STAN FREBERG HERE...Where Do Rock Bands Get Their Names?
Stan Freberg here. Does anybody outside of me wonder at the names rock bands pick for themselves? "Toad the Wet Sprocket"? "Hole"? "Hum"? Not "Hole Hum"--"Hole" is one band, "Hum" is another. Hum? Be right back. [:60 SPOT BREAK]
Freberg here. When I was a boy, bands used to be called by the leader's name--The Benny Goodman Band, the Harry James band, and so forth. Even later in the rock era, Elvis Presley didn't front a band called "Hole" or "Nine Inch Nails." It was just "Elvis" and his back-up band. But the names of bands have gotten more and more ridiculous.
Even The Beatles had a "the" in front of their name. But now we have bands called "Toad the Wet Sprocket" and "Nine Inch Nails." Is there a Mister Nails? "Telephone, Mr. Nails!"
Here's a couple of beauts: "Firehose." "Pavement." I guess it was a hard choice between "Pavement" and "Asphalt."
How about this for the name of a band: "Hum"? "Hum? Telephone, Mr. Hum!"
Courtney Love could have called her own group "The Courtney Love Band," but no, here's the classy name she picked for her band, as I'm sure you know: "Hole." When her record company tried to talk her into picking a name with less vulgar overtones, I'm sure she told them where they could shove it.
Her "in your face" attitude probably obscured the obvious name Courtney Love could have picked: "Love." Wouldn't that be a better name than "Hole" to leave as a legacy for her little girl?
"Love." Think it over, Courtney--it's not too late.
Stan Freberg here.
Copyright (C)1996, Stan Freberg/Freberg, Ltd. (but not very) Distributed by Dick Brescia Associates and Radio Spirits, Inc.