# Real-life bands with punny names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 8, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818 "2023-11-08T13:08:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/21 "2023-11-08T16:38:51Z")
Ted Dancin’ Machine. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/22 "2023-11-08T16:38:57Z")
Wreckless Eric. Also, difficult to argue that he was wreckless, given the state he got into on stage. j ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/23 "2023-11-08T16:45:12Z")
Irish boy band Boyzone is likely a pun off of: > [@](#): > > _Boys’ Own_ or _Boy’s Own_ or _Boys Own_, is the title of a varying series of similarly titled magazines, story papers, and newsletters published at various times and by various publishers, in the United Kingdom and the United States, from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, for preteen and teenage boys. English-Irish pop girl group Girls Aloud is probably a play on “girls allowed”. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/24 "2023-11-08T17:00:01Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > AC/DShe (All female AC/DC cover band) There is a female cover band from Seattle called Hells Belles. I saw them about 15 years ago, a rumor floated around the theater that Brian Johnson from AC/DC was in the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/25 "2023-11-08T17:09:32Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Novelty, parody, and cover bands tend to do this a lot, as with **Dread Zeppelin** (who play reggae renditions of Led Zeppelin tunes) You missed a whole part of their schtick. Their lead singer is a 300-lb Elvis impersonater; calls himself Tortelvis. A lot of their numbers are Zeplin / Elvis mashups. Robert Plant is a big fan. Let’s see… others: Gnarls Barkley (a play on basketball HOFer Charles Barkley) Dire Straits Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band Little Feat (actually named after Lowel George’s small feet) I’ve heard that Steve Winwood was a mama’s boy, because she told him to go out and play in traffic, so he did. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/26 "2023-11-08T17:19:38Z")
Actually, should Abba count? The name was simultaneously derived from the band members’ given names (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid) and a fish related joke: > In 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA (a palindrome). At first, this was a play on words, as Abba is also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in Sweden, and itself an abbreviation. However, since the fish-canners were unknown outside Sweden, Anderson came to believe the name would work in international markets. ([From the wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABBA)) j ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/27 "2023-11-08T17:23:55Z")
Led Zeppelin is a clever pun, because a dirigible is literally a _led_ zeppelin. Then there’s the all-female cover band **Lez Zeppelin.** ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/28 "2023-11-08T17:30:59Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Led Zeppelin is a clever pun, because a dirigible is literally a _led_ zeppelin. I always thought of it like “lead zeppelin”, as in, a lead balloon. Does Siouxsie and the Banshees count? ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/29 "2023-11-08T17:31:22Z")
Band of Oz (North Carolina Beach Music Group) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/30 "2023-11-08T17:35:49Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I always thought of it like “lead zeppelin”, as in, a lead balloon. I remember reading somewhere that Jimmy Page was describing his ideas for the band before it formed to Keith Moon from The Who, who said to him “that’ll go over like a lead Zeppelin”, and the name stuck (with irony, of course). ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/31 "2023-11-08T17:36:10Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Dead Kennedys Is this supposed to be a pun on ‘Ted Kennedy’? I thought it was just a tasteless, punky reference to how many members of the Kennedy family have died young. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I always thought of it like “lead zeppelin”, as in, a lead balloon. This is the story I always heard. They spelled it ‘Led’ so it wouldn’t get mistakenly pronounced ‘_leed_’ as in ‘lead singer’. Which still counts as a pun, I suppose. ETA: Ninja’d! > [@snowthx](#): > > I remember reading somewhere that Jimmy Page was describing his ideas for the band before it formed to Keith Moon from The Who, who said to him “that’ll go over like a lead Zeppelin”, and the name stuck (with irony, of course). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/32 "2023-11-08T17:38:47Z")
The Skatalites (I think a pun on stalactites, maybe?) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/33 "2023-11-08T17:58:42Z")
**Thin Lizzy** ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/34 "2023-11-08T18:04:54Z")
I thought it was ska + satellites ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/35 "2023-11-08T18:05:16Z")
Fairly obscure, but [The Wynona Riders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wynona_Riders). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/36 "2023-11-08T18:09:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Does Siouxsie and the Banshees count? I’m afraid so. But we call the Indian nation “Lakota” now. Nobody says “Sioux” any more. So she can have it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/37 "2023-11-08T18:16:43Z")
[Steve ‘n’ Seagulls](https://stevenseagulls.com/) - I’d say they’re more indie than novelty. [Harmonica Lewinski](https://harmonicalewinski.bandcamp.com/) - Blues band [Kathleen Turner Overdrive](https://kathleenturneroverdrive.bandcamp.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/38 "2023-11-08T18:27:07Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > The prototypical example would be **The Beatles** (beat / beetles). I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize this incredibly obvious thing until maybe my late teens. Maybe because it’s _so_ familiar that when I learned it as a kid (they were always around for me) I just didn’t think about it as an invention, I just added it to my vocabulary as the name for those guys, like a person’s given name? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/39 "2023-11-08T18:33:46Z")
The Wailin’ Jennys (I assume a pun on Waylon Jennings) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818/40 "2023-11-08T18:34:16Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > **Led Zeppelin** …maybe. Jimmy page thought it was a pun on “lead balloon” but he may have had the same English teacher as Alanis Morissette. There’s a story behind this, possibly apocryphal, that (as you say) they were originally going to call it Lead Zeppellin, as in lead balloon - where lead is the metal. But they realized that it might often me misinterpreted as lead (foremost) and thus also mispronounced. So they deliberately went with the wrong spelling to ensure the pronunciation that they wanted without having to constantly say “well actually…” ETA: here’s the version of the story now on Wikipedia: > One account of how the new band’s name was chosen held that Moon and Entwistle had suggested that a supergroup with Page and Beck would go down like a “lead balloon”, an idiom for being very unsuccessful or unpopular.[[21]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEShadwick200536-23) The group dropped the ‘a’ in _lead_ at the suggestion of Peter Grant, so that those unfamiliar with the term would not pronounce it “leed”.[[22]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDavis198557-24) The word “balloon” was replaced by “[zeppelin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin)”, a word which, according to music journalist Keith Shadwick, brought “the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace” to Page’s mind [Led Zeppelin - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-life-bands-with-punny-names/992818.md?page=3)