I remember hearing some comedy segment on the radio called “Rock Minute with Ian St. Ian”. That has to go up there somewhere.
(The only other thing I remember about the sketch was, “Rock Minute is brought to you by Gibson and Marshall. If you don’t play Gibson and Marshall, you’re a wanker!”)
Nikki Sixx
I second Alice Cooper.
George Thorogood just sounds good, but I’m not sure it’s spelled right.
Mick Jagger sounds very rock n roll to me.
Jack Black (of Tenacious D)
Mark Sandman (of Morphine)
Poison Ivy Rorschach (of the Cramps)
Lux Interior (of the Cramps)
Reverend Horton Heat (aka Jim Heath)
The Edge (aka David Evans, of U2)
Mike Ness (of Social Distortion)
Neko Case
Sharin Foo (of the Raveonettes)
Roddy Radiation (of the Specials)
I can’t believe I’m the first:
David St. Hubbins
Nigel Tufnel
Mick Shrimpton
Derek Smalls
Spinal Tap ROCKS! (Sorry, no umlauts)…
Shark Darkwater of They Eat Their Own. Coolest. Name. Ever.
Runner-up: Kyle Kyle of Bang Tango.
Larry Parnes created a whol subset of stage names for his stable of performers:
Richard Knellar = Dickie Pride
Ray Howard = Duffy Power
John Askew = Johnny Gentle
Roy Taylor = Vince Eager
Ronnie Wycherley = Billy Fury
Tommy Hicks = Tommy Steel
Apparently Joe Brown refused Parnes’s suggestion of Elmer Twitch…
The only name that matters…Joe Strummer.
That Jethro Tull dude’s gotta cool name.
Yes, I know.
Rat Scabies, from the Damned
Leon Redbone (although not rock n roll)
Matthias Jabs, from the Scorpions. All the Scorpions, really, nothing says authentic-umlaut-metal better than a German name
Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was named by a bandmate (Vicious?) He had green teeth, and he wasn’t into bathing. (possibly inaccurate quote) “He was the nastiest geezer I ever met.” By “geezer” he didn’t mean “old man.” They used “geezing up” to mean “injecting heroin.”
Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
Guy Mann Dude
Real: Tom Waits. There’s a nice, elegant simplicity to it. A phrase as evocative as “Jesus wept.”
Assumed: Captain Sensible from The Damned. I wish I would have thought of this name first.
Couldn’t have been Vicious; he didn’t join the band until they were already notorious. Was it Malcolm McLaren who came up with the name?
Elton John. The name’s become an institution.
A name he made up by borrowing from fellow Bluesology bandmates:(Jazz saxaphonist) Elton Dean &
(My fave Brit Bluesman) Long John Baldry.
All mine have been taken…though Iggy Pop deserves to be mentioned twice.
How 'bout…Stiv Bators.
Or oldies but goodies:
(Sweet) Gene Vincent and
Jerry Lee Lewis
And for god sake - Little Richard!