# "That'll go over like a Led Zeppelin" And other Origins of Band names. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230 "2003-03-05T13:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/1 "2003-03-05T13:33:13Z")
I was listening to the best radio station on the planet out of the Hamptons - Long Guyland - for those who don’t know. And they were talking about Origins of Band names. I was, of course, first thinking about one of the most famous rock bands of all time **Led Zeppelin** and how they got their awesome name. History plays it like this: > [@](#): > > The new band that former Yardbird Jimmy Page was putting together with John Paul Jones was going to be called The New Yardbirds. Keith Moon of The Who commented, “that’ll go over like a lead zeppelin.” They took that for their name, but changed the spelling of “lead” so that their fans would know how to pronounce it. Having been around the block several times, and been around when Zeppelin was still a band one could see in concert, I personally think Keith Moon stole the idea from John Entwistle, but because they settled their little tiff a few months after the band officially formed I am not bent about it even though Keith got all the recognition. So anyone else? Who knows any other famous band name origins??? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/2 "2003-03-05T13:53:39Z")
Actually, Moon’s phrase was “lead balloon.” I know the Grateful Dead came from someone flipping through a dictionary looking for two words that just sounded good together. Sixpence None The Richer comes from, I think, a C.S. Lewis story. Save Ferris, from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Aerosmith is a play on the title of a book by Hermann Hesse (Arrowsmith). The Boo Radleys from the classic book, To Kill a Mockingbird. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/3 "2003-03-05T14:00:34Z")
[http://www.geocities.com/krnboi78/bandnames.html](http://www.geocities.com/krnboi78/bandnames.html) [http://www.heathenworld.com/bandname/index.html](http://www.heathenworld.com/bandname/index.html) [http://www.progdome.com/band\_frame.htm](http://www.progdome.com/band_frame.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/4 "2003-03-05T14:04:16Z")
Oh come on **Reality** , thats no fun. I’m talking about insider stuff or hearsay? ---
**Author:** ![dragongirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@dragongirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragongirl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/5 "2003-03-05T14:09:24Z")
I remember hearing how Motley Crue got it’s name. At first they were called Christmas, but someone walked in and saw them all hanging around and said, Doesn’t this look like a Motley Crue. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/6 "2003-03-05T14:29:09Z")
Daft Punk’s origin is similar to Motley Crue’s. Back in the day before they made French House and were involved in indie noise-pop, a review described them as _Daft Punk_ and so they were named. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/7 "2003-03-05T14:36:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeOnWry \* > \*\*Actually, Moon’s phrase was “lead balloon.” > > I know the Grateful Dead came from someone flipping through a dictionary looking for two words that just sounded good together. Sixpence None The Richer comes from, I think, a C.S. Lewis story. Save Ferris, from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Aerosmith is a play on the title of a book by Hermann Hesse (Arrowsmith). The Boo Radleys from the classic book, To Kill a Mockingbird. \*\* Nitpick: “Arrowsmith” was by Sinclair Lewis, not Hesse. - 1. Judas Priest took their name from an old Bob Dylan song (“The Ballad of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest”). 2. Bad Company named themselves after an old Jeff Bridges western movie. 3. ABBA is an acronym of the first names of the four members of the band (Anna, Benny, Bjorn, Anna-Frida). 4. Uriah Heep was a character in Dickens’ “David Copperfield.” 5. The Marshall Tucker Band named themselves after a blind piano tuner named Marshall Tucker, whose business card they’d found lying around a studio. 6. Lynyrd Skynyrd was named after Leonard Skinner, a high school gym teacher who used to antagonize singer Ronnie van Zant. 7. Steely Dan was a dildo in William Burroughs’ novel “Naked Lunch.” 8. Pink Floyd combined the names of two blues musician: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. 9. Jethro Tull was a 19th century English agronomist. 10. The Moody Blues originally called themselves the MB5, hoping the local MB brewery would sponsor them. When the sponsorship fell through, they kept the initials and adopted the name of an old Slim Harpo song, “Moody Blue.” 11. The Bee Gees originally performed as the Brothers Gibb. “B.G.”- get it? 12. An English band called “Earth” changed their name after seeing a cheesey Boris Karloff horror movie called “Black Sabbath.” ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/8 "2003-03-05T15:14:56Z")
The Champs (of “Tequila” fame) got their name from Gene Autry’s horse, Champion. Autry owned the record label that released “Tequila.” (I think the label was Paragon) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/9 "2003-03-05T15:28:04Z")
The Herman Hesse book-named-band you’re prolly thinking of is **Steppenwolfe**. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/10 "2003-03-05T15:29:35Z")
I always heard that Def Leapord patterned their name after Led Zepplin. Def Leapord Led Zepplin Two words, same syllable pattern, ect. Of course this may have been told to me by some cranky older person who loved Zepplin and hated the ‘poser newcomers’. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/11 "2003-03-05T15:30:44Z")
**Duran Duran** -the villain in “Barbarella.” ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/12 "2003-03-05T15:45:55Z")
Deep Purple was named after a popular '40’s song. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/13 "2003-03-05T15:46:32Z")
I’ll never think of Steely Dan the same… Thanks ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/14 "2003-03-05T15:49:14Z")
It’s “Def Leppard.” - Eddie Vedder claims that Pearl Jam got its name from his Grandma Pearl’s family-famous jam preserves, dubbed “Pearl’s jam.” - The Tragically Hip got their name from a Mike Nesmith video, which includes a scene of rich people holding a charity sale for themselves, with a sign saying “for the benefit of the tragically hip.” - Van Halen and Bon Jovi, of course, just took the last name of someone in the band. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/15 "2003-03-05T15:52:15Z")
Black Sabbath was originally a song named after a Boris Karloff film. They then adopted it as a name for the band due to it’s ominous implications. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/16 "2003-03-05T16:28:57Z")
Toad the Wet Sprocket was the name of a fictional band mentioned in a Monty Python sketch. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/17 "2003-03-05T16:32:19Z")
A few more: 1. “The Velvet Underground” was a trashy paperback novel about sexual perversity in suburbia. 2. “They Might Be Giants” was an old movie in which George C. Scott played a lunatic who thinks he’s Sherlock Holmes. 3. “Autobiography of a Supertramp” was a book by poet W.H. Davies. (The band’s leader was Rick Davies- that may be coincidental, I’m not sure.) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/18 "2003-03-05T16:50:51Z")
The Beatles got their name because Lennon really liked the double meaning of Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Of course, there wasn’t a double meaning because Americans don’t play Cricket. That didn’t stop John though… ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/19 "2003-03-05T19:41:54Z")
Yes, I mixed up my origins for Steppenwolf and Aerosmith. Right idea, wrong connecton. It’s my understanding that Stone Temple Pilots originally called themselves “Shirley Temple’s Pussy” and that they caved to pressure to change to something more widely acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230/20 "2003-03-05T19:48:59Z")
The Aussie Punk band The Hard Ons were trying to think of a name when they were hanging out. One of them was looking through a penthouse and got an “inspiration” Oingo Boingo was named because of an earlier musical theater troupe incarnation “The Mystic Nights of the Oingo Boingo” which was partially stolen from an Amos and Andy bit referring so some organization named “The Mystical Knights of _something_” and they tacked the nonsenical Oingo Boingo at the end. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thatll-go-over-like-a-led-zeppelin-and-other-origins-of-band-names/159230.md?page=2)