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You can learn a lot about a band by what they decide on when coming up with a name. The best bands with animals in their names come from all over the world, covering music genres like indie rock, classic rock, and some alternative rock too.
It's not every day that a band names themselves after being inspired by literature or some sketchy person inspires you to name your band after saying the same thing as a song on repeat. The only rule here is that band isn't just named after an animal, but how each band stumbled across the names music fans know them for.
Blue Öyster Cult Came From A Poem By Their Manager
Blue Öyster Cult came from a sixties poem written by their manager, Sandy Pearlman. The poem was about a group of aliens who assembled to secretly guide Earth's history.
The band first started out under the name Soft White Underbelly. The name came from a phrase by Winston Churchill in describing Italy during World War II.
The Animals Were Described To Be Wild For Their Stage Act
In a 2013 interview with ABC Perth, Eric Burdon denied the description. Instead, the frontman stated that the name came from some friends they used to hang out with.
One of those friends was "Animal" Hogg. Despite success with the No. 1 hit single, "House of the Rising Sun," the band underwent numerous personnel changes in the mid-sixties while suffering from poor business management.
Eagles Name Came Out Of Hopi Indian Mythology
One version of the name came out of Don Fedler's autobiography Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles.
The former lead guitarist credited Bernie Leadon with originating the group's name during an outing in the Mojave Desert. Leadon suggested the name because of his interest in Hopi Indian mythology, specifically, the tribe's reverence for the eagle. Fun fact: one band had three different meanings behind their name. Find out who wanted to make reference to jazz musician Charlie "Yardbird" Parker shortly.
Scorpions Other Name Choice Was Stalingrad
Producer Conny Plank suggested Stalingrad since it sounded aggressive and he wanted to make the group into an early Rammstein.
Vocalist Klaus Meine recalled on the moment in an interview with Louder Sound. "Scorpions we thought was alright, but there were names like Led Zeppelin and Jefferson Starship, we thought our named sounded too simple."
Three Dog Night Was Suggested As A Name From A Magazine About Indigenous Australians
In the CD set Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1964-1975, vocalist Danny Hutton's ex-girlfriend, June Fairchild, suggested the name.
The actress found it after reading an article about indigenous Australians. It explained that on cold nights, they would sleep with two dogs, and if it was freeing, it was a "three dog night."
The Yardbirds Can Mean Three Different Things
The band that throttled the careers of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck had an interesting take to their name.
The name could be an expression for hobos hanging around rail yards, or prisoners hanging out in a prison yard, or it's a reference to jazz musician Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. Just ahead, once David Crosby joined this band, they paid tribute to the fab four from England.
The Crickets Settled On Their Name Because Of The Insects Ability To Make Music
In Buddy Holly- His Life and Music, the group was inspired by other groups named by birds.
Record producer Norman Petty suggested the band comes up with a new name. They considered insect-centered names and stuck with "Crickets" since they're known for making unique sounds.
Steppenwolf Was Named After A Novel
When John Kay's band chose Steppenwolf, the singer had heard of a novel by German author Herman Hesse. Steppenwolf tells the story of a man who feels alienated from modern civilization as he's going through an existential crisis.
Kay hadn't read the book yet, but the band's producer did and liked the title, so he suggested it.
The Byrds Were Like The Beatles
The band first formed as The Jet Set in 1964. Once David Crosby was added to the group, they changed their name to the Beefeaters.
Then, they changed their name a second time, settling on Byrds, misspelled like The Beatles. Today, the Byrds are considered to be one of the most influential bands of the sixties. Who was John Lennon obsessed with during his teenage years that lead to the Fab Four's name? The answer to that is still on the way.
Whitesnake Was Named After A Snake
Following David Coverdale's departure from Deep Purple, he was looking for his next big thing.
The frontman came up with the name after he owned a white albino ball python snake. The other story was that Coverdale named the band after male genitalia, but having a snake as a pet seems more legit.
Def Leppard Modified Their Name To Make It Sound Less Punk
The group started out as Atomic Mass in 1977. Lead singer Joe Elliot proposed the name "Deaf Leopard" when he thought of band names in his English classes.
Former percussionist Tony Kenning suggested the spelling should be altered to make the band sounds less like a punk band.
The Beatles Were Inspired By Buddy Holly
Originally known as The Quarrymen, John Lennon and Stu Sutcliffe came up with the name as the pair loved Buddy Holly and his group The Crickets.
The two went through an extensive list of insect names and finally settled on Beetles, before switching to the name they're popularly known for. Just ahead, the American version of the Fab Four was inspired by the band's film A Hard Days Night.
Arctic Monkeys Was The Only Name They Came Up With
Singer Alex Turner said that the name was the first one the four-piece band came up with. It's the only name they've ever had.
During an interview withNME, the singer believes the name sounds like a first band name and it's a really bad one for an alternative rock band.
Gorillaz Is A Pun And A Nod To Oasis
The band first identified themselves as "Gorilla", which could be a play on for the word "guerilla." The Gallaghers of Oasis said in an interview with CMJ that "We're the Beatles and the Stones and they're the Monkees."
Referencing Damon Albarn's previous band, the second origin is a diss to Albarn's former Britpop rivals.
The Monkees Were Named After A TV Show
Filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider were inspired by the Beatles film A Hard Days Night.
They landed with a show with a musical acting quartet composed of Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones. The four men would embark on a successful run thanks to their TV show and their short-lived careers. One more band mirrored themselves after the Byrds and the Beatles. Hint: it's one of the slowest animals in the world.
Cage The Elephant Was Inspired By Some Crazy Guy
Singer Matthew Shultz recalled of the sketchy moment in Spin Magazine after a show in Knoxville, Tennesse. "We saw this guy with a shaved head and a long goatee yelling and screaming to himself.
He beelined towards us and everyone jumped into the car. I didn't make it, but he came up to me a gave me a hug. The whole time he was saying 'You have to cage the elephant.'"
Hootie & The Blowfish Is A Conjunction Of Its Two Band Members
When the band was just Mark Bryan and Darius Rucker, the pair was known as the Wolf Brothers.
One of them was called "Hootie" because of their owlish appearance and round-rimmed glasses. The other one had cheeks like Dizzy Gillespie, earning him the nickname "Blowfish."
The Turtles Was Stylized Like The Byrds And Beatles
Adhering to the popular musical trend, they rebranded as the Tyrtles, intentionally spelling it the same as the bands who inspired them.
Unfortunately, the trendy spelling didn't last long. Like The Byrds, the Turtles achieved success with a cover of a Bob Dylan song "It Ain't Me Babe."
Papa Roach Was Named After Jacoby Shaddix's Grandfather
At first, the group wanted to be named Papa Gato, a tribute to Latin percussionist Poncho Sanchez.
Then, frontman Jacoby Shaddix wanted to name it after his grandfather, whose last name was Roach. Papa Roach had a grimy sense of longevity for the veteran alt-metal heroes.
Modest Mouse Is From A Passage The Mark On The Wall
The Virginia Woolf story had this passage "I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasant thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises."
Somehow, they've been around since 1992, but really made it big with their hit single "Float On" in 2003.