While painting one of the girls bedrooms over the weekend, I was listening to some podcasts. Along came this one, an old radio sci-fi drama, The Martian Death March. After a few minutes I copped that the indigenous Martians were called ‘Spiders’ by the Earth colonists. It was recorded in 1955, so it is unlikely that a young Master Jones heard the original, but perhaps DB stumbled across a repeat broadcast, or a transcript, on his ’71 visit to the states? I know there is another story about migrating spiders at a football match, but my theory seems just as plausible. Any other stories of (possible) inspirations for bands/names/albums?
https://www.relicradio.com/otr/2017/07/the-martian-death-march-by-x-minus-one/
In Quatermass & The Pit (1958) the Martians are not spiders but they are most definitely insect-like beings.
I think insect aliens, usually hostile, is a very old Sci-Fi trope from way back. Possibly the dawn of the genre.
A very good recent take is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Clarke-winning Children Of Time. You will root for highly evolved super spiders.
A very poor recent take is Jonathan Coe’s Number 11 (sort of sequel to the far better What A Carve Up). You will wonder what the feck highly evolved super spiders have got to do with anything.
Bowie was very much taken by Quatermass, and Simon Goddard’s marvellous book ‘Ziggyology’ cites it as a major component in his creation of the character and concept.
Here’s another example – this one confirmed by sources close to U2.
As a kid and teenager, I would have passed a hearing-aid shop on Dublin’s Talbot Street whenever going into the city centre – the shop was called Bonovox. As a fellow Northsider, a young Paul Hewson would have passed the same shop many times.
Sure enough, the first U2 album band credits read: Bono – Vox
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker named their band Steely Dan after a series of strap-on dildos mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch.
The Teardrop Explodes took their name from a panel caption in the Marvel comic strip “Daredevil” (No. 77).
Hatfield And The North got their name from a road sign on the A1 coming out of North London.
Wonder will this work?
Hey! I can see it, anyway..
As can I.
So here’s this.
Stiff Little Fingers were named after a Vibrators B Side.
They were at one point called The Fast, but on learning there was another band with this name, picked a new name from a compilation album
The Jam.
Two stories:
1. They spent a lot of time in rehearsal rooms just jamming (plausible, but a bit obvious and “neat”)
2. From Paul Weller’s sister who said “There’s a band called Bread, and another called Marmalde. How about The Jam”.
This conversation at the breakfast table could’ve resulted in Woking’s finest being called The Sugar Puffs