10 Rock Bands Named After TV and Movie Characters

Rock band names have been inspired by everything from books (The Doors took their name from Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception") to comic strips (The Thompson Twins are named after characters in the strip The Adventures of Tintin).

But movie and TV characters--and one television show in particular--have also been the inspiration for some interesting rock band names. Here's a look at rock bands named after TV and movie characters.

Veruca Salt- This alternative rock band hit the scene in the mid- 1990s with the MTV hit, "Seether." The band's name is taken from a character from the 1971 movie, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." (Veruca Salt was the spoiled rich girl in the film who demanded a golden ticket--now!)

Blondie- The lead singer of this 1970s punk/new wave band, Deborah Harry, did have blonde hair, so that could be all there was to this band's name game. But Blondie is also the name of the long-running newspaper comic strip by Chic Young, which later spawned off a franchise of more than two dozen "Blondie" films and two TV sitcoms. Now we just need to find a rock band named Dagwood.

Zuzu's Petals- This 1990s all-girl indie rock trio took their name from a scene in the classic 1946 Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." In the film, the character of Zuzu Bailey asked her father, George (James Stewart), to paste the petals back on to her broken flower.

Duran Duran- This early '80s band garnered heavy rotation on MTV from the start, with early songs like "Hungry Like the Wolf," "'Rio" and "Girls on Film." While this band of pretty boys were known for their "Miami Vice" look, a lesser known fact about the band is that their name is based on the character Dr. Durand Durand from the 1968 Jane Fonda sci-fi flick, "Barbarella."

Atreyu- The Orange County hardcore band took their name from the boy warrior character, Atreyu, from the fantasy movie "The Neverending Story."

Save Ferris- Another Orange County gem, the name of this ska band referenced the 1986 teen movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

A Brady Bunch of Bands

And finally, the 1970s sitcom "The Brady Bunch" was a pop culture phenomenon, so it's no wonder that the show has inspired a bunch of rock band names.

The name of punk-pop band Eve's Plum is a play on "Brady Bunch" star Eve Plumb's name (Plumb played sullen middle kid, Jan, on the show.) Michigan rock band The Banana Convention took their name from Greg Brady's fictional garage band on the show, while the Ohio-based band Johnny Bravo is named after another incarnation of Greg's high school rock band career (How he ever ended up becoming a doctor in later "Brady" movies, we'll never know--the dude never studied!)

And don't forget Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! The Cincinnati cover band Marsha Brady is named after everybody's favorite big sister. Except Jan's, that is.