10CC

The line-up of these art rockers from Stockport (England) is impressive, with names as Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and, in particular, Graham Gouldman (the latter the spiritual father of such splendid songs as For Your Love, Bus Stop, Look Through Any Window and No Milk Today). 

Producer Jonathan King is supposed to have been the inventor of the name 10CC, convinced as he was that an average ejaculation yields about 9 cc semen and therefore that 10 cc is an enviable quantity. 

Two comments need to be made on this subject. One is that later King came back on his words and claimed the name 'had come to him in a dream' (can happen to any man of course), the other is that the '9 cc-story' is wrong from a biological viewpoint: the end shot of an average man - whoever he may be - actually can not be estimated very well; it varies from 0.1 cc to (yes!) 10 cc.

Volume-wise Premier League, this English band. 

Active: 1972-1983; 1991-1995; 1999-present, GBR

See also: Lovin' Spoonful

Zebra Three - Wake up guys!

Not to be confused with the just as American hard rock band Zebra from New Orleans, Louisiana, that - quite predictably - performs in vertically striped shirts. 

Contrastingly Zebra Three owes its reputation mainly to its most prominent band member, Troy Hess, who was promoted by his father, Bennie Hess, at the age of only two! When he was entitled to be called a veteran - Troy was seven years old by then - this child prodigy recorded the song Please Don't Go Topless, Mother. 

Later he formed the band Zebra Three, a kind of cover band that vents its herd instinct by playing mediocre songs performed much earlier and much better - or at least more professionally - by the original artists. 

The band name Zebra Three has been pinched as well, because with this name Troy and his colleagues in fact refer to the American Starsky & Hutch television series, degenerated to camp by now. In that series Zebra Three was the code name (radio call) the fictional Bay City Police Department used to wake the two Homicide Division detectives up or bring them into line. 

Active: ca. 1978-present, USA

Was (Not Was) band name meaning

There are always those bands who feel they can only exist if all members are willing to use one and the same last name. The Ramones are convincing evidence. That is also the case with Was (Not Was): the founders of this pop rock band originating from Detroit, Michigan, David Weiss and Don Fagenson, go through life musically as Don and David Was. 

Make sure to say the name correctly: say wââhs and not wos. To give the fans a helping hand a band name was conceived of that - for all we know - is unique in the sense that it includes a compact pronunciation guide. So in fact we need to read Was (Not Was) as Wââhs (Not Wos). 

Will you please keep this in mind from now on? Thank you.

Violent Femmes band name meaning

Not wild ladies, but instead firmly rocking gentlemen formed the strength of the folk punk band Violent Femmes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Out of respect for the multilingual capabilities of our readers, we will refrain from translating Violent Femmes, and limit ourselves to the observation that the name has an ironic meaning. A femme in Anglo-Saxon countries is the female component of a lesbian couple, let's say the fudge that is the soft inside of the rock hard jawbreaker. 

The imagination the band displays by uniting the concepts of femme and 'violence' is admirable.

Uriah Heep band name meaning

Many hold Uriah Heep responsible for the birth of English hard rock, together with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. 

The London band earns at least some credit because they published one of the most beautiful record-covers of all time: the cover of their debut LP Very 'eavy, Very 'umble (1970), which at first glance shows the mug of a corpse in a state of decomposition. Upon closer inspection however it concerns a somewhat flattering portrait of the former singer, David Byron.

In America they would have none of it: an alternative cover was brought out there. 

Uriah Heep - Charles Dickens - David Copperfield

Uriah Heep is, as virtually all observant English boys and girls know, an evil character from one of Charles Dickens’ novels, David Copperfield (1850). Heep is a fraudulent bookkeeper who ruins an aunt of the leading character, Betsey. Fortunately he does not escape his deserved punishment, because Uriah ends up in prison. 

Pearl Jam - Makes you think...

This alternative rock band once started as Mookie Blaylock, the famous basketball player of that name. The perhaps most famous band member of the formation from Seattle, Washington is singer/guitarist Eddy Vedder.

Peyote cactus

Eddy had a great-grandmother who was called Pearl and who took pleasure in filling hefty preserving bottles with jam. One of her specialties was a 'white version' that had every right to be called ‘alternative' because a fair amount of peyote was added to it, with all its hallucinating consequences.

At least that was the story Vedder dished up rather convincingly in the beginning of Pearl Jam’s career. Later however, in a Rolling Stone interview, Eddy qualified this statement as total bullshit with the same ease, although he admitted that his great-grandmother actually was called Pearl.  Other band members claim that their group name was Pearl at first, and that later - because of their preference for endlessly spreading out their songs - Jam was added.

Many fans hold the view that if one imagines a slithery, white substance with a pearly luster, one’s thoughts will inevitably turn to sperm.

Active: 1990-present, USA