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Band Name Origins

Name the band or artist from the derivation of their name. There's a major variety of genres represented, and beware: some of these are tricky and may require general knowledge rather than just musical knowledge.


01 - The initials of the four members of the band, one of them backward.

02 - Named for a town in Michigan that just happened to be under the pin that the band stuck in a map at random.

03 - Inspired by the title of an Aldous Huxley novel in turn inspired by a quote from William Blake about perception.

04 - A classic pickup truck built by Oldsmobile in the 1930s.

05 - A combination of the first names of the band's favourite couple of blues musicians.

06 - This band played under a different name each gig, and finally got signed while named for the inventor of the seed drill.

07 - A medieval torture device involving a body shaped casket full of internal spikes.

08 - A hut used by prisoners forced into prostitution for the benefit of Nazi officers.

09 - The German for 'power station', which is highly appropriate given the band's musical style.

10 - Military benchmark of a million people killed by a nuclear blast.

11 - The title of the 1913 manifesto by the Italian futurist Luigi Russolo who constructed musical machines.

12 - Named after the Leonard Cohen song rather than the order of nuns who feature in its lyrics.

13 - The strongest legal alcoholic drink available in the United States, at 190 proof or 95% alcohol.

14 - A parody of the name of glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd who they once played alongside.

15 - The title of a book about S&M discovered on a New York sidewalk by one of the band members.

16 - Corrupted from the principal villain in the Jane Fonda film Barbarella.

17 - With typical subtlety, a shortened version of the Gaelic for 'kiss my arse'.

18 - The greatest amount of voice, at least in Latin.

19 - An inaccurate estimate of the amount of sperm produced by the average man per ejaculation (note: apparently an urban legend but...).

20 - Late 19th century slang for burst facial capillaries caused through alcohol abuse, inspired by a photo of W C Fields.

21 - A steam powered steel dildo from William Burroughs's novel 'The Naked Lunch'.

22 - Fittingly given his image, he got his name from an 18th century witch who talked to him through a ouija board.

23 - Named for the extravagant bouffant hairstyle sported by two key members, not for the bombers.

24 - Inspired by the yellow and black striped shirt he used to wear constantly and that made him look like a bee.

25 - Broadcasting jargon for shots that show only the head and shoulders of the subject.

26 - Named for the most famous literary invention of his great great grand uncle Herman Melville.

27 - Bizarrely, American slang for period pains.

28 - The name of an unemployment benefit form in England.

29 - The mythological river that Charon ferried the dead across to reach Hades.

30 - He took his name from a take on Fats Domino, thought up by Dick Clark's wife.

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