And why Stiff Kittens?
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Originally posted by Server Error in "/" Application There's no reason, right?
And they never did a gig under this name, right?
Just a piss-take and NO...never ever! 
The answer to this is in the Warsaw name thread. Technically they did do a gig as Stiff Kittens, as this was the name on the bill even though they announced the name change at the start of the gig, so legend has it.
Originally posted by Reg Bumswizle The answer to this is in the Warsaw name thread. Technically they did do a gig as Stiff Kittens, as this was the name on the bill even though they announced the name change at the start of the gig, so legend has it.
I have read various reports on this in the past but am NOT convinced really that they did.It is like the hundreds of people who claim to have seen the PISTOLS at the LESSER FREE TRADE HALL when only about 42 were there.Time gives everyone a good excuse to RE-INVENT the glorious past.All i know is that i never saw JOY DIVISION play as when i first got into them in 1978/79 i had just been to see LED ZEPPELIN and thought with JOY DIVISION i would wait a couple of years till they played a LARGE concert.I was certain they were going to be big but never expected what
happened.One minute about to break AMERICA and the next....
But what a great band they turned out to be.Never thought 23 years on and i am still following them. 
"Because they sounded like stiff kittens"? Just doesn't sound like the real reason for me...
When I asked if there was no reasons I meant the real one. We all know why Warsaw or Joy Division, but the first name...
I know two or three bands whose names really came from "nothing". In the situation, at the time, they just picked up. Maybe it's what happened in this case.
Wasn't it to do with Howard Devoto's cat miscarrying and the room being "full of stiff kittens"? Or is that just another urban myth?
You can see the poster/handbill for their first gig in the Buzzcocks 'Product' box set where they are undeniably called "Stiff Kittens".
Originally posted by Philip Collins Wasn't it to do with Howard Devoto's cat miscarrying and the room being "full of stiff kittens"? Or is that just another urban myth?You can see the poster/handbill for their first gig in the Buzzcocks 'Product' box set where they are undeniably called "Stiff Kittens".
But this does not PROVE that WARSAW themselves called the band this,just some wag that didn't have much faith in them thought it would be a good piss-take.Mind you if it was the BUZZCOCKS they are very much over-rated anyway IMHO.Nevertheless whatever they were called we all know them now... :)
I've never believed much in that Stiff Kittens stuff until seeing the flyer of their first gig ever in May 1977 where they were billed as such. It doesn't mean they actually used to call themselves Stiff Kittens though.
As for the origin of the name, some sources say it was a moniker created by Pete Shelley while others say it was coined by a lady at the house shared by Howard Devoto and Richard Boon. Who knows? 
At least we know Barney wasn't involvd in the name at that stage. It would have been Stiff Penises then 
I find it hard to believe that the band weren't aware of the name being given them...if it's your first ever gig it's somewhat likely that you're going to take an interest in any form of publicity for it (I remember that I did for mine!!)...
I thought they hadn't decided on a name at that point, so they went with Stiff Kittens because Richard Boon suggested it (after his cat miscarried) and it appeared on the handbill (as pictured above), but then they thought of a better name (although not much better) by the time their first gig came around, though it was too late by that point to change the name on the bill. Anywho, none of the guys in the band liked the name and it was just a filler; they thought it sounded too much like those other punk band names that tried to be controversial (like Sex Pistols). I guess that didn't bother them much once they changed the name the last time at the end of the year.
