Many years ago I remember listening to a National Lampoon album called Lemmings. It was a spoof on Woodstock and the last track was a heavy metal group called Megadeath, I’ve always wondered if that’s where they got the name or if it was just a coincidence.
The album itself would have been made in 72 or 73.
Thanks in advance for any answers.
I always assumed Megadeth’s name was a reference to the nuclear war term “megadeath,” meaning a million dead. Whether they got it from Python or not, I couldn’t tell you.
edit: “National Lampoon,” not “Python.”
Just as an aside, one of the early names used by the musicians who eventually became Pink Floyd was “The Megadeaths.” So the name has been floating around for quite a while.
nit pick (or is it nitpick? or nit-pick?): It’s Megadeth, only one “a.”
Yecch! Definitely a poor fit for the Floyds … I mean, the Architectural Abdabs (another one of their old names) is dumb, but at least isn’t out of character with their musical output.
My boyfriend seems to think that pulykamell’s explanation is the correct one. And he does know his useless metal trivia…
Yeah, that’s it. For some reason, Megadeth’s bio is missing from their official site, so I can’t give it to you straight from the horse’s mouth, but that’s it.
Years ago, I read an interview with Dave Mustaine where he did indeed say he got the name from the term for a million dead in a nuclear war. He changed the spelling for no more profound reason than that he thought it looked cool.