IMAGINE the shitstorm if you tried calling your band Foreigner right now. Here are some that were acceptable at the time, but probably not anymore…
Joy Division
Naming your group after a nickname for female Jewish sex slaves in concentration camps apparently didn’t make Ian Curtis and co think ‘Is this a tad tasteless?’ Later changed their name to New Order which is better but still a bit Nazi.
Foreigner
A slightly baffling choice even back then, but completely unacceptable in today’s climate of xenophobia. It did open the door for that tired old joke about them ‘coming over here demanding to know what love is’ though, so it wasn’t all bad. Apart from the tedious AOR dirges they churned out, obviously.
10cc
A blatant, if disputed, reference to the volume of love custard deposited during a male orgasm. Ditto Pearl Jam. And The Loving Spoonful. Jesus, these musicians are obsessed with how much spunk they can produce, raising the suspicion that they’re all impotent.
Fatboy Slim
Today you’d get called out for body shaming as surely as if you’d called your DJ outfit ‘Bouncy Fat Girl’. Referring to people by their body mass index is a complete no-no, unless it’s your mum, who will loudly blurt out ‘She’s a chubby little thing isn’t she? She’ll never get a boyfriend’ during a school nativity play as you pray everyone around you briefly went deaf.
NWA
NWA’s moniker was hard to justify even in the 80s, but they were always complaining about harassment after making musical death threats to the police and the general population of Compton, so maybe logic wasn’t their strong suit. Still, people were strangely unbothered; you could get a ‘Swiggers With Attitude’ paper beer cup at Glastonbury.
AC/DC
Choosing to name yourselves after slang for bisexuality is somewhat incongruous in the pretend-macho world of heavy metal, with its Iron Maidens and Def Leppards. They could have been paying homage to both alternating and direct currents, but it’d be weapons-grade nerdy. Then again, they’re Australian, so anything is possible.