their recessed paper filters. Clinton then got himself a backup band, The Funkadelics, comprised mostly of dudes who got their hair done at George's barbershop. So technically, Clinton formed the baddest motherfu[n]king barbershop musical ensemble ever. Eventually Clinton dropped both the "'The's," to come up with the mouthful we still have today -- thank funkin' God.
Jane's Addiction
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, Jane's Addiction]()
Back when Perry Ferrell, nee Peretz Bernstein, was a crack-head playing in a band funded by a whore, he was a lot more creative. His housemate at the time, Jane Bainter, had a bit of a heroin habit, and Perry loved Jimi Hendrix, so he thought Jane's Heroin Experience might make a swell band name. After he came down, or perhaps on the way up, Perry wisely whittled the name down. Side note here: did you know 15-year-old Dave Navarro came home to find his mother "butchered" and stuffed into a cupboard by a jealous boyfriend? And they didn't find the guy for ten years! That's fucking rock 'n' roll. Dave, and his backstory, not the murderer.
Duran Duran
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, Barbarella, Duran Duran, Durand Durand]()
In case you didn't know, Jane Fonda used to be a stone cold fox, and nowhere is that on display more than when she took on the title role in the 1968 cult horny space opera, "Barbarella." Barbarella spends the whole movie banging space dudes -- and dudettes! -- and searching for the bad guy, a mad professor type by the name of Dr. Durand Durand, a master of the Excessive Machine, a device that can drive its victims to death by pleasure. Fortunately Barbarella's pleasures know no limits, and Duran Duran was wise enough not to name the band after another character in the film, Dildano. They did, however, pay further homage to the film by creating the masterpiece song and video, "Electric Barbarella," which finds the Birmingham boys bringing a blowup doll to life, team dressing her like a thong-wearing French maid, and having her sexily clean their very pink room. God bless MTV.
Steely Dan
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, steely dan, yokohama]()
It took me forever to come around to this band. I used to just think they were soft. But as I began to play music myself, I realized these guys were tight as hell, and pretty damn funky, too. But still, that wasn't enough for me to come around. Then I started to listen to their lyrics, and realized that they only sound soft to relax the unwitting, so they can hatch ear-hole rebellions upon the sheep. And that starts with the subversive name, which comes from the degenerative mind of Beat writer William S. Burroughs, who in his fucked up novel "Naked Lunch," wrote about a steam powered strap-on dildo named "Steely Dan III from Yokohama." Of course, there couldn't have been a Steely Dan III without Steely Dan II, which was "chewed to bits by a famished candiru in the Upper Baboons-asshole," and Steely Dan I, which was "torn in two by a bull dyke" with the "most terrific vaginal grip." Sorry, but that's not soft.
Incubus
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, Incubus]()
I know basically nothing about this band, except that I don't like them. I came to that decision instinctively, based upon their creepy name. And of course their music. What the fuck's an incubus? It sounds like something cool. And something tough. And maybe a little evil. None of which I hear in their music. I never got the impression these guys really had a darkside, which is what I'm really looking for in my rock n' roll named after satanic shit. Incubus is basically a mythological sex demon who bangs sleeping women. Ew. Add that to the fact the band got started by three high school kids from Calabasas-home of the Kardashians-and you've got yourself the makings of softness. That's right Calabasas, I'm calling you out.
Joy Division
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, joy division]()
I guess I have a fear of softness, though I always thought it was an allergy more than a fear. Either way, this band just exudes soft from the second you hear their name. Who the hell has been joyful since the early '60s anyways? Joy's not cool, man. Joy in a band name immediately makes me think of Jem and the Holograms. But I guess I always did kind of wonder what the name meant. Turns out Joy Division comes from the term for the prostitution section of a concentration camp, where guards could enjoy some quality conquests, and the good non-Jewish prisoners could forget about their Holocaust plight with some scared-for-their-lives sex slaves. The band discovered the term -- Freudenabteilung in German -- from Ka-tzetnik's 1955 novel, "House of Dolls." Yeah, I'm beginning to think that my instincts were right about this band.
The Jackson 5
![10 Band Name Origins Including the Jackson 5, the jackson 5]()
In the beginning, they were the Jackson Brothers -- Jackie, Tito and Jermaine -- three brothers, all with the same last name: Jackson. Then came brothers, Marlon and Michael, who also shared the family name. Together, they became -- drum roll -- The Jackson 5.
Related: The 20 Worst Band Names of All Time
Still, a good band has to have a good name, or at least a few good stories behind it. Band names are the stuff of lore. And the bigger the band, the bigger the legend. So it's also frequently hard to tell fact from fiction. But hey, it's only rock 'n' roll, so that makes these origin stories even better.
The Velvet Underground
Oftentimes, bands will be inspired to name themselves after a work of art that has inspired them. Which is what Lou Reed, John Cale and company turned to when neither "The Primitives," nor "The Warlocks," nor "The Falling Spikes" could stick. They finally agreed on The Velvet Underground, the name of a popular paraphilia paperback by journalist Mike Leigh, whose cover promised to be "a documentary on the sexual corruption of our age." Well, he wrote that sexual depravity documentary in 1963, so by the time Lou and the boys got a hold of it, circa 1965, the sexual corruption had only gotten worse. So it seemed like the right fit for a band that had already ripped off the name of a song, "Venus in Furs," from the title of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel about sadomasochism, bondage, and submission. Wait, aren't those the same things?
Weezer
When frontman Rivers Cuomo was a kid, he had noticeable asthma. Which sucks. But it sucks much more when you're a kid, cause you get made fun of for gasping instead of earning sympathy for struggling to remain alive. Anyway, everyone called Cuomo "Weezer," so he named his band that. Perhaps as a giant "F--k You" to all his old schoolmates, who are no doubt poorer than him now. Hey, at least they didn't give him my nick name in school: "Jewy Smurf." Although come to think of it, that's a pretty excellent band name.
Three Dog Night
Even though these guys are best known for singing more obscure songwriter's songs -- Hoyt Axton's "Joy to the World," Paul Williams' "An Old Fashioned Love Song," Randy Newman's "Mama Told Me Not to Come" -- that doesn't mean they couldn't come up with an ingenious name on their own. Well, kind of on their own. One of the three singers, Danny Hutton, was going out with actress June Fairchild, a.k.a. the Ajax snorting lady from the scene (above) in Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke." Fairchild told Hutton about an article she was reading on indigenous Australians who were in the habit of sleeping with their dogs, one on a warm night, three on a cold one. Which at least makes more sense than the lyrics to "Never Been to Spain," which was no doubt written by guys on Ajax.
Parliament - Funkadelic
In 1955, when George Clinton was the funkiest hairstylist in Plainview, New Jersey, he named his doo-wop group the Parliaments after a pack of Parliament cigarettes, which were smooth as can be, thanks to their recessed paper filters. Clinton then got himself a backup band, The Funkadelics, comprised mostly of dudes who got their hair done at George's barbershop. So technically, Clinton formed the baddest motherfu[n]king barbershop musical ensemble ever. Eventually Clinton dropped both the "'The's," to come up with the mouthful we still have today -- thank funkin' God.
Jane's Addiction
Back when Perry Ferrell, nee Peretz Bernstein, was a crack-head playing in a band funded by a whore, he was a lot more creative. His housemate at the time, Jane Bainter, had a bit of a heroin habit, and Perry loved Jimi Hendrix, so he thought Jane's Heroin Experience might make a swell band name. After he came down, or perhaps on the way up, Perry wisely whittled the name down. Side note here: did you know 15-year-old Dave Navarro came home to find his mother "butchered" and stuffed into a cupboard by a jealous boyfriend? And they didn't find the guy for ten years! That's fucking rock 'n' roll. Dave, and his backstory, not the murderer.
Duran Duran
In case you didn't know, Jane Fonda used to be a stone cold fox, and nowhere is that on display more than when she took on the title role in the 1968 cult horny space opera, "Barbarella." Barbarella spends the whole movie banging space dudes -- and dudettes! -- and searching for the bad guy, a mad professor type by the name of Dr. Durand Durand, a master of the Excessive Machine, a device that can drive its victims to death by pleasure. Fortunately Barbarella's pleasures know no limits, and Duran Duran was wise enough not to name the band after another character in the film, Dildano. They did, however, pay further homage to the film by creating the masterpiece song and video, "Electric Barbarella," which finds the Birmingham boys bringing a blowup doll to life, team dressing her like a thong-wearing French maid, and having her sexily clean their very pink room. God bless MTV.
Steely Dan
It took me forever to come around to this band. I used to just think they were soft. But as I began to play music myself, I realized these guys were tight as hell, and pretty damn funky, too. But still, that wasn't enough for me to come around. Then I started to listen to their lyrics, and realized that they only sound soft to relax the unwitting, so they can hatch ear-hole rebellions upon the sheep. And that starts with the subversive name, which comes from the degenerative mind of Beat writer William S. Burroughs, who in his fucked up novel "Naked Lunch," wrote about a steam powered strap-on dildo named "Steely Dan III from Yokohama." Of course, there couldn't have been a Steely Dan III without Steely Dan II, which was "chewed to bits by a famished candiru in the Upper Baboons-asshole," and Steely Dan I, which was "torn in two by a bull dyke" with the "most terrific vaginal grip." Sorry, but that's not soft.
Incubus
I know basically nothing about this band, except that I don't like them. I came to that decision instinctively, based upon their creepy name. And of course their music. What the fuck's an incubus? It sounds like something cool. And something tough. And maybe a little evil. None of which I hear in their music. I never got the impression these guys really had a darkside, which is what I'm really looking for in my rock n' roll named after satanic shit. Incubus is basically a mythological sex demon who bangs sleeping women. Ew. Add that to the fact the band got started by three high school kids from Calabasas-home of the Kardashians-and you've got yourself the makings of softness. That's right Calabasas, I'm calling you out.
Joy Division
I guess I have a fear of softness, though I always thought it was an allergy more than a fear. Either way, this band just exudes soft from the second you hear their name. Who the hell has been joyful since the early '60s anyways? Joy's not cool, man. Joy in a band name immediately makes me think of Jem and the Holograms. But I guess I always did kind of wonder what the name meant. Turns out Joy Division comes from the term for the prostitution section of a concentration camp, where guards could enjoy some quality conquests, and the good non-Jewish prisoners could forget about their Holocaust plight with some scared-for-their-lives sex slaves. The band discovered the term -- Freudenabteilung in German -- from Ka-tzetnik's 1955 novel, "House of Dolls." Yeah, I'm beginning to think that my instincts were right about this band.
The Jackson 5
In the beginning, they were the Jackson Brothers -- Jackie, Tito and Jermaine -- three brothers, all with the same last name: Jackson. Then came brothers, Marlon and Michael, who also shared the family name. Together, they became -- drum roll -- The Jackson 5.
Related: The 20 Worst Band Names of All Time