Historical Origins of Bands' Oddball Names

I was watching a documentary on TV the other night and discovered that Dave Grohl’s band Foo Fighters got its name from the mysterious UFO-type aircraft produced by Germany in the last phases of World War II.

Click here to view a video of the mysteries of foo fighters.

Here is another film showing the Nazi experimental crafts that were called, “foo fighters”:

Some other bands with historically-based names:

Franz Ferdinand – I have no idea how or why the Scottish band took its name from the slain Austrian archduke that propelled Europe into WW I.

The B-52s – The B-52s band have been playing new wave hits since 1976 whereas B-52 planes carpet-bombed Vietnam. The planes are still in service by the USAF as a reliable long-range bomber.

U2 – The Irish band went through a few names before deciding on U2 which was taken from the U-2 high-altitude spy plane that got shot down over Russia during the Cold War. The plane was also developed secretly in the 1950s in Roswell, New Mexico. Some of those UFO sightings there actually were probably of the U-2.

Gang of Four – A post punk band formed in the late 70s who named themselves after the radical Chinese Communist group, the Gang of Four, which included the wife of Mao Zedong during 1966 – 1976.

Please feel free to share any other bands’ names that come from historical figures of events!

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