What's the Connection? The Lovin' Spoonful, 10 CC and Pearl Jam

Lovin' Spoonful': Steve Boone, John Sebastian, Joe Butler, Zal Yanovsky

What do the bands The Lovin' Spoonful, 10 CC, and Pearl Jam have in common? Not that much. Certainly not their styles of music. But keep reading.

The Lovin' Spoonful was an American pop-rock band of the 1960s. They were named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.  Their biggest hits included "Do You Believe In Magic", "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice", "Daydream", "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind." and "Younger Girl" 

Their only song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was "Summer in the City" released in the summer of 1966.

their music

The band's name was inspired by some lines in a song by Mississippi John Hurt called "Coffee Blues." The Hurt song was generally considered to be either a drug reference to the spoon used to heat and melt heroin, or a reference to the amount of sperm ejaculated by the average male (about a spoonful). The band's leader, John Sebastian says it was the former, but the rumor of the latter persists.

10 cc Lol Creme, Kevin Godley, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman

Which brings us to 10cc. They were an English art rock band that achieved their greatest commercial success in the early 1970s. Jonathan King, a flamboyant entrepreneur, producer, and recording artist, signed the band to his UK Records label in July 1972 and dubbed them 10cc. 

their music

King says that the name came from a dream in which he was standing in front of the Hammersmith Odeon in London where the marquee read "10cc The Best Band in the World." But the more popular origin story (confirmed in a 1988 interview and on a web page from original member Graham Gouldman) is that the band's name represented the volume of semen that was more than the average amount ejaculated by men, thereby making the band "more potent." The story is urban legend and the band origin even made it onto snopes.com which is where many search for the truth behind lies. 

Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam, Jeff Ament

Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar). 

The band had called themselves "Mookie Blaylock" - a reference to the then-active All-Star basketball player - when they played their first official show in late 1990 and signed to Epic Records. Concerns about trademark issues meant a name change. They went with Pearl Jam.

In an early interview, Vedder said that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl, who was married to a Native American and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam. But in a 2006 Rolling Stone story, Vedder admitted that although he did have a great-grandma named Pearl, the story was a fiction. The band came up with "pearl" and then after attending a concert by Neil Young, they added jam because of Young's extended jam versions of his songs. In the PJ20 movie, it is said that band members came up with "Pearl" to signify something beautiful coming from something ugly.

Despite both of those origin tales (and a rumor that Mookie's nickname was Pearl Jam), the most popular band origin story is that "pearl jam" is another name for sperm. (see the Urban Dictionary)

their music

The success of their album Ten (as in 10cc?), led Pearl Jam to become a key part of the Seattle grunge scene along with Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden.

The 13th Floor Elevators

The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969 and released four albums and seven singles. 

They were the first band to refer to their music as "psychedelic rock." The first-known use of the term to describe a musical style was on the band's business card in January 1966.

 The band's electric jug player Tommy Hall added a musical element you would never expect in a psychedelic rock band. Hall was also the band's lyricist.

The band's name developed from a suggestion by drummer John Ike Walton to use the name "Elevators". Clementine Hall added "13th Floor" because many tall buildings in the US lack a designated 13th floor as it is considered to be superstitiously unlucky and tenants would not want to live on that floor. Of course, these buildings do have a 13th floor but the elevator numbers skip from 12 to 14. Sometimes it is also noted that the letter "M" (for marijuana) is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet.

Their original albums are collectibles but most of their material is available on several best of compilations such 13 of the Best 13th Floor Elevators. Their debut single "You're Gonna Miss Me", a national Billboard No. 55 hit in 1966, was featured on the 1972 compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968. 

666 The Number of the Beast

The number of the beast is 666 by William Blake

In manuscripts of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation (13:17-18) cryptically asserts that 666 is the "number of a man," associated with the beast. This beast is an antagonistic creature that appears briefly about two-thirds into the apocalyptic vision. Some manuscripts of the original Greek use the symbols chi xi stigma (or digamma), while other manuscripts spell out the number in words.

The number was a way of identifying the beast without saying its name, but even saying the number 666 is reportedly a way to invoke Satan.

In much more modern popular culture, 666 has become a way of referencing the Antichrist or the Devil. In the Harry Potter book and film series, evil is represented by the character Voldemort. Almost no witch or wizard dares to speak that name. He is referred to as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord".

In the ancient texts, the number of the beast identifies the beast from the sea, the first of two symbolic beasts described in the Book of Revelation's thirteenth chapter. In most New Testament manuscripts, the number is rendered as 666.

One interpretation is that the number has a symbolic correlation to the Emperor Nero, whose Greek name transliterated into Hebrew has the numeric value of 666. In Revelation's narrative, the "mark of the beast" is used to identify the beast's acolytes (a person assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession).

Some groups interpret Revelation to mean that the mark will take the form of a number or symbol that will be revealed only during the End Times.

Revelation 13 actually describes John's vision of two beasts. The first beast emerges from the sea having seven heads inscribed with blasphemous names (possibly reflecting the titles given to Roman emperors such as "Lord and Saviour", "Saviour of the World"  which would be blasphemies in the eyes of Christians).

A second beast emerges from the earth and "speaks like a dragon". The second beast will ensure that everyone is required to bear the mark of the first beast on their right hand or forehead, "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." [Revelation 13:17]

Catholic scholars' interpretation side with those who believe the Greek alphabet is an inaccurate way to interpret the meaning and prefer the using the Hebrew alphabet. When Nero Caesar is spelled in Hebrew letters it identifies the cipher 666. So, their conclusion is that Nero is the beast and it is not a prophesy for identifying a future Antichrist

The program Radiolab has an episode about the Oxyrhynchus Papyri which contains a fragmentary papyrus of Revelation which is considered the earliest known witness to some sections (late third / early fourth century). This papyrus assigns to the Beast 616, rather than the usual 666 and the variant 616 is found in critical editions of the Greek text, such as the Novum Testamentum Graece.

Is it strange that Emperor Nero's Latin name written into Hebrew is 616?


In the novel, The Number of the Beast by Robert A. Heinlein, the Biblical number of the beast turns out to be, not 666, but (6^6)^6, or 10,314,424,798,490,535,546,171,949,056, which is the initial number of parallel universes accessible through a "continua device" in the book. It is later theorized by the character Jacob that the number may be merely the instantly accessible universes from a given location, and there is a larger structure that implies an infinite number of universes.

Engraving by Gustave Doré illustrating Canto XXXIV of Divine Comedy, Inferno,
by Dante Alighieri showing Lucifer, King of Hell

This is a cross-posting with Weekends in Paradelle

30 Seconds To Mars

           


30 SECONDS TO MARS was started in 1998 by actor Jared Leto and his brother Shannon. Matt Wachter later joined the band as bassist and keyboard player. After working with guitarists kevin Drake and Solon Bixler, Tomo Miličević eventually came in to be the fourth memeber.

A reader, Mike Driscoll, alerted us to info on Wikpedia about the band's name origin.

Former member Matt Wachter has said that the band's name "actually comes from a thesis that the band found online that was written by a former Harvard professor. And one of the subsections of the thesis was titled 'thirty seconds to mars' and he goes on to talk about the exponential growth of technology that relates to humans and saying that we are quite literally thirty seconds to mars. What it means to us is, we thought it best described our music, in short."

Then again, Jared Leto said in an interview that "the name 30 Seconds To Mars has little to do with space, the universe or anything like that. It is a name that works on several different levels. Most importantly, it is a good representation of our sound. It's a phrase that is lyrical, suggestive, cinematic, and filled with immediacy. It has some sense of otherness to it. The concept of space is so overwhelming and all encompassing I doubt there is a song written that doesn't fall within it."

To further clear (or muddy) the origin waters, Shannon Leto, supporting the Wachter explanation said that the name "represents a lot of things. This professor had a thesis. It was talking about where technology was going; the evolution of man and how that plays a role. A sub-category was 30 Seconds to Mars. It was like the exponential growth of humans. We are literally 30 seconds away from Mars. Everything is right here and right now; everything is just so crazy and fast."

As of this posting, the band has 14 albums available.

311

 

The band 311 doesn't seem to have a definitive origin story, but from their official site http://www.311music.com, we get these stories.

"One of P-Nut's friends (Jim Watson) was arrested, cuffed (naked) and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311 (indecent exposure). We thought this was funny, so we took it as our band name. After the humor of the name wore off - we still kept it because we liked that it was just abstract and that it did not define us in anyway. The name did not describe our sound or our politics, it just let the music speak for itself."

"Since most interviewers always ask us 'What does 311 mean?', we have come up with lots of different answers over the years. Some include: Nick - "five friends making music", Tim - "a number dictated to me by a higher intelligence", P-Nut - "knowing a little numerology and studying a little magic, which I do; in some factions, three is man and 11 is magic. So 311 is like male magic."



UPDATED March 2011
An email from a reader (I wish people would just post comments) suggested this explanation:

Though it has never been officially confirmed, I have a story to the contrary. Three of the members of 311 went to my high school (Westside High School, Omaha, Nebraska). The members that went to my school are Nick Hexum, Tim Mahoney, and Chad Sexton. Our high school gets out at 3:10, meaning that 3:11 was freedom. I do not know if this was made up after they became famous or what, but I thought you would appreciate the information. For a while our high school actually banned all 311 memorabilia, including t-shirts.

One of those banned t-shirts

Uplifter (CD/DVD)
Greatest Hits '93-'03
311
Grassroots
Music
Transistor
From Chaos
Soundsystem
Evolver
Don't Tread on Me
311 - Live in New Orleans 311 Day