WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Got a band? You could call it anything. As the cryptically named Imagine Dragons release their new album Friday, Jim Reyno reviews some unique musical monikers.
IMAGINE DRAGONS
The Las Vegas rockers say their name is an anagram of a phrase known only to the four band members. Fans try to come up with the phrase, and lead singer Dan Reynolds has said he’s been approached by people thinking they’ve got it figured out. Possibly, but maybe it’s just A Dim Orange Sign.
THE BAND
When they were on the front lines with folk icon Bob Dylan on his first electric tours in the mid1960s, The Band were dismissed by many outraged critics as merely … the band (lowercase). They took ownership of the slight and soon became known for their unique sound and excellent musicianship. They became The Band (uppercase), as in The Best.
BARENAKED LADIES
Dylan had an indirect hand in the creation of this band name, as well. Bored at a late 1980s Dylan concert in Toronto, Ed Robertson and Steven Page began goofing around, pretending to be rock critics and inventing stories about Dylan’s band, including fictitious band names. Barenaked Ladies was one of them.
ABBA
The only thing better than an acronym is a palindromic acronym. The 1970s Swedish superstars named their band after the foursome’s first-name initials: Ag- netha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. If they used their lastname initials, they could have been ULAF (not as catchy).
THE BLACK KEYS
According to a Reddit interview with Patrick Carney, a schizophrenic artist was friends with Carney’s father as well as bandmate Dan Auerbach’s dad in Akron, Ohio. The artist frequently called their homes looking for “pipe tobacco, Diet Coke and crayons.” Carney said he’d end his mes- sages with “Don’t be a black key. Don’t be a B-flat.”
DAFT PUNK
You might not peg this electronic French duo as Beach Boys fans, but apparently they are. GuyManuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter were in an indie rock band in the early 1990s named Darlin’, after the Beach Boys single. A crappy review called their music “daft punky thrash.” Bangalter and de Homem-Christo adapted the dis and went from there.
HOLY F--K
Innovative Toronto electronica’s name comes from the common expletive, often used to demonstrate surprise. No sh--. “We started this band to make music, not a way to get out this ‘hilarious’ name,” founding member Graham Walsh said in a 2008 interview. “We wouldn’t be where we were if people didn’t like our music, but most interviews ask us why we named the band that.”
SPANDAU BALLET
Known for the tender No. 1 ballad True, the history of the band’s name isn’t as endearing. A friend of the band saw “Spandau Ballet” written on the wall of the men’s john in a Berlin nightclub. “Spandau” refers to a notorious local prison; and “ballet” is the convulsions prisoners made when they were hanged.
SLOAN
Named after a friend of the Halifax-born band. The friend was nicknamed “Slow One” by his French-speaking boss, which sounded more like “Sloan” with the accent.
WEEZER
Los Angeles band’s name comes from some of frontman Rivers Cuomo’s kind-hearted childhood classmates. They called Cuomo “Weezer” because he has asthma. Score the last laugh to Cuomo.