Cardigans - Longwearing

Alternative rock band from Jönköping in Sweden that has a command of a myriad of styles (among others indie pop and big band-style music).

Named after a remarkable garment that became known thanks to the 'hero of the Crimean War', James Thomas Brudenell, the seventh Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868). Brudenell's role in that war was somewhat dubious, which came to light however only after quite some time, after the Earl had already built up a large popularity in England.

In his heyday the clothing style he had assumed on the battlefield was copied by many: Brudenell went into battle in a kind of knit jacket with buttons, of a type that nowadays is worn especially by the more nerdy types among us. At the time however shops sold these cardigans like hot cakes.

Cardigan apparently had something with clothing, because he liked to present himself as 'the hero of the Battle of Balaclava', commanding the famous Charge of Light Brigade. And a balaclava of course is a hat favoured by those who need to stay anonymous, because it covers the entire head except the eyes.

Believe it or not: there is a band called The Balaclavas.

Active: 1992-1999; 2003-2006, SWE
Site: http://www.cardigans.com/

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Crowded House - You're welcome

Australian band led by Neil Finn that puts together melodic pop rock and that is called appreciatively The Crowdies by fans.

Apparently the group from Melbourne, while staying on the American west coast in 1986, pursued a rather active ‘open door' policy, in particular bass player Nick Seymour wanted to share the apartment he rented in Los Angeles with virtually anyone in want of a warm welcome. On that address, 1902 N. Sycamore Street in Los Angeles, this resulted in quite large crowds every now and then.

In other words, it literally became a crowded house.

Active: 1985-1996; 2006-present, AUS
Site: http://www.crowdedhouse.com/

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Crystal Castles - A woman's home is her castle

Singer Alice Glass and producer Ethan Kath form a duo that under the name Crystal Castles makes electronic music to which they add an experimental lustre.

The crystal of the band name and the glass of the surname of the singer have nothing to do with each other: the name Crystal Castles is derived from toy company Mattel, to be exact from the Crystal Castle in which She Ra lives, the leading actress of the TV series She Ra - Princess of Power.

The Toronto duo says that the band name plays along with the slogans Mattel uses to try and capture the toy castle market: ‘The fate of the world is safe in Crystal Castles' and ‘Crystal Castles, the source of all power'.

Active: 2004-present, CAN
Site: http://crystalcastles.com/releases/

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Beach Boys - Judging a book by the cover

The sound of the Hawthorne, California Beach Boys gives rise to many different labels: surf rock, sunshine pop, psychedelic pop, art rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, you name it.

Initially (1961) The Beach Boys were called The Pendletones. A Pendleton was a shirt for preppies, checked and made of pure wool. It was worn loosely over a white T-shirt. For an impression: Beach Boys album Surfer Girl shows the five Beach Boys of that time in their outfit.

The Pendletones recorded their first song, Surfin, in fairly basic circumstances. This happened in the offices of music publishers Hite and Dorinda Morgan. The best of twelve takes was used to press a few 45 records from. Not much later the boys received the proofs, only to discover that record company Candix Records had taken the liberty to change the band name. Instead of The Pendletones the label credited The Beach Boys.

This initiative appeared to have been taken by an employee of the publicity department, Russ Regan – after all, the song was called Surfin, and the boys were crazy about surfing, were they not? Yet only one of the five Boys, Dennis Wilson, had ever set foot on a surfboard.

For a brief period The Pendeltones tried to persuade the company to relabel the records, but the budget was too small, so they did not succeed. The Beach Boys it was and The Beach Boys it would stay.

Active: 1961, USA
Site: http://www.thebeachboys.com/

See also: Daft Punk, Switchfoot

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Altered Images - Puzzling

Scottish new wave/post punk band from Glasgow, owing its four years of fame to a demo they sent to Siouxsie & The Banshees, who signed them up as supporting act.

At the time of choosing their band name, the Altered Images carefully considered the frustrations of fellow band the Buzzcocks. Control freak Pete Shelley, singer of the Buzzcocks, made a fuss about the cover design for the Buzzcocks' single Promises, changing it over and over.

This was quite an achievement, considering that the entire design was made up of three words (Promises - Buzzcocks – Lipstick) plus a circle and a square.

Active: 1979-1983, GBR

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Bow Wow Wow - McLaren's voice

Rock and new wave band from London, that served as an inspiration source for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt.

Bow Wow Wow was in fact a creation of Malcolm McLaren, who, together with Vivienne Westwood, designed the New Romantic clothing line. Bow Wow Wow was to showcase the garments.

It was McLaren who conceived of the band name, according to the claim made by Bow Wow Wow singer Annabella Lwin. Bow Wow Wow had a contract with RCA, the company that taught Nipper the dog to listen to His Master's Voice.

This led McLaren to an onomatopoeia, imitating, it is assumed, the dog's voice: Bow Wow Wow.

Active: 1980-1983; 1997-1998; 2003-2006, GBR
Site: http://www.bowwowwow.org/

See also: Red Hot Chili Peppers

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SPK - No patience with doctors

We don't know if it had something to do with their musical preferences (noise and industrial rock), but fact is that the two founders of SPK (both from Sydney) worked in a mental hospital.

There they were introduced to the ideas of a radical Marxist group from Germany, the Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv, abbreviated SPK and since 1973 also known as Patientenfront. The ideas of the Patientenfront apparently appealed to the imagination.

Active: 1978-approx. 1991, AUS

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Captain Beefheart

Beefheart actually is Don Glen Vliet (aka Don Van Vliet, born 1941). Together with a constantly changing backing band (The Magic Band) Don produced experimental blues rock, psychedelic rock, avant-garde music and proto punk.

There are several explanations of Van Vliet's 's pseudonym, said to have been used previously by the entire band. It has been rumored that Frank Zappa coined the name and that he explained his choice with the announcement that Van Vliet always had a beef in his heart against the human race.

Distasteful is the reading in which an uncle of Vincent plays the leading role. The uncle in question supposedly enjoyed squeezing his nose so hard on birthday parties that it turned crimson. Look at that boy! he saluted the sight. Doesn't it look like a big old beefheart?

Active: 1964-1982, USA
Site: http://www.beefheart.com/

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SR-71 - U2?

Pop rock band that took off in Baltimore, Maryland.

With the band name reference is made to a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft - nicknamed Blackbird - used by the American air force in the sixties of the last century. The plane was intended for long distances and could fly at a speed of more than Mach 3.

Active: 1997-2007; 2009-present, USA
Site: http://www.sr71music.com/home.cfm

See also: U2

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Black Dahlia Murder - Warning: not for the faint-hearted

Heavy metal band from Waterford, Michigan.

The band name is an unsolved mystery: the Elizabeth Short (1924-1947) murder. Elizabeth's lifeless body was discovered lying in an undeveloped part of Leimert Park, Los Angeles. She was badly mutilated, cut in two, and completely bled to death. Her face was set about with a knife, with a deep cut from the corners of her mouth to her ears.

This atrocity intrigued many authors and film makers, leading to a considerable number of books, films and even a computer game.

Mystery solved? That of the band name's origins was no problem, the murder however was never solved.

Active: 2001-present, USA

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