A lot of these are known/obvious, but it's a good list...

http://l337.info/media/Keith_Duffell-Or ... _Names.htm

Man, I always thought 808 State referred to Hawaii.

It says there that James were named after James Joyce but I've heard that in fact they named themselves after James Kirk, the guitarist in Orange Juice with whom they toured very early in their careers.

I didn't realise how many bands named themselves after porn movies.

They need to add these quick smart.

THE BLUEHATS - Named after a members penchant for wearing a blue woolly hat. After many tribulations the group officially split after Davy Bluehat left the original 'sacred' blue hat at a job interview.

SHAMBOLIC TRUMPETS - Whilst reviewing a King Tubby track, founder Darrin Frew, noted it's "shambolic trumpet", liked the phrase and stored it in his head until the day came to form a new band after the break up of The Bluehats.

After confirming the Steely Dan origin, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple are fairly disappointing.


I understood they did play as Mookie Blaylock for a while and received lawsuit threats or something. Ten is a reference to Mookie's jersey number.

That site plays hell with my potential Pop Quiz questions, goddammit. Plus, a few of the entries are questionable. To wit:

I'm pretty sure Buck Cherry is simply a play on Chuck Berry. They also stole the moniker from Buck Cherry of the Modernettes and ended up having to settle out of court for the continued usage.

"Beastie" is an acronym for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Toward Internal Excellence".

that can't POSSIBLY be true.

Isn't beastie just old Brit slang for "unsavory person?"