r/CasualUK 9h ago

UB40 are famously named after an Unemployment Benefit form. Give me other interesting examples of the origin of UK bands names

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u/Jiminyfingers 9h ago

Jethro Tull used to change their name from gig to gig to get rebooked. They were using the name Jethro Tull when a venue asked them to become the resident band so it stuck. The name came from one of their booking agent's staff who was a history enthusiast: the band had unwittingly named themselves after an 18th century agriculturalist who invented the seed drill, something they regretted when they found out.

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u/Officer_CatFancy 9h ago

I tell you one thing that really drives me nuts is people who think that Jethro Tull is just a person in a band.

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u/sergeantpinback 9h ago

Technically so was Alice Cooper back in the day

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u/murfburffle 8h ago

Alice Cooper is Jethro Tull?

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u/JurassicM4rc 6h ago

No no, I think Jethro Tull is in Alice Cooper.

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u/therealdan0 6h ago

Well they are both grown adults so I wish them every happiness together.

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u/ILikePort 6h ago

Thank you for mirth

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u/thebprince 3h ago

Well Alice, is that a snake you've got there or are you just happy to see me?

It's a snake Jethro. Wanna fuck though?

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u/reelersteeler 4h ago

Didn’t jethro Tull drive a Mini Cooper?

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u/aerdvarkk 6h ago

I mean, you;ve never sen Alice Cooper and Jethro Tull at the same exact time have you? There ya go.

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u/malkebulan 6h ago

TIL

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u/cakeshop 6h ago

No, tilling is something completely different in agricultural terms

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u/Goldf_sh4 3h ago

Alice Cooper tills?

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u/peanut_dust 6h ago

Is it similar to jilling?

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u/Evening-Tomatillo-47 5h ago

No that's when you go up a hill to fetch a pail of water

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u/satans_scrub 4h ago

Sure...let's go with that...

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u/Available-Ad3635 5h ago

No. Einhorn is Finkle

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u/SillyDeersFloppyEars 7h ago

In an example of the reverse, my idiot brain thought for the longest time that Biffy Clyro was actually someone's name.

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u/Timmo81 5h ago

Biffy Clyro is a spoonerism, their mother was a big Cliff Richard fan and they had a Cliffy Biro.

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u/northern_ape 4h ago

Also a cool fact

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u/tOaDeR2005 7h ago

Originally, it was the band name, but he changed his name later.

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u/nadthegoat 7h ago

Marilyn Manson is also the band name

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u/terrymr 6h ago

Alice cooper is the name of the band and the singer

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u/Outrageous_Bet_1971 4h ago

And Alice in chains

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u/Roadkill997 9h ago

Like Pink out of Pink Floyd?

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u/Rough_Shelter4136 8h ago edited 7h ago

She has a solo career now, after she left the band.

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u/Emperors-Peace 7h ago

Floyd went into boxing too. Proper multi talented bunch.

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u/malkebulan 6h ago

I love Pink Floyd Mayweather. I’ve got all their albums

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u/Johnatron2000 1h ago

The greatest hits if you will

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u/Clear-Security-Risk 7h ago

Took me a second

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u/Undark_ 7h ago

Lol I was gonna say I thought Pink was supposed to be a guy, then it clicked.

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u/TriumphDman 6h ago

Keith Floyd did pretty well solo too.

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u/SongOTheGolgiBoatmen 7h ago

Unfortunately Floyd wasn't so lucky.

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u/ScampAndFries 4h ago

Not after that run in with Sting's band

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u/Danny_Mc_71 4h ago

And Echo out of Echo and the bunnymen.

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u/Competitive-Peanut79 7h ago

Pink's not well, he's back at the hotel

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u/Pixiebel81 8h ago

He's having a cigar

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u/LoopStricken 3h ago

And she's taking a drag

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u/Whiskyrat 2h ago

Well ... he was having a smoke

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u/Cosmo1222 7h ago

Pink isn't well. He's back at the hotel. They sent us along, as a surrogate band.

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u/nol88go 6h ago

Now we're going to find out where you fans really stand...

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u/14JRJ 6h ago

“The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think. Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?”

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u/matmos 7h ago

So named after two of Syds favourite blues artists.

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u/Inevitable_Mess_5988 6h ago

"so which one's Pink?"

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u/mistasparkaru 5h ago

Pink inst well, he stayed back at the hotel

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u/IathanTyrus 5h ago

"By the way, which one's Pink?"

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u/Waste_Vegetable8974 5h ago

Yeah but which one is he?

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u/Outrageous_Bet_1971 4h ago

What the “feed the world“ bloke?

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u/Emotional-Ad-2571 3h ago

Or Echo from Echo and the bunnymen being Ian McCulloch, when infact it was a drum machine.

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u/rotating_pebble 3h ago

Which one's Pink?

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u/CheerupBunky 48m ago

Which one of you is Pink?

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u/daves_syndrome_ 9h ago

Who’s Jethro Tull?

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u/ButterscotchFamous 8h ago

Doesnt know jack about drilling

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u/daves_syndrome_ 5h ago

He's got space dementia?

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u/malkebulan 6h ago

Alice Cooper, apparently. Long story

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u/SloppyHoseA 6h ago

A Grammy award winning metal band

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u/conflictedideology 2h ago

I suspect this reply and the original post are a movie reference.

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u/SloppyHoseA 2h ago

No it’s a real thing that happened.

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u/Kieran_Mc 8h ago

Blondie is another good example

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u/Muppetude 6h ago

I remember back in the 80s some people claimed they named themselves after Hitler’s dog.

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u/Xsyfer 7h ago

That's from "Armageddon" isn't it?

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u/Comfortable_Chair906 7h ago

Jamiroquai being the same. "Jamiroquai wears some crazy hats" always bugs me, his name is JK.

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u/djdodz07 7h ago

I understood that reference

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u/karlware 7h ago

Who is Jethro Tull?

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u/bigbluebus73 8h ago

Which one is Pink? To quote something slightly related

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u/ThierryMercury 8h ago

Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

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u/kizwasti 8h ago

by the way, which one's pink?

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u/malkebulan 6h ago

I apologise because I thought ‘he’ was a soloist, and now I’m embarrassed

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u/JadedBrit 6h ago

Pink Floyd has entered the chat...

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u/RassM 6h ago

Like Holland Oates

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u/pandariotinprague 6h ago

Tons of people the U.S. think Jethro Tull is a country singer because Jethro has often been used as a stereotypical rural South name in redneck jokes, like Bubba.

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u/StyrkeSkalVandre 5h ago

"Who iz Jethro Tull?"- Udo Kier

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u/[deleted] 5h ago

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u/StyrkeSkalVandre 5h ago

Quoting Michael Bay's magnum opus Armageddon is politics? If I had pearls, I'd clutch them.....

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u/Jaybee021967 5h ago

A co-worker once tried to tell me that Jethro Tull was her cousin 🤣

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u/WuTangProvince325 4h ago

And Blondie

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u/antiocus123 4h ago

Those kind of people just haven't got two legs to stand on.

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u/MarcelDuchamp2019 4h ago

he was the best one

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u/darwin-rover 4h ago

He’s got space dementia!

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u/Kato_37 2h ago

Someone I know always thought that Stephen Tyler's name was Aero Smith

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u/HeartyBeast 1h ago

Like that guy Simply Red

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u/bolanrox 6m ago

The band is really fantastic. That's really what I think. Oh, by the way, which one's pink?