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Notice any similarities between "Löwenbräu" and "Mötley Crüe"? While the band's members were searching for a name, someone called them a "motley crew." They thought the name was cool, but needed an original spelling. They turned to Löwenbräu for guidance. Think they were drinking some at the time?

In part three of this three-part article, discover what STP and the Omaha police have to do with the moniker choices for your favorite bands.

• The Ramones. The Ramones were big fans of 60's British Invasion rock n' roll (The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks). Paul McCartney's brother was in a band called Scaffold. To give himself an original identity he called himself Mike McGear. When big bro' Paul would appear on Scaffold records he called himself "Paul Ramone," so the Ramones' name is a nod to Macca himself.

• Stone Temple Pilots. The band really liked the STP oil company stickers and wanted their name to use those initials. Stone Temple Pilots was the result. As the band members themselves say: "We couldn't have possibly called ourselves Shirley Temple's P**** 'cause no one would ever print our full title."

• 311. One rainy day, P-Nut and some friends went skinny dipping in a public pool. They were apprehended by police. One of P-Nut's friends was arrested, cuffed (naked) and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311, Omaha police code for indecent exposure. They thought it was funny, so they took it as their band name.

• UB40. The name stands for Unemployment Benefit 40, which is the name of a form the band members had to complete to receive financial aid.

• Velvet Underground. One of the band members stumbled upon a 1963 S&M book by Michael Leigh with this title.

• Weezer. Singer Rivers Cuomo had the nickname Wheezer in school because of a breathing problem, most likely asthma.

•XTC. The band, formed in 1976, first called themselves Star Park. Before deciding on XTC, they first picked up a new member and switched to Helium Kidz. Among other reasons for the name change, XTC showed up much better on posters. The most common story is that Andy Partridge was inspired by a Jimmy Durante clip when he said, "Dat's it, I'm in ecstasy!" Side note: XTC was around before the drug MDMA was called Ecstasy.

• The Yardbirds. Jazz musician Charlie Parker was nicknamed "Yardbird" and recorded, "Yardbird Suite." But "yardbird" is also prison slang used to describe prisoners in the exercise yard, and more likely the origin of the band's name.

• ZZ Top. According to the ZZ Top Web site, Billy Gibbons wanted the band's albums to be at the very back of the record stores, hence the name that would guarantee them end-of-alphabet status.

If you enjoyed this, read parts one and two.

Written by Alexis Garcia

Have you heard any other stories about how a band came up with their name? E-mail us.