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- [00:00]
Alan Cross
Hey, it's Alan and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing history of new music. Early and ad free on Amazon Music included with Prime. This program is sponsored by BetterHelp. We've all got that go to person who we can talk to when life.
- [00:16]
Gets stressful and weird, which is good, but what about when that doesn't work?
- [00:22]
As good as they might be, they're not trained and may not have all the answers. When that happens, you need someone who knows more and is qualified to deal with your issues on a professional level. This is why BetterHelp exists. Quality counselors who meet localized standards for vetting and care delivery. These are experienced and qualified people. After filling out a short questionnaire, you'll.
- [00:44]
Be matched with a therapist that fits.
- [00:45]
Your needs and typically that match is perfect. But if you feel the need for someone else, no problem. Switch therapists at any time for no cost. You can even pause your sessions when you need to. BetterHelp is super flexible and is Hitrust certified and complies with GDPR standards, which means they meet some of the highest global standards for data Privacy.
- [01:07]
With over 5 million people supported to.
- [01:09]
Date globally, BetterHelp is now available in Canada with a network of counselors who have expertise in a wide range of specialties and with a 4.9 out of 5 rating based on over 1.7 million client reviews, Better BetterHelp makes counseling affordable and convenient. And like I said, you can switch counselors at any time for no cost.
- [01:28]
Here's the deal.
- [01:29]
Listeners to this podcast get 10% off their first month@betterhelp.com ongoing that's betterhelp.com ongoing.
- [01:43]
Podcast Advertiser (WhatsApp)
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- [02:07]
Alan Cross
Learn more@WhatsApp.com okay, let me tell the story again. In 2007, a couple of listeners asked if I would do another ongoing history episode on the origins of band names. I'd done a few in the past, but it was certainly time to update things. This time, though, I was struck with a thought. What do you call the study of the names musical groups choose? Rock music had been around for more than 50 years at that point, so someone must have come up with a term, right? The study of word origins is called etymology. If you're looking at place names and where they came from, then you're into something called toponymy or topomonastics. We kinda get close with the word for the study of personal names. That's called onomastics or anthropominy. If we look at just surnames, that's called patronymics. But much to my surprise, there was no term for how a band got their name, which struck me as very, very wrong and a giant oversight in the field of linguistics. So seeking a solution to this language problem, I called up some academics specializing in linguistics. I also called some branding experts across North America, and they put their heads together and returned with a suggestion. Bandaminology. And since then, I've been on a mission to use this word as much as possible. I want it to catch on so that someday it will end up in the Oxford English Dictionary. So far though, the OED people won't take my calls. So the only way to make this happen is to keep pushing bendeminology up into the public. Remember it, use it, tell your friends about it. And to help things along, here's another semi academic program on bandiminology to follow up on the last show on this topic, which was in 2017. This is 60 more band name origins in 60 minutes. This is the ongoing History of New Music podcast with Alan Cross. Hello again, I'm Alan Cross, and this episode is directed at people who need to understand how their favorite bands got their names. And this is called say it with Me Again. Bandominology. My goal is to make this word a genuine thing in the English language so that whenever I type it, there's no need for a squiggly red line underneath it, because it is a legitimate term used by millions all over the globe. Not there yet, but this program is another step in that direction. If you've ever been in a band, you'll know how torturous it is to find a name. It has to be new and never used before, lest there be confusion and trademark lawsuits. It has to somehow connect with your sound and your attitude and your image. In other words, it has to be on brand. The name has to be catchy and memorable without being cheesy or dumb. Unless that, of course, is the point. It has to lend itself to graphic design, logos and merch. And most difficult of all, it has everyone in the band has to agree that this is definitely the right name for our little ensemble. It's easy to get depressed. All the best names are Already taken. Black Sabbath is awesome. Motorhead is brilliant. Metallica is perfect. Black Flag, Wow, Slayer, Joy Division and New Order. Fantastic names. But There are almost 200,000 words currently in common in the English language with another 47,000 obsolete words. And that could still be used if you include things like medical and scientific terms, tactical jargon and words borrowed from other languages. There could be up to a million words to choose from in English to combine and come up with a band name. And we've got the Internet and AI to help us now. Just search for band name generator and a bunch of sites will pop up. Okay, here. Here's one. Let's. Okay, two items to describe what I'm doing. Okay, let's go with Indy and rock. The name of the lead singer. That would be me. A place that has special significance. Okay, I'm in Toronto, so I'll go with Toronto. A singular noun. Guitar. A plural noun. Drums. Very. Ending in ing. A word ending in ing. Let's go with Pounding. My fake band is very aggressive. A day, month or season. Autumn. An animal. Okay. Elephants. A group of people. Pilots. Why not? A color. Electric blue. A number greater than 1. 19. That was my jersey. Number. Minor. Hockey. And finally a part of the body. Let's mess things up. Let's just put in feet. Okay, submit. And the number one generated name is 19 Times Rock. It also suggested they might be indie elephants. Pounding Twins. How about this one? Albert of War Feet. I think this technology needs a little work. Here's how this course of band monology will proceed. I will present you 60 band names over the course of this program and we'll divide it up into a couple of different sections. The first 20 will be a study of current popular groups. Then we'll move to some retro names, followed by some just random labels. And then we'll conclude with groups filed under what Were They Thinking? And terrible and original names. And also offensive names, which I will be very careful about. And then how about if we just end with names that are just plain dumb? Dumb on purpose, of course. All right, so let us begin. First up, Rage against the Machine. I think we can all agree that this is one of the best names in rock history. The phrase was used by Inside Out, a pre rage band featuring vocalist Zach Dilarocca. It may have been a candidate for the title of a never recorded album. Digging deeper, we learn that we can credit Kent McCard, a writer of a punk fanzine called no Answers. He wrote something about inside out in 1989 and used those particular words since Rage appeared in 1992. Convention of Wisdom says that the machine is oppressive capitalism and evil corporations that want to control society. And given Rage's political stance, that of course makes all the sense in the world. But what if that is incorrect? Zach may have been a little more literal. He once owned a 1979 Chevy van that was always breaking down. I can't tell you how many times that van broke down in 1991 when we were starting out, and how many gigs we lost because it would quit working. We called that monstrosity every name you can think of and even invented a few new words. When we finally made enough money to buy a new van to house our equipment, the. The first thing we all did was take sledgehammers and beat the crap out of that thing. So the machine that they were raging against was a 1979 Chevy van. Okay, that's. That's a stretch, but this is why we need serious bandiminologists to get to the bottom of these matters. Number two on the list, Blind Melon. Original guitarist Brad Smith's father used to describe hippies this way. He may have picked that up from a Cheech and Chong skit. A couple of stoner hippie types who had a character named Blind Melon Chitlin, which itself was a parody of a real blues musician from the 1920s named Blind Lemon Jefferson. Number three, Bush. And by this I mean Gavin Rossdale's band. When they were just getting their act together in the early 1990s, they were called Future Primitive. But just as they were getting ready to release their debut album, sixteen Stone, the director of one of their videos suggested Bush. It was shorter, easier to remember, and would look better on an album cover, and was, you know, ever so slightly cheeky in a sexual way. So Future Primitive became Bush. Except in Canada, where there had already been a Bush band back in the 1970s until that trademark issue got sorted a few years later. Bush had to legally trade under the name Bush X, but only in Canada. Number four, Fugazi. Great straight edge punk band. That name origin is a bit murky. There was a dodgy limo company in New York city in the 70s and 80s with that name. The owner was Bill Fugazi, who may have been a little mobbed up, or it might have been derived from the French word fougasse, which was a type of landmine used in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. And it's possible that it's an acronym. Fugazi could stand for effed up, got ambushed, zipped in a body bag, Number five, Mumford and Sons. This is sort of simple. The lead singer is Marcus Mumford. He liked the idea of a band evoking an old family business. And given their image and sound, you got to admit that it works. Number six, cake. They were formed in Sacramento, California, in 1991. They went with Cake not because they liked pastry, but because the name was meant to be like. When something insidiously becomes part of your life, we mean it more as something that cakes onto your shoe and it's just sort of there until you get rid of it. So something gunky that you stepped in. And number seven, Wolf Mother. Now, that's a cool one. When the band showed up to play its very first gig, they still didn't have a name. Chris Ross, the original bass player, came to the rescue. He'd been reading a Tom Robbins novel called Skinny Legs, and that novel used the word. Frontman Andrew Stockdale and original drummer Miles Heskett weren't really crazy about it. But with time running out, before they were due on stage, they said, oh, okay, we're Wolf Mother. And the name stuck.
- [12:01]
Song Singer / Music Clip
Can you feel the joker flying over as she's standing in the field?
- [12:15]
Alan Cross
Wolfmother, One of those bands who adopted their name at the last possible second. Moving to name number eight, we have July Talk that simple. It was the title of one of the band's early songs. A name like the yeah yeah Yeahs must have a story. Well, sort of. If you've been to New York, you've probably had someone say to you, yeah, yeah, yeah, the band is from New York. So there you go. That's number nine of our list of 60. What about garbage? They're number 10. That's an insult that backfired. When Butch Vig, Duke Erickson, and Steve Marker were putting the band together in Madison, Wisconsin, back in 1993, a friend commented that this new stuff sounded like Garbage. That turned out to be a cool suggestion because they wanted something irreverent. So mission accomplished. The name the Ataris is exactly what you think it is. Singer and guitarist Christopher Rowe had a very large collection of Atari video game cartridges. So there's number 11. Number 12 is system of a Down, which is a cool name. The story is that they were originally called Soil. Then they went with Victims of a Down, a nod to the Armenian genocide back in the 1910s, which came from a poem written by guitarist Daron Malakian. But then there was a band meeting. Bass player Chavo Odajian suggested that they might find more attention if they changed victims to System. And using System would have them closer to their idol's Slayer on the shelves in record stores. Number 13 is panic at the Disco. Some fans think that this came from the song Panic by the Smiths. But the real story is that the band had an early song called Panic, and there's a line in that song that goes, panic at the Disco sat back and took it slow. During the band's career, the exclamation point has migrated around the name, thanks to fans. Guitarist Ryan Ross said, it was never part of the name to us. People started writing it, and then it ended up in more and more things like that. So there it was. When we started doing new promo stuff for the album, we just told everyone not to use it anymore. By the time the group officially broke up, there was no more exclamation point in Panic at the Disco. It had been officially dropped. Number 14, Portugal the man is another group with weird punctuation. First, we need to understand that this name is a mix of two. A country of many people, like a band of multiple members and an individual, a specific person like each of the guys in the group. The period that we see between Portugal and the man is to separate the many from the one. I know that's a bit convoluted, but it stems from the band wanting to have a name that felt larger than life, which that's the best I can do. And from exclamation marks and periods, we move to the hyphen in blink. 182. This is number 15. The most common story is that the group was originally named Blink, but then they found out that an Irish band had dibs on that. So to keep from getting sued, they added the 182. So why 182 or 182? There are a lot of stories about that, from the number of times Tony Montana drops the F bomb in Scarface, to the number of the ship Mark Hoppus grandfather served on in World War II to what Mark believes to be his ideal weight in pounds. The most likely explanation is that during a phone call with the record label over the name dispute with the Irish group, He just pulled 182 out of the air. Or did he consider this? Tom delong attended a high school in Poway, which is a town northeast of San Diego. The school's rival was Rancho Bernardo High. When DeLong was expelled from Poway for going to a basketball game drunk, he transferred to Rancho Bernardo, which he didn't like very much. And this is where we encounter some numerology at Poway 182 was code for F, Rancho Bernardo. R being the 18th letter of the Alphabet, R and 2 being the second, ergo 18 2. And this means, and Thomas talked about this, that the proper pronunciation of the band's name is not Blink 182, but Blink 18 2. You go ahead. I'm just going to keep pronouncing it wrong.
- [16:40]
Song Singer / Music Clip
And that's about the time that they chung up on me. Nobody likes you when. When you're 23 and I still bow these by night Porn Cows. What the hell is Carl id? My friends say I shit at my age. What's my age again? What's my age again?
- [16:57]
Alan Cross
Blink 182 or Blink 182 if you want to go with the Tom Delong explanation. Let's press on. We have the Chemical brothers at number 16. They were originally called the Dust Brothers, but there was another band using that name. They amended things by excising a word from their third single, which was Chemical Beats. The Cranberries are at number 17. They were formed with the name the Cranberry Saw Us, but that was a stupid pun that was killed when they submitted a demo tape to a record label. It was returned addressed to the Cranberries. So it was a typo and they just thought, yeah, that's a better name. And they took it. When it comes to the money money Boss Tones. They discovered that there was a local a cappella group with the name Mighty Boss Tones. When they mentioned the problem to their bartender, he suggested that they just add another Mighty to their name. So Mighty Mighty bostones, that's number 1819 has to do with the new Pornographers. Guitarist Carl Newman caught the name from a 1966 Japanese film called the Pornographers. It was also a nod to bandmate Dan Baer, who had a band called Destroyer. And there's a track called the Pornographers on one of their records. The name has caused many misunderstandings over the years with people who thought that they were real pornographers or had something to do with pornography. They laughed all that off until April 2025, when drummer Joe Siders was charged with possession of child porn. He is no longer with the band and we'll finish this segment with Big wreck at number 20. In the earliest days of the band, they were known as Still Waters, even though they really didn't like that. Then in 1994, they had a really bad rehearsal where everything went wrong. Guitarist Brian Doherty declared that the practice session had been a big wreck and the name stopped.
- [18:50]
Song Singer / Music Clip
My luck is wasted. On the rock somewhere. My Luck is.
- [19:04]
Alan Cross
40 more band name origins to go. Hang on.
- [19:08]
This program is sponsored by BetterHelp. We've all got that go to person.
- [19:13]
Who we can talk to when life.
- [19:14]
Gets stressful and weird, which is good.
- [19:17]
But what about when that doesn't work? As good as they might be, they're.
- [19:22]
Not trained and may not have all the answers. When that happens, you you need someone who knows more and is qualified to deal with your issues on a professional level. This is why BetterHelp exists. Quality counselors who meet localized standards for.
- [19:36]
Vetting and care delivery.
- [19:38]
These are experienced and qualified people. After filling out a short questionnaire, you'll.
- [19:42]
Be matched with a therapist that fits.
- [19:44]
Your needs and typically that match is perfect. But if you feel the need for someone else, no problem. Switch therapists at any time for no cost. You can even pause your sessions when you need to. BetterHelp is super flexible and is HITRUST certified and complies with GDPR standards, which means they meet some of the highest global standards for data Privacy.
- [20:05]
With over 5 million people supported to.
- [20:07]
Date globally, BetterHelp is now available in Canada with a network of counselors who have expertise in a wide range of specialties. And with a 4.9 out of 5 rating based on over 1.7 million client reviews, BetterHelp makes counseling affordable and convenient. And like I said, you can switch counselors at any time for no cost.
- [20:26]
Here's the deal.
- [20:28]
Listeners to this podcast get 10% off their first month@betterhelp.com ongoing that's betterhelp.com ongoing.
- [20:38]
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- [21:31]
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- [21:39]
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- [22:01]
Song Singer / Music Clip
There.
- [22:05]
Alan Cross
This is another installment of 60 band name origins in 60 minutes, and we're up to number 21, which is where we'll talk about some retrogroups. Simple Minds thought they were really punk at first when they chose their first name, Johnny and the Self Abusers. When they broke up, singer Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchell decided that they didn't want to be another group whose name began with the so they consulted some David Bowie lyrics and in a song they found the line so simple minded, he can drive his module. And Simple Minded was Tears for Fears. 22 was inspired by the writings of American psychologist Arthur Janoff. He had a book called Prisoners of Pain, which was the foundation of his Primal Scream therapy. The band looked at this in context of crying and expressing emotions as a way to overcome emotional blockage. And since it's such a gimme, there's the band Primal Scream. Same thing. That's number 2324 lore and legend has it that the echo in Echo in the Bunnyman was the name of a drum machine or some other piece of gear. Not true. The group considered a bunch of dumb names, and that's just the one they chose. They could have easily just gone with Gillarol and the fan extractors. That was another option. Seriously, speaking of stupid names, Oingo Boingo was Danny Elfman's band before he got into TV and movie scoring and made loads of money running things like the theme to the Simpsons, among other things. Their original name was the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which was a secret society used in the old Amos and Andy radio show back in the, I guess, 1930s. So that's number 25 for number 26, Susie and the Banshees. The Suzie is for Suzie sue, the band's lead singer, who had a fascination with the indigenous nation in North America. The Banshees part was from a 1970 Vincent Price film called Cry for the Banshee. Banshees, by the way, are a female spirit from Irish lore whose wail foretells that someone is going to die. That sounded cool to Susie and the guys.
- [24:20]
Song Singer / Music Clip
Strawberry Girl, Crestain, Banana Squid. Lighter.
- [24:27]
Alan Cross
Moving on with a random selection of band names. At number 27, it's the police. Easy. First, it was a provocative name in the punk era. Other names considered were Hypochondria, Grand Larceny and Assault. But the Police won out because drummer Stewart Copland's father was in the CIA. And that made it all the more subversive in their minds. While we're on the subject, Interpol. The band is named after Interpol, the international police organization headquartered in Lyon, France. There's number 28, Tool is at 29. Now this is difficult because the band has always loved to twist the truth. The best I can do is refer you to a 1994 interview with drummer Danny Carey, who said that the group conceived themselves as a tool to understanding the non existent science of lachrymology, which they claim is the study of tears. It is not. In fact, it's probably just a shortened version of their original name, Toolshed. The name Metallica is credited to a guy named Ron Quintana, a friend of drummer Lars Ulrich. He was looking to start a fanzine and had narrowed things down to Metal Mania and Metallica. He chose Metal Mania in the end for his fanzine, leaving Metallica for Lars new group. So there's number 30. 31. Econoline crush. For years, Ford made a van called the Econoline. If you're in a band and you and your equipment is jammed into that van, it's an Econoline Crush 32. The name Silver Chair is an homage to the Chronicles of Narnia writer C.S. lewis. There's a novel in the series called the Silver Chair. And while we're in this particular region of I guess, the periodic table, let's drop in Silver sun pickups at number 33. They were from the Silver Lake area of LA. There's a liquor store called Silver sun and a friend would often make late night booze runs that he called Silver Sun Pickups.
- [26:27]
Song Singer / Music Clip
I've been waiting. I've been waiting for this moment all my life. But it's not Quite right.
- [26:41]
Alan Cross
I called this segment. What were they thinking when they chose that name? Why would you go with a name like the Dead Milkman? You might think that they were following in the footsteps of the older band, the Dead Kennedys. Well, maybe, but there's a character in a Toni Morrison novel called Song of Solomon called Milkman dead. So number 34 is a lot more literary than you expect. Then we have the band orgy at number 35. Not necessarily what you think. It was inspired by some kind of encounter with a drag queen that mated with what the group considered their style and sound, which was an orgy of influences all coming together. Okay, sure. 36 is minus the Bear, the group from Seattle. This stems from a conversation with a friend. I find this really funny. How was your date last night? Someone asked. He replied, remember the old TV series BJ and the Bear? It was like that, minus the Bear. Okay, that one takes a second. This is a truly awful 1 for 37 Hoobastank. The origin, however, is unclear. It might be a joke from high school. It might be a mispronounced German word. Or maybe someone was just goofing around and it came up in conversation. They were going to change it, but their record label convinced them not to. Number 38, car seat headrest. Can't say I approve of this one, but whatever. When singer Will Toledo was 17 years old and just starting out, he rehearsed his vocals in the most quiet and most soundproofed place he knew. The backseat of the family car, looking at the headrests of the seats in the front. Here's another weird 1 for 39. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. This was a compromise. Frontman Stu MacKenzie wanted to call the band Gizzard. Gizzard. Someone else wanted to honor the Lizard King, Jim Morrison of the Doors. And so I guess there were drinks and spliffs and King Gizzard and the Lizard wizard it was. And at number 40, Rainbow Butt Monkeys. This was the original name of Finger 11. They picked it as a joke, never thinking that their high school band would amount to anything. But then things got out of control with a record deal and an album. But before the joke destroyed them, they became finger 11. But not before they released four EPs and an album under the name Rainbow Butt Monkeys.
- [29:18]
Song Singer / Music Clip
In your circles, yeah, Walking around in your circles.
- [29:26]
Alan Cross
Rainbow Butt monkeys. Now finger 11. Speaking of terrible original names, that's where we'll go next. Hold tight.
- [29:36]
FXX and Hulu Advertiser
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- [30:04]
Alan Cross
Only Murders in The Buildings Season 5 the Hit Hulu Original is back. The night Buster died, he was talking with this mobster.
- [30:11]
Song Singer / Music Clip
Was he killed in a hit?
- [30:13]
Alan Cross
We need to go face to face with the mob. Get ready for a season. Buongiorno, signore. This is how I die. You can't refuse.
- [30:20]
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- [30:21]
Alan Cross
Always do by being smart, sharp and almost always by mistake.
- [30:26]
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- [30:34]
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- [31:05]
Alan Cross
We're into the final third of this installment of 60 band name origins in 60 minutes, and here we will recount some terrible original names for some well known bands. Okay, number 41 we have naked Toddler. That was what Creed was called in the beginning. At 42 Shrinky Dinks, they're now Sugar Ray. Number 43, the young Aborigines who became the Beastie Boys. I kind of like this one, actually. The Obelisk they turned into the Easy Cure. And finally, just the cure. That's 44. 45 is on a Friday, the name chosen by the soon to be Radiohead because that was the only day on which they could all get together and rehearse. As a bonus, Radiohead was taken from the title of a talking head song from their True Stories album at number 46, one of the worst band names of all time. The precursor to Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, they were originally called, and this is absolutely true, Hitler's Underpants. Fortunately, they never recorded anything under that name. The group does admit that Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark is also dumb, but that's on purpose. They landed on that when they were looking for the most pretentious name they could Think of if you leave, I.
- [32:23]
Song Singer / Music Clip
Won'T cry I won't waste one single day but if you leave, don't.
- [32:34]
Alan Cross
Since OMD was originally called Hitler's Underpants, let's continue with some offensive names. At least ones that I can use without getting into Trouble. At number 47, it's the all female punk band the Slits. I'll leave you to figure that one out on your own. If you can't go ask your parents. Then we have Diarrhea planet at number 48. They're a six piece garage punk band from Nashville. I don't have a story here other than the group was formed in a university Dorm Room in 2009 after plenty of beers and joints. From Canada, we have the acclaimed and extremely prolific effed up at 49. The story is that the group was deliberately formed with a bunch of guys who were guaranteed not to get along. The group originally planned to play 10 shows with no tours and then break up. Hence the deliberately offensive name. And basically it described their career strategy. Hey, if the group had a defined shelf life, who cares what they called themselves? On one hand, the plan worked brilliantly. The members of the band reportedly cannot stand each other. On the other hand, the band has made many records, toured the world playing up to 150 shows a year, opened for bands like the Foo Fighters, and won the Polaris Music Prize in 2009. The situation is definitely effed up, especially considering that the joke has gone much, much further than anyone expected. And let me just do this as an aside. In November 2008, they participated in a special concert called the Festival of F Bands. This was held in a town called and again, this is true F ing. It's in Austria. They were joined by fellow Canadians. Holy F. Oakland, California is F& Britain's F buttons. I wish I had a T shirt for that show. And at number 50, we have the Butthole Surfers. This was a mistake. When they played their first paying gig, the guy who introduced them introduced them incorrectly. They had plenty of previous names, including The Dick Clark 5,9 centimeter worm makes its Own Food, the Vodka Family Winstons and Ashtray Babyheads, Ed Asner as Gay Zip Gun, and a number of unmentionable names involving the anus of dancer Fred Astaire. But on this particular night in 1984, the stage guy confused the band. No one seems to remember what name they were trying to use that night with the title of one of their songs, which was Butthole Surfer. The gig went well, so they kept it. And against all odds they not only survived with that name, but had a couple of alt rock radio hits like this one from their 1996 major label album Electric Larryland. Ten more names to and all of them are just plain dumb. Okay, this is my list. I get to say what's dumb and what's not. Okay. At 51, we have the Scottish band Dogs Die in Hot Cars. They've had that name since 1997. Still with animals, we have the English band Pigs. Pigs. Pigs, Pigs. Pigs. Pigs. Pigs or pigs times seven for convenience. That's at number 52. They were originally just called Pigs, but kept adding Pigs. Pigs as they strive to be as obnoxious and ridiculous as possible. Good job. And if you haven't heard the band, I actually think they're quite brilliant. More animals for number 53, lubricated goat. This was an Australian noise band formed by singer stu spasm in 1986, and they're still going like pigs times seven. They were just looking for something obnoxious. At number 54, we have Paracachi Diado, Mycosis Proctitis Sarcomucosus. That's a Mexican goregrind band. Their name is a combination of various diseases and medical terms. I'd go through some song titles, but they're insanely offensive. And at number 55, one of my favorite bands of the past few years, England's Wet Leg. Brian Teasdale and Hester Chambers found the name by combining random emojis together on a keyboard. That's a cool idea. Wet Leg and Catch these fists from their 2025 album Moisturizer. Okay, let's burn through the final five songs in this episode of 60. Band name origins in 60 minutes. At 56, we have Natalie Portman's shaved head. They're from Seattle. They have no particular interest in the actor, but they did want a quirky name. They're now called bright Futures. For 57, it's the the Now. That used to be the worst band name to search for online. Because once upon a time, Google queries ignored inputs like Definite Articles. Leader Matt Johnson took a suggestion from his friend Keith when he was looking for something trendy in punk. This is in the late 70s, and in 1979, all the new bands were the bands. So what could be more trendy in punk than calling your group the The? Speaking of bands that are hard to search for online, there's the Sacramento group, whose name is three exclamation points that was inspired by the movie the Gods Must be crazy from 1980, which followed an indigenous person from Southern Africa who spoke the Julhuan language, which uses a series of mouth clicks in written form. That click is represented in English by an exclamation mark. And officially you pronounce the man's name as Chick, chick, chick. That's number 58. I think the name Test Icicles is self explanatory. Just say it fast. They were formed in London 2004 and wanted some kind of, I don't know, provocation. Well done, you. And let's keep dumb names to finish this list with San Diego's Slightly Stupid. They're a rock, reggae, ska, metal, punk band. Bradley Noel of Sublime liked them so much that they were signed to his label when the group was still in high school. The name reflects their stoner attitude and it's something that they take very, very seriously. They created a record that was pressed not into vinyl, but hash resin. It took $6,000 worth of bubble hash and they spent $1,000 to press up a couple of copies. Turns out that hash resin does not make a good medium. They did not sound good. And the experiment didn't work out well, except for one thing, because once it didn't work, you just crush it up and smoke it. And the song that they used was this one, an instrumental called Dab. I hope you got something out of this new version of 60 band name origins in 60 minutes. This is a topic that keeps on giving and we'll do it again and again in the future. And please, please use the term bandaminology. Bandaminology. Bandaminology, Bandaminology. We gotta get that accepted into the English lexicon. Meanwhile, you're also encouraged to catch up on all the ongoing history episodes available as podcasts. There are hundreds of them. We can catch up on the social media platforms. Just search for my name. I have a website, ajournalofmusicalthings.com, which is updated every day. Email can go to AllenAllencross CA and I always answer. And don't forget my other podcast, Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, which is true crime meets music. Technical production for all this is by Rob Johnston. Talk to you next time. I'm Alan Cross.
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