Tuesday Top Ten: Real Rock and Roll Names

Rockers come up with great stage names for themselves. Sid Vicious. Ringo Starr. Blackie Lawless. Slash. Mick Mars. Jello Biafra. Freddie Mercury. Rat Scabies.  But every now and then, a child is given a name befitting of a rock and roller, and he or she keeps it, only to become a rock and roller.  Perhaps it's destiny.

This is my list of the ten best real rock and roll names.  I'm including given names, so if someone goes by their given middle name and their last name, that counts.  Also, I'm including nicknames that are actually nicknames for the person's real name, such as Bobby for Robert, Rick for Richard, and Johnny for John.  However, I am excluding nicknames that aren't derivative of the person's real name, such as Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, John "Ozzy" Osbourne, William "Axl" Rose, or Thomas "Artimus" Pyle.  These are in alphabetical order.

Honorable mention:  Jack Blades; Lindsey Buckingham; Rivers Cuomo; Cherie Currie; Don Dokken; Lita Ford; Sammy Hagar; Jimi Hendrix; John Lee Hooker; Huddie Ledbetter; Darlene Love; Mike Love; Chris Mars; Keith Moon; Sterling Morrison; Gunnar Nelson; Scott Rockenfield; Carlos Santana; Eddie Van Halen; Ronnie Wood

1.  Ritchie Blackmore.  For a pioneer of heavy metal, having a name like Blackmore certainly had to have helped more than, say, if his last name was Sunblossom.

2.  Bobby Blotzer.  Blotzer is the drummer for Sunset Strip rockers, Ratt.  Given the excesses of the '80s, his name is perfect, since it sounds like it means to get hammered.  "What did you do last night?"  "I got blotzed on Night Train and then saw Jetboy at the Roxy."  "Radical."

3.  Johnny Cash.  If he had been born in the '70s or '80s, he'd have a hell of a rap name.

4.  Neil Diamond.  He's a good man with a good name.

5.  Stone Gossard.  As the guitarist for Pearl Jam, Gossard's name seems to be as grunge as his music.  He could have also chosen a career in 1880's Wild West law enforcement and fit right in.

6.  Mick Jagger.  His name has become so familiar that it's sometimes easy to forget how badass of a name it is.  It rhymes with dagger, people.

7.  Elvis Presley.  I'm not saying it's the coolest name in the world, but it flows very well off the tongue.  It sounds regal and dangerous all at the same time.  Do you think rock and roll would have been what it is if Elvis's real name was Don Presley or Elvis Grabowski?

8.  Bob Rock.  Best known as the producer of Metallica's Black Album and Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood, Rock was also a musician.  Either way, his name is perfect for playing or producing rock and roll.

9.  Rick Savage.  Savage, who is Def Leppard's bassist, has a name suited for hard rock.  It would be a tough name to have if he was a concert flutist.

10.  Mark Slaughter.  This is another great hair band/hard rock name, although it would have been an even better death metal name.

Anyone else I'm missing?