Tonight at Dada, the English indie folk outfit known as Noah and the Whale will perform. Good band, interesting name -- especially since, we just realized, there isn't actually a dude named Noah in the group after all. Not even a guy whose name starts with the letter "N." Just a guy named Charlie Fink, who decided to name his band after the Noah Baumbach film, The Squid and the Whale.
See what they did there?
After we got to thinking about it for a minute, we realized this happens more often than one might think. So, without further stalling, we present you a list are a dozen more bands named after folks not actually in the band.
Hootie and the Blowfish
Led by Darius Rucker
Named after a couple of Rucker's college classmates
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Masterminded by Alexander Ebert
Named after a character in a book Ebert was writing. According to Ebert,
Sharpe "was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind... but he
kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love."
The Donnas
Fronted by Brett Anderson
Named after alter-egos the band members used in their early days. (See also: The Trishas, The Wandas, The Smiths, etc.)
Tilly and the Wall
Made up of a Kianna Alarid, Neely Jenkins, Derek Pressnall, Jamie Pressnall and Nick White.
Named after a children's book.
Belle and Sebastian
Headed by Stuart Murdoch
Named after a children's book.
Derek and the Dominos
Lead by Eric Clapton
Possibly named after a close friend of Clapton's.
Herman's Hermits
Fronted by Peter Noone
May have been named after a mispronunciation of the character Sherman from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
The Marshall Tucker Band
Formed by Troy Caldwell
Named after the blind piano tuner who happened to be the previous tenant of the band's rehearsal space.
Molly Hatchet
Founded by Dave Hlubek
Purportedly named after a prostitute that decapitated her clients.
Uriah Heep
Lead by Mick Box
Named after the Charles Dickens character.
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
Wrangled by Richard Edwards
Named after Gwyneth Paltrow's character in The Royal Tenenbaums.
Miike Snow
Fronted by Andrew Wyatt
Named after a friend of the band.
