Music

Roundup: The Name Game

It's summer, so inevitably, folk-tokers Dave Matthews Band are hitting the road. DMB is one of the most prolific and popular groups named for its leader, but what about outfits named after real folks who aren't among its members? (Can you imagine the lawsuits?) Here are a few notables:

Neve
How's this for a '90s throwback? This L.A. quartet dubbed themselves after "Scream" queen Neve Campbell.

Courtney Love
It wasn't a vanity project by Mrs. Cobain but another Olympia lass named Lois Maffeo who was behind this airy grrl group. Maffeo claims "Courtney Love" was a moniker she just pulled out of the sky. But judging from the closing track on Hole's "Live Through This" ("Well, I went to school in Olympia, and everyone's the same"), the more infamous C. Love was none too pleased.

Hootie and the Blowfish
You had to feel a little sorry for Darius Rucker being called Hootie the entirety of his career, when in fact that nickname - or blowfish - didn't belong to anyone in the massively popular rock group. H&B were really two pals of Rucker's from his time in the show choir at the University of South Carolina.

Abe Vigoda
Oddly enough, this spry indie dance band that this writer once saw perform in a friend's apartment in Westwood culls its title from a not-so-nimble "Godfather" actor.

Franz Ferdinand
His death brought on World War I. The birth of this Scottish foursome brought on an onslaught of disco punk.
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