ROCK FORMATIONS is a non-fiction title covering the origins of music group and artist stage names. The entries (of which there are more than 1,000) are grouped into categories sharing similar themes, for example, those names which were inspired by movies, those inspired by places, etc. There is also a comprehensive index.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Check out Wilson's collection of hundreds of band name stories." -- Entertainment Weekly, December 16, 2005
"For all the Rock'n'Roll & Blues lovers on your list, this will make a super & unique stocking stuffer." -- Rebecca's Reads, August 2005
"For those cut throat music trivia games...Dave Wilson’s book is exactly what you are looking for." -- Book Pleasures, September 2005
"Rock Formations quite simply rocks. This is the sort of book that pleasant hours are lost to...Rock on!" -- January Magazine, September 2005
"Want to know the stories behind hundreds of musician's names? Buy this fun book, which divides monikers into thematic chapters." -- Time Out New York, Holiday Gift Guide, November 24-30, 2005
Buy this fun 288-page book, which divides monikers into thematic chapters and yes, contains an index. -- Time Out New York, Music Section Gift Guide, Thanksgiving 2005 Edition
For all the Rock'n'Roll and Blues lovers on your list, this will make a super & unique stocking stuffer -- Rebecca Brown of Rebeccas Reads
For those cut throat music trivia games, Dave Wilson's book is exactly what you're looking for. -- Jennifer Murray of Book Pleasures
ROCK FORMATIONS just may be the most entertaining and fun book I've read in the last few years! -- Marie D. Jones of Curled Up With A Good Book
Rock Formations quite simply rocks. This is the sort of book that party games spring from. Rock on! -- Lincoln Cho in January Magazine, September 2005
"For all the Rock'n'Roll & Blues lovers on your list, this will make a super & unique stocking stuffer." -- Rebecca's Reads, August 2005
"For those cut throat music trivia games...Dave Wilson’s book is exactly what you are looking for." -- Book Pleasures, September 2005
"Rock Formations quite simply rocks. This is the sort of book that pleasant hours are lost to...Rock on!" -- January Magazine, September 2005
"Want to know the stories behind hundreds of musician's names? Buy this fun book, which divides monikers into thematic chapters." -- Time Out New York, Holiday Gift Guide, November 24-30, 2005
Buy this fun 288-page book, which divides monikers into thematic chapters and yes, contains an index. -- Time Out New York, Music Section Gift Guide, Thanksgiving 2005 Edition
For all the Rock'n'Roll and Blues lovers on your list, this will make a super & unique stocking stuffer -- Rebecca Brown of Rebeccas Reads
For those cut throat music trivia games, Dave Wilson's book is exactly what you're looking for. -- Jennifer Murray of Book Pleasures
ROCK FORMATIONS just may be the most entertaining and fun book I've read in the last few years! -- Marie D. Jones of Curled Up With A Good Book
Rock Formations quite simply rocks. This is the sort of book that party games spring from. Rock on! -- Lincoln Cho in January Magazine, September 2005
From the Publisher
ROCK FORMATIONS is a fascinating collection of well-researched narratives covering the sometimes obscure but always interesting stories behind how band names were formed. In a surprising departure from the usual A-Z, the content is grouped into similarly-themed categories, such as movies, books, culture and even risqué themes, which bands through the years have labored to make into household names.
Despite the title, entries cover all music genres, not just rock, including blues, soul and jazz, and also extends to individual artists who have adopted stage names. There are 30 categories featuring more than 1,000 entries, with titles such as THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (names inspired by other groups), TAKE A STAND (names which make a statement), RE ISSUES (contemporary themes) and DISCOGRAPHY (names inspired by songs or albums).
Surprising revelations in the individual entries include the reason the first 'B' in ABBA is reversed, why there are 10,000 Maniacs, what 10cc is a measure of, what or who Steely Dan was, why the Average White Band were average, what a "bo diddley" is and why heavy-metal band Iron Maiden are linked to a teddy bear. An impressive feature of this book is that the author has not taken at face value the widely accepted stories of band name origins, but digs deeper to unearth the real genesis (and yes, Genesis are featured!). Wilson has gone to great lengths to discover the "why" behind the names, not just the "what", and also gives us a great deal of interesting additional information related to the band names. A good example which highlights all of these attributes is the entry for Toto-many references state that this came from lead vocalist Bobby Kimball's real name of Robert Toteaux, which isn't the case; other references state simply that the band is named for the dog featured in the movie The Wizard Of Oz. Actually the band had earlier agreed that a two-syllable name was preferable, then later that evening drummer Jeff Porcaro was watching the movie and heard the dog's name, Toto. After he suggested the name Toto to the band, someone pointed out that "toto" is Latin for "everything" so the name was chosen.
All in all a fascinating and entertaining collection.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Did you know 750 pounds is about 53 stones?,
By Gerry Wang (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Rock Formations: Categorical Answers To How Band Names Were Formed (Paperback)
I know what you're thinking: Great. Another rock trivia book. More information I'll never use crammed into my noggin. Are these things cranked out by robots or what? To be honest, my first impression was, "Yeah, I could use a really absorbent coaster."
But then I started to read it, and golly gosh darn if I didn't love it. After only a few sections I was smiling and saying, "Whoa!", "What?!", and "You're kidding me!". I also blurted out a couple of "No ways!" which is what ultimately got me kicked out of Denny's. Kid Rock and Hootie & the Blowfish were named by people making a passing comment? It's so obvious and yet I never put it together! Until now that is! Yeah, boy, this book rocks. It's not just about rock bands either. There's soul, hip-hop, blues, jazz, country & western and more -- and the organization is pretty cool, too. Instead of the same old same old, it takes bands that were named from similar themes and throws them together so you get to see how many bands were named after sex organs, which bands were named after book titles and why some bands which seem to have nonsensical names actually have nonsensical names. You still need the index though because once in a while you'll wake up in a cold sweat and say, "Hendrix!" and the index is the best way to find it and then go back to sleep. Actually, some bands aren't listed but there are plenty of bands to get the dirt on. There's also a fair amount of English band trivia sprinkled throughout so those of you that know the Flowerpot Men, Pink Fairies or Blancmange shall not go wanting. Overall, "Rock Formations" is a well-written, easy reading book. It's definitely a nice companion for the afternoon DJ who needs to stump the listeners once in a while or for the guy who needs to fill every last brain cranny with even more rock trivia. After reading this book my brain is certainly running low on crannies and there aren't many nooks left, either. A great book and the price is reasonable. I give it a hearty thumbs up, and now I need to look up again which band formed from the backing members of the Beach Boys....."Sweet!"
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Gift for the Music Enthusiast,
By
This review is from: Rock Formations: Categorical Answers To How Band Names Were Formed (Paperback)
I bought this book for my brother who is a music buff and an amateur musician. He was thrilled with the gift and proceeded to read the book in its entirety in a matter of days. Of course I was pleased he enjoyed the book and thought enough of it to put it on his coffee table for guests to peruse.
Since we live close to one another I would start thumbing through the book whenever I would come over to watch sports or to babysit his kids. What I liked most about it is that it is organized in such a way that makes it a fun and easy read. Other books of this kind read more like a dictionary with a slew of entries one after another that don't share anything in common. For example, in Rock Formations there is a chapter called "Early Impressions" that covers bands that took their names from incidents in their childhood pasts like Lynyrd Skynyrd (I always thought it had something to with flying, which made the name cruelly ironic). I actually started reading in one of the middle chapters and jumped around to different chapters until I had read the entire book. As a non-musician and an average music fan, I liked the fact that the entries were worded like stories and didn't use a lot of musical jargon. I'm a big fan of 80's music so there were a lot of entries that I really enjoyed such as Foreigner, The Police, Talking Heads, Tears For Fears, etc. I believe the author is British, which explains the coverage of British groups that were popular in the 80's. My brother has more eclectic taste in music so he appreciated the "non-Rock" entries (i.e. Reggae, Rap, R&B). I would definitely recommend this book for any music fan. It's a fun book to read and you'll probably yourself jumping around chapters as I did. I've also won a few friendly wagers with some friends that have heard myths and rumors about band names, although I'm not recommending this book as an instrument for gambling!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Read,
By
This review is from: Rock Formations: Categorical Answers To How Band Names Were Formed (Paperback)
Rock Formations
As someone whose main reading material are biographies of musicians and books associated with music, I was curious about this book. The author has done a vast amount of research for this book and it is really entertaining and convenient to have all this information in one place. I could not find any errors and the only thing I had a problem with was a comment made about a soccer team in the entry for the band Geordie, you would have to be a soccer fan to understand. There were a lot of entries that I was familiar with but had not stored the information so it was fun to read all this information in one place. Some of the entries were new to me, I never could figure out The Jesus and Mary Chain for instance, but all that and a lot more is here. It is not one of those books that you can read in one sitting but it makes a nice coffee break read for the rock fan. All in all a fine book lots of interesting trivia and very well researched and presented. Maybe there will be a volume 2 as the are a lot of band names to draw upon, even an entry for Doll By Doll next time.
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