How did we get our name?
Back in the day, Maury Rosenberg (Hypnotic Clambake’s founder and accordionist) was determined to find a name for his band. He recalled loving band names with insects or animals as part of the name such as: The Beatles, The Animals, The Frogs, The Chinchillas, The Billy Goats, The Birds, Adam Ant, Etc..
After thinking about it, he concluded that “The Clams” would be a terrible name for a band as in the music world it means making mistakes when you play a tune.
He further explored the idea of a “Clambake” which was a party on the beach with food and music. “Clambake” as defined by Google- an outdoor social gathering at which clams and other seafood (and often chicken, potatoes, and sweet corn) are baked or steamed, traditionally in a pit, over heated stones and under a bed of seaweed. “Clambake” had a nice ring to it and it denoted an event.
Searching through many different adjectives such as: Memorizing, Astonishing, Wild, Crazy, Terrifying, Hypnotic... The lightning bolt struck by which Maury’s first thought was...”There must be a band already named “Hypnotic Clambake”? But then he thought, there is no way anyone would name their band “Hypnotic Clambake!” And this is how the name came to be.
Ps. One other funny thing occurred when the name went through the trademark process, Maury was contacted by a lawyer with a “Cease and Desist Letter”. A group by the name of “The Dixieland Clambake Seven” thought the name was too similar to theirs, by which Maury’s lawyer send them a letter that simply said, “If your band sounds anything like an original Klezmer, Rock and Roll, Punk, Ska, Blues, Swing, Bulgarian, Folk rock outfit then you may have a case, otherwise...#$%%$^$%^.” NEVER HEARD BACK FROM THEM. True that!!!
