When HAM radio was a craze, I wondered what inspired operators’ handles. When Email appeared, I wondered the same, but found addresses a bit more transparent. Like the guy I knew who was devastated by his recent divorce and was LostAtSea@etc.
I wonder what inspires band names. So I asked:
Williams Honor is Reagan Richards and Gordon Brown, both singer/songwriter/guitarists who have infused the Asbury Park music scene with what they call “a bridge between traditional and modern country music.” The band name honors their dads, William and Bernard, who both served extensively in the U.S. Military. The now touring Williams Honor is about holding on to tradition while still moving forward. Gordon says, “In country music, that’s a very big deal to us.”
Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes is a band whose leader is steeped in blues tradition. Johnny Lyon is a great storyteller. He explained that the West African term juke had a few meanings. Here’s one: In the U.S., African-American farm hands and laborers gathered at a shack on Friday nights to drink and dance; to celebrate and have sex. The participants were called “jukes.” The shacks were called juke joints. A machine in the shack to play music was called---a juke box. Lyon named his band the Asbury Jukes in homage to blues artist Little Walter & His Jukes whose recordings he deeply appreciates, and to honor Asbury Park where his band got its start. Look for the band to play its annual July 3rd show at the Stone Pony.
The Weeklings may enjoy sustained mystique, as there are several versions of how the name was chosen. As I write this Glenn Burtnik’s newish 4-pc band inspired by the love of Beatles music is recording a new album at Abbey Road Studios, London. One story has it that the band was originally named The Weaklings; then changed to The Weeklings because another band was already using their first choice. An Internet fan blog says the band name was born of the players commitment to spend one day a week writing songs. I guess you’ll have to go see them play and ask them yourself. Then let me know.
The Ones You Forgot, a band led by singer/songwriter Jenna Bruno, a Monmouth University student, does not have the poignant and deep origin I suspected of the name. Jenna says she wrote down a bunch of words and phrases she liked; then the band members sat and looked at them. They put words together to form The Ones You Forgot. “It works,” said Jenna, “because it can be interpreted in many ways.” Make of it what you wish! Songs from their first album, “Peaks & Valleys” can be heard when they play the Brighton Bar, Long Branch, on June 25.
Isis, fronted by singer Kathy Rosner was a Menlo Park based band. The name of the Egyptian/Roman Goddess of Fertility symbolized female strength. The guys in the band chose it as a compliment to Kathy. And you know the rest. Kathy says, “We went our separate ways peacefully, and before the negative news of Isis the terrorists might have ruined us. I still have a business card as a memento. I’d probably be investigated if homeland security saw it.”
Company of Wolves was Steve & John Conte’s 4-pc band, and the name of their first album for Mercury-Polygram Records in 1990. The album hit as the national news was focused for months on the now famous case of NY’s Central Park Jogger who was attacked and raped by a gang of youths. The attackers were referred to as “pack of animals.” Central Park attacks were on the rise and city spokespeople and officials gave the attacks by roaming gangs the name “wildings.” Company of Wolves’ first single being promoted was “Call of the Wild.” I understand the power of words to form suggestions at the unconscious level. This mother groaned a lot.
