By medusa9e (66.73.10.33) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 - 10:35 pm:

hello,
With all the different Musical Groups (Male & Female), I would like 2 know how some of them got their name. I mean like the Temptations, Impressions, Originals, Emotions, Dramatics, Velvelettes, VanDellas, Commadores, just 2 name a few.
I think it would B very interesting 2 get feedback from those who really know...So check N and let us N on it.

By dvdmike (12.84.118.108) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 01:00 pm:

THE BEATLES - Founded by John Lennon in 1958, they were originally known around Liverpool as The Quarrymen, then Johnny & The Moondogs, The Silver Beetles, and finally in 1960, The Beatles after The Crickets, as Buddy Holly was such a huge influence.

THE COASTERS - Rock's first great comedy group got it's start in Los Angeles as The Robins. When record producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller moved to NYC to work for Atlantic Records, they took the core of the group with them (a few of The Robins didn't like the arrangement, they quickly flew into obscurity). The name change reflected their origins "on the Coast".

THE DRIFTERS - Founded in 1953 by former Dominoes frontman Clyde McPhatter, the group got it's name because each of it's members had been "drifting" around from one group to another, prior to joining this one.

THE IMPRESSIONS - Named by their manager, Eddie Thomas becuase he thought the name as well as the group would leave a "lasting impression".

JETHRO TULL - Tull was the 18th century inventor of the seed drill.

KOOL & THE GANG - For bassist/leader Robert "Kool" Bell and his gang of players.

THE O'JAYS - Cleveland DJ Eddie O'Jay gave The Mascots their break and they remamed themselves in his honor.

PUBLIC ENEMY - Leader Chuck D adopted the name to reflect today's perception of young Black males as inherently criminal.

RUFUS - From the Mechanics Illustrated magazine column "Ask Rufus". "Ask Rufus" was also a title of one of their albums.

STEELY DAN - The original Steely Dan appeared in William Burroughs' novel, "Naked Lunch". A milk squirting dildo which lesbians buggered males.

THE TEMPTATIONS - Formed by the union of two Detroit groups, Otis Williams & The Distants and The Elgins. When they auditioned for Motown in 1961, Berry Gordy told them they needed a new name. After hours of deliberation, they finally came up with The Temptations.

THREE DOG NIGHT - An Australian aboriginal term. On cold nights, people would keep warm by sleeping with their dogs. The colder the night, the more dogs they would pile up. A three dog night is known as the coldest night.

THE YARDBIRDS - In honor of the great alto saxman, Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.9) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 01:13 pm:

A couple of additional notes:

The first version of the Beatles' name was typical of John Lennon's surreal humour. The original joke name was "Long John and the Silver Beatles", shortened to "the Silver Beatles".

"The Drifters" name was also inspired by the James Baldwin book of the same title.

The Temptations were formed out of the union of Otis, Mevin and Al (of the Distants) and the Primes - Eddie and Paul. "The Elgins" was a suggested name for the new quintet. BG rejected it as there was already a (relatively) successful West Coast group of the same name. There was already a white New York group called "The Temptations" who recorded for George Goldner, but it's likely that they never copyrighted the name.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.9) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 01:18 pm:

Meant to add this - according to Lionel Richie, the Commodores' name was picked by chance by opening a dictionary, and selecting a random word. He also added that half an inch difference on the page, and the group could have been named "The Commodes".

By STUBASS (152.163.188.68) on Sunday, April 06, 2003 - 10:34 pm:

WHENEVER WE WERE NAMING A GROUP WE WERE IN...ESPECIALLY AS YOUNGER KIDS...WE USUALLY STARTED BY NAMING VARIOUS MODELS OF CARS...THE CADILLACS...THE ELDORADOS...THE LANCERS...THE FAIRLANES...ETC!!!...THE ONLY BAND THAT REALLY GOT IT RIGHT WAS..."THE CARS"!!!...STU(DA-BAKER)BASS

By Mark Speck (65.57.19.241) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 12:19 am:

The Kingsmen--so named because one of them was fond of Kings' Men after shave.

The Shoes--the Boston cult faves took their name from a famous quote by John Lennon. When asked how they came up with the name 'Beatles', John said "We could've called ourselves the Shoes for what it was worth", or something to that effect.

The Statler Brothers--they used to be known as the Kingsmen when they were a gospel act. They got the name 'Statler' off a box of tissues in a hotel room while they were touring.

Interesting story: The gospel Kingsmen (who went on to fame and fortune in country music as the Statler Brothers) had no clue that there was another Kingsmen group (who just happened to have the hottest single in the country with "Louie, Louie") and none of the people who started packing the gospel Kingsmen's shows had no idea that the guys they had paid to see weren't the "Louie, Louie" act. The gospel Kingsmen eventually learned "Louie, Louie" and added it to their act due to popular demand!

Best,

Mark

By Eli (205.188.209.38) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 06:31 am:

In the fifties there was a phenomenon whereby a great many group members must have been ornithology majors as there was a proliferation of "bird" groups as in the Flamingos, Sparrows, Cardinals,Crows, Jayhawks, Robins, Parakeets,
Wrens, Swallows, even the actor Walter Pigeon!!!

By douglasm (68.113.13.31) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 10:40 am:

Which begs the question..
...Is Paul Revere Paul Revere's real name?
Didn't I see somewhere that "Mitch Ryder" was picked out of a phone book?

By Michael/Cleoharvey (160.79.83.208) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 12:06 pm:

DVD Mike

Great info on group namings!

in addition:

THE SUPREMES: legend has it that Motown suggested the ladies change their names from the "Primettes" and that Florence Ballard picked the name from a list of suggestions because she liked the sound of it. I once asked Mary Wilson about this and she confirmed that Florence did pick the name. She said that at first she and "Diane" did not like the name because it was masculine sounding, but Florence insisted and the rest is history.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 04:56 pm:

Eddie Thomas is one of my music biz mentors who told me that he helped come up with the Impressions not only because the name would give a "lasting impression", but the group got heckled every time they performed under their original name - the Roosters (cock-a-doodle-doo!) .

Kevin Goins - KevGo

By Mark Speck (65.56.217.227) on Monday, April 07, 2003 - 11:25 pm:

Mitch Ryder was picked out of a phone book, as was Bobby Darin!

Here are a couple more:

The Hollies--named after a certain bespectacled rock legend, need I say more?

The Searchers--after the famous John Wayne Western film. This film also inspired a hit single based on something Wayne said several times during the course of the movie: "That'll be the day!".

Best,

Mark

By dvdmike (65.208.234.61) on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 07:06 am:

Paul Revere is his real name

By Eli (205.188.209.38) on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 08:14 am:

I beleive that the Vandellas name was a contraction between Van Dyke street where they lived and Della reese who they admired.