A quick history of the names that Rivers Cuomo has used for his bands: his high-school metal act was called Avant Garde; they moved to Los Angeles and then changed their name to Zoom (rejecting the options Prong and Power Chicken). After they broke up, Cuomo joined Sixty Wrong Sausages, which in early 1992, evolved into a nameless quartet. While they wrote songs and rehearsed, this group considered Meathead, Outhouse, Hummingbird, The Big Jones, and This Niblet. Then came their break: Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar decided to play an impromptu gig at Raji’s Bar and Ribshack on Hollywood Boulevard. An opening band was needed that night–Cuomo’s group lucked into the show, but needed a real name. Cuomo nominated Weezer—a nickname given to him when he a kid by other children who were teasing him about his asthma.. The band had a long meeting and kicked around many more names, but nobody could come up with anything better, and Cuomo stuck to his guns (or rather, his inhaler).

(Excerpted from the 2006 book Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton’s Little John?: Music’s Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed, published by Three Rivers Press, written by Gavin Edwards.)