Batman Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 What exactly is a led zeppelin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jippers Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Ok - to simplify things, a zeppelin looks a bit like a blimp (you know, like the Duff blimp of the Simpsons). And Led is a mispelling of, well, Lead, an element of the periodic table that is a heavy metal. Thus a "lead zeppelin" would be a flying machine made of heavy metal. Which of course is an oxymoron because if it ever got into the sky at all it would probably hit the ground very quickly because of gravity. The name "Led Zeppelin" was allegedly coined by Keith Moon. He allegedly (jokingly of course) told the band before going on stage "you'll go over like a ...". This is mentioned in the book that comes with the box set "Led Zeppelin" released in 1990. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted May 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 yeah my teacher is always saying "go over like Led Zeppelin" and I always thought he meant you'll stop abruptly, like Led Zep did with Bonhams death. Nwo I know! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeterMcgee Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 yeah my teacher is always saying "go over like Led Zeppelin" and I always thought he meant you'll stop abruptly, like Led Zep did with Bonhams death. Nwo I know! Thanks You are likely to wake up the dead with this post! John Bonham is only "The Greatest" drummer to ever hit the music scene! I'd advise you to re-think your post here, and be respectfull of the dead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindy17838 Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 The Kieth Moon comment would make more sense if it was spelled Lead Zeppelin. A zeppelin is a blimp that has internal supports. They are also typically larger than blimps. An internally-supported oversize blimp made out of lead wouldn't go over very well at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted May 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 You are likely to wake up the dead with this post! John Bonham is only "The Greatest" drummer to ever hit the music scene! I'd advise you to re-think your post here, and be respectfull of the dead! yeah, I know hes a good drummer, but how am I being disrespectful of him? All I said is that Led Zeppelin stopped when he died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malakin Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 The Kieth Moon comment would make more sense if it was spelled Lead Zeppelin. A zeppelin is a blimp that has internal supports. They are also typically larger than blimps. An internally-supported oversize blimp made out of lead wouldn't go over very well at all. No, it makes perfect sense, Keith made that joke, and then Robert Plant said they should spell it Led instead of Lead because otherwise us "bloody Americans" would mispronounce it and not get the joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindy17838 Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 It made sense before. I just wrote it so that no one would get Led for lead the metal mixed up with Led the past tense of the verb lead. I had never heard the story about Keith Moon before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dd Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 how funny I knew the "go over like a lead Zepplin" comment, having read the book, but I missed the part about spelling it "Led". I often wondered about that. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted May 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Led looks better than lead I think. Lead Zeppelin Led Zeppelin, just looks cooler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole19111 Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 Well comparing Keith and John is a bit difficult, since they differed in their playing styles. Keith, who I am a big fan of(since discovering him when I was in Middle school in the mid to late 90's)to what I hear, wasn't much of a structured drummer, much how he lived his life. John seemed to have played a bit more structured, but then again, thats my opinion, and I have no training in percussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuzikTyme Posted May 26, 2004 Report Share Posted May 26, 2004 *Hindenberg What is striking to me is how led (past tense of lead) is actually, perfectly in harmony with Moon's analogy even though he meant lead the metal. Since the Hindenberg was on their first cover, one can only associate zeppelin with the largest airship to ever take to the air. I'll do my best to explain why I'm captivated by Led Zeppelin's unintentional coin of a term that really wasn't as ingenious as they might have thought. They misspelt lead intentional because of pronunciation concerns but never realized that led (past tense of lead) was the more accurate term...IMO. Here's why: Basically, the designer of the Hindenberg (Hugo Eckner) was led into doing something against his will. He had always intended for the *H to be filled with helium (nonflammable) but the United States was the only source of helium. Hitler was becoming more and more powerful at the time and the US was not about to give up helium (blimps were used to track submarines in world war I). Hitler led (demanded) Eckner to fill the H with hydrogen (flammable) because basically a show of power was more important than the safety of human life. This was not Eckner's choice but Hitler's. Eckner knew he would be killed if he didn't comply. This had to be an engineer's worst nightmare. To realize that upon making the most impressive, largest flying stucture ever, that his own morals would be bought by the lead which was in the gun to his head. Hitler held the gun and wanted the greatest zeppelin ever to take to the air at all costs. So, the lead (present tense of led) zeppelin, the H, really was a led (past tense of lead) zeppelin because the engineer was slave against his own better judgment and had the same outcome, regardless of how unintentional and coincidental an envisioned metal blimp's destined demise would be, compared to one of the greatest bands and band names in history: Led Zeppelin Ironic, isn't it? Next up, why Def Leppard spells it def. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindy17838 Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 *Next up, why Def Leppard spells it def. They named themselves after a large cat that had lost his hearing. The spelling was due to the band needing to gain 'street cred' with their fans, 'most def'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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