Tuesday, January 10, 2012

More Names of Bands and Performers, C - D



Canned Heat
Slang term for Sterno, a commercial jellied alcohol used to heat food, typically placed beneath metal pans on a banquet or buffet line. Strained through cloth (or sometimes even white bread), it can be drunk to get intoxicated. Early Mississippi Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson is said to have drank "canned heat," and wrote his song "Canned Heat Blues" about the nasty stuff. The 1960s blues-rock band Canned Heat took their name from the Tommy Johnson song.
Charles, Ray
His actual name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he did not want to be confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, so dropped the Rosinson.
Cheap Trick
They say the band members asked a Ouija Board what they should call themselves.
Chubby Checker
Dick Clark's wife thought up the name as a take off on Fats Domino.
Chicago
Originally named "Chicago Transit Authority" after Chicago's public transport department, they changed their name to Chicago when the department threatened legal action.   Presumably the citizens of Chicago were thereafter able to sleep safe in their beds, protected by the vigilance of the suits of the CTA.
Chumbawamba
In a band member's dream, he didn't know which door to use in a public toilet because the signs said "Chumba" and "Wamba" instead of "Men" and "Women"


Clannad
The band members were all from a family living in Gweedore in the county of Donegal (N. Ireland). Clannad is an abbreviation of "Clann as Dobhar", which means "the family from Gweedore". 
Coldplay
Chris, Jonny, Will & Guy were called "Starfish" originally and a friend's group was called "Coldplay". When they did not want the name anymore, "Starfish" asked if they could use it instead. The original Coldplay took the name from a book of collected poems.
Cold War Kids
According to bassist Matt Maust:  "I had the name six or seven years before the band started -- so probably since 1997.  I was travelling in Eastern Europe with my brother. There's this big park in Budapest where they dumped all these statues that had been removed after Communism fell. Now it's just a place where people can go and have picnics. There's a playground there. So being in that environment just made the phrase 'Cold War Kids' pop into my head. I may have heard it before. I'm a cold war kid, too -- I was born in 1979. Originally, I used the name for a website I had where I posted art and poems. Then when I started playing music with the guys, they thought it would be a good name for the band, too."
Costello, Elvis
Declan Patrick McManus combined Elvis Presley's first name with his great grandmother's last name Costello, which his father also performed under as Day Costello. 
Cranberries
Originally called Cranberries Saw Us,  a joke on Cranberry Sauce) they changed it to the shorter form later.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The band took the three elements from, firstly, Tom Fogerty's friend Credence Newball, (to whose first name Credence they added an extra 'e', making it resemble a faith or creed); secondly, "clear water" from a TV commercial for Olympia beer; and finally "revival", which spoke to the four members' renewed commitment to their band.  An alternative explanation is that the favourite beer of Norvel Credence, was called Clearwater.  After a brief absence from the marketplace it was re-introduced by another brewery, hence Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Crowded House
This Australian / New Zealand trio chose the name from their cramped living conditions at North Sycamore Street in Los Angeles while working on their debut album. 
Dead Kennedys
According to vocalist Jello Biafra, the name was not intended to insult the assassinated Kennedy brothers but "to bring attention to the end of the American Dream"
Deep Purple
Originally named Roundabout, the name was changed to Deep Purple after the favourite song of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore’s grandmother.  Second choice had been Concrete God.  Btw, they were once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the loudest rock group. 
Denver, John
A tribute to the Rocky Mountain area, an area John Henry Deutschendorf cherished.
Devo
Shortened form of "de-evolution" - the opposite of evolution - expressing the band's opinion on what the planet is going through.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Named themselves after the slang term for a pep pill called Dexedrine, even though the band themselves had a policy of no drink or drugs!
Dire Straits
It describes the financial situation the band in the early days.
Doobie Brothers
A doobie was 60's slang for a marijuana joint. Supposedly, the name was chosen aboard the U.S.S. Independence. When another crew member caught one of the future band members smoking marijuana, he exclaimed, "I see the Doobie Brothers are at it again." However, there seems to be some disagreement on this point, and some claim they were simply in a basement passing around a joint when they happened upon the name. Either way, it was better than their previous name - Pud.
Doors, The
Jim Morrison read poet William Blake who said "if the doors of perception are cleansed, everything would appear to man as it truly is, infinite. "He was also influenced by author Aldous Huxley who referred to the same line when he titled his book on drug experimentation The Doors of Perception.  "There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors" 
Dropkick Murphy
There are differing stories as to the origin of the band's name. Former band member Marc Orrell has said:
“The Dropkick Murphy will come and get you if you don't go to sleep tonight. It's a rehab centre, I think it's in Connecticut. I think it was the guy who used to come around late at night for all the drunks, like if you were too drunk to drive home, he would come and get you and put you in this hole that you couldn't get out until you were sober enough, I don't know. There's a bunch a stories, it's also a boxer, a bunch of things, a rehab centre in Connecticut, grandparents used to scare kids with it.”
Duran Duran
Named after a character in the Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.
Dylan, Bob
His real name is Robert Zimmerman - he liked the poet Dylan Thomas.


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