For Mötley Crüe , stirring struck — as it often does — while under the influence .
It was the former 1980s , and bandmates Vince Neil , Tommy Lee , and Nikki Sixx were imbibing Löwenbräu beer , a German beverage . The umlauts in the name seemed to hit a chord with them .
“ I can think it like it was yesterday , ” NeiltoldVanity Fairin 2009 . “ We were drinking Löwenbräu , and when we decide to call ourselves Mötley Crüe , we put some umlauts in there because we thought it made us look European . We had no estimation that it was a pronunciation thing . ”
They quickly rule out . “ When we finally went to Germany , the crew were chanting , ‘ Mutley Cruh ! Mutley Cruh ! ’ We could n’t figure out why the f**k they were doing that . ”
Crüe , Blue Öyster Cult , Motörhead : For rock musicians , theumlauthas become a strange signature , one that seems to exist for no other reason than because it looks nerveless . ( In fairness , that ’s a prerequisite for pretty much everything in rock music music , from pilus band to mike digest scarves . ) But while Neil and fellowship may have help popularize the punctuational accessary , they were n’t the innovators . The real story of the umlaut begins decades prior , in a in spades less debauched German music scene . A commune , actually .
Though it had been around since the Middle Ages , the umlaut was name by Grimm brother Jacob Grimm , one half of themorbid storytelling distich . In 1819 , he describedum(around ) andlaut(sound ) as a way to indicate how one vowel could influence another when spoken loudly . It was indicated by two dots above the vowel sound , which should take aim the speaker to make anoo - eesound . ( Try sayingoo - eerepeatedly , freeze your knife on theee , and then move your lips back tooo . It should sound a little like a banjo . )
Although it serve a utilitarian function , the umlaut had another welfare : It was alien - looking in print , particularly with non - German speakers . That might have been one rationality why German art commune Amon Düül prefer for a dual diaeresis . accord toRolling Stone , their 1969 record album , Psychedelic Underground , was the first to feature the mark on an album natural covering . ( Some also accredit the ring with ushering in the krautrock writing style , though the chemical group has n’t always received high extolment . One reviewerdubbedtheir third record album , Disaster , as “ appropriately title . ” Nor should they be mix up for the reportedly superior band , Amon Düül II . )
That a German band would hijack the umlaut is n’t so unusual . What made it come to the mainstream in America was Blue Öyster Cult . The band adopted the fashion in 1971 after several other band names — Soft White Underbelly and Travesty among them — didn’t seem to resonate with sports fan . The Cult did , especially when it immix with the umlaut , the resultant role of striation director Sandy Pearlman and rock writer Richard Meltzer standing outside a restaurant dish out Blue Point huitre .
“ I said , ‘ Why do n’t we call it Blue Oyster Cult ? ’ ” PearlmantoldRolling Stone . “ And Richard say , ‘ And we ’ll add an umlaut over the type O ! ’ And I said , ‘ big ! ’ ”
The band agreed . “ I cerebrate the umlaut had a bit of lingua - in - cheek body fluid about it , ” founder Eric Bloomsaidin 2013 . “ Plus it made the dance orchestra ’s name look nerveless in a direction . ”
( Oddly , some promulgate BOC favored neo - Nazi sentiments , owing in part to the umlaut and to a German plane on the screening of theirSecret Treatiesalbum . Both Bloom and Pearlman are Jewish . )
The success of Blue Öyster Cult lead to some imitator umlaut introduction . Lemmy Kilmister , the leader of rock band Motörhead , has said he took a discriminative stimulus from the Cult when distinguish his own group . Kilmister was not a grammar aficionado ; he just thought the dieresis appear appropriately bowelless for his aggressive style of euphony . ( It should be noted that Kilmister also collected Nazi memorabilia , which moderately colors his commandeering of German punctuation . Kilmister , who pass in 2015,deniedhaving any anti-Semite notion . )
“ I pinched the idea off Blue Öyster Cult , ” he said . “ Then Mötley Crüe pinched it off us and it go on and on . ”
Before long , the umlaut could not be cease . Minneapolis stria Husker Dü followed ; so did Queensrÿche ; Jay - Z used Jaÿ - Z for a 1996 record album , Reasonable dubiousness ; Canadian band Voivod titled their 1986 recordRrröööaaarrr , in all probability ironically ; theGuitar Herovideo game seriesintroducedheavy metal rocking chair Lars Ümlaüt .
The cherry atop the umlaut megabucks may be faux British rockers Spın̈al Tap , the subject of the 1984 mockumentaryThis Is Spın̈al Tap , which polish off the dot over theIand set the umlaut nonsensically over theN. Then again , if the umlaut ’s only purpose in rock is to look nerveless , there ’s nothing wrong with that .
