Where does the name NMA come from?

[Amandistan]

Ok, obviously, It's Cromwell's army in history but NMA strikes me as a band that would be pro-Cromwell.
Sullivan is an Irish name and for some reason i get the idea that Cromwell would not be his hero.

Is it because it sounds cool or is it the idea that Cromwell's New model Army made it where parliament is not controlled by the crown?

Does anyone know?   

[Shush]

Amanda, you just figured it out -- you are following the wrong band 

[Amandistan]

Oh no, I am not.   
As the name Sullivan is Irish i don't think JS is a big fan of Cromwell.

Maybe what the early NMA stood for but not his puritan conquest of Ireland. 

[Spudthemariner]

Oh no, I am not.   
As the name Sullivan is Irish i don't think JS is a big fan of Cromwell.

Maybe what the early NMA stood for but not his puritan conquest of Ireland.

What on earth has JS surname got to do with it? Considering he was born in Buckinghamshire and his Dad in Canada I rather think your assumptions are at the best vague and ill thought out. By that logic, my mate from Portsmouth with the Polish surname Kaminski should automatically have strong feelings against Genghis Khan...bonkers!
There is only one person who will know the answer to that question, and that is the man himself!

With regard to the bands name however, the New Model Army was formed by Parliament and its command given to Thomas Fairfax. Cromwell was a general, not its founder or indeed leader. Of course, all this info is freely available online should you wish to look...   

[Amandistan]

Because if his ancestry is Irish he will not look up to a man who killed them.

Sorry but I was not taught English history in school. I was taught that the colonists overthrew them and that's the earliest I learned. It's really too much information to read. But what i have read is tha Cromwell led the new model army into Ireland.

I would suspect the polish have angry feelings towards the Russians.
Cromwell's actions in Wexford alome are reason enough to say he was a monster.

[Shush]

I would suspect the polish have angry feelings towards the Russians.

Yes, they do. But Russian domination in Poland ended just 26 years ago and is still very much in living memory. You are talking about events from hundreds of years ago.

All nations have skeletons in the closets, G.B. more than most as it has had a larger influence on the World. The events you are talking about are indeed terrible, but I cannot relate to them or be made to feel responsible for something so far in the past. In the same time frame, Matthew Hopkins was charging around the country looking for Witches to burn. Things done back then in the name of religion were not good -- by most nations of that time.

[Spudthemariner]

I would suspect the polish have angry feelings towards the Russians.

Yes, they do. But Russian domination in Poland ended just 26 years ago and is still very much in living memory. You are talking about events from hundreds of years ago.

All nations have skeletons in the closets, G.B. more than most as it has had a larger influence on the World. The events you are talking about are indeed terrible, but I cannot relate to them or be made to feel responsible for something so far in the past. In the same time frame, Matthew Hopkins was charging around the country looking for Witches to burn. Things done back then in the name of religion were not good -- by most nations of that time.

Aye, exactly. As for the surname issue, mine is also Irish, indeed I still have living family in Ireland. However although I certainly don't consider Cromwell to be any kind of 'Hero' I also can't hate somone for events hundreds of years ago (even if they did possibly affect distant relations).
To automatically assume that because of a persons possible heritage, they they would think a certain way is absurd.
Surely you can see that?

[Stefanie225]

Where does the name NMA come from?

There used to be a great NMA site called BD7 by Chris Benn that is now offline but can still be retrieved via the internet archive, e.g. http://web.archive.org/web/19991005185354/http://www.bd7.net/faq/
There it says: "The name of the band comes from English History. The New Model Army was a highly trained and motivated fighting force that turned the course of the English Civil War in the 1640's. It was led by Thomas Fairfax and was the nearest thing England ever had to a revolutionary army. After the war was won, the common soldiers became highly politicized and the army became a hotbed of ideas about democracy (universal suffrage), religious freedom and socialist principles. As to exactly why and who decided the name still remains a mystery. (Source: Justin Sullivan, NMAFC newsletters)."

With regard to the bands name however, the New Model Army was formed by Parliament and its command given to Thomas Fairfax. Cromwell was a general, not its founder or indeed leader. Of course, all this info is freely available online should you wish to look...

Amandistan did not ask, who was Oliver Cromwell or, who was the New Model Army. She (?) obviously knows all that. She asked, what was the appeal to the people who named the band. And I think that is a valid question.

[Spudthemariner]

Erm, I wasn't implying that it wasnt (a valid question) to be fair. Amanda has expressed a dislike of Cromwell  and his part in history and was (as I understood it), concerned that the band may have been named after 'his' army. I was pointing out that is a commonly held misconception (inthat he was a member of, not the founder etc).

Clearly if I've read the question wrong then fair play, I'll hold my hands up!

[Shush]

Taking the original title question at face value, as far as I understand it, and I really hate to assume to talk on someone's  behalf but  Justin has an interest in that time period, the English Revolution of which the New Model Army was a major part. The name chosen as a  reflection of that period rather an attempt to glorify the actions of the army itself. This would explain why the stage name, Slade the Leveller. The Levellers a Political group of the time wanting change and more freedom for the common man.

No idea why Slade though. Maybe he is a fan of the band, or the T.V. show "Porridge"

Good Wiki page on the Levellers  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levellers

the irony here, the first picture - Plaque commemorating three Levellers shot by Oliver Cromwell in Burford. !!

[JohnnyM]

 I cannot imagine it was anything much more in depth than the band thought it sounded cool, or it was the best of a bad bunch of suggestion before their next gig and they needed a name for the poster - I'm sure Justin never imagined it'd still be used 35 years later

[Amandistan]

Taking the original title question at face value, as far as I understand it, and I really hate to assume to talk on someone's  behalf but  Justin has an interest in that time period, the English Revolution of which the New Model Army was a major part. The name chosen as a  reflection of that period rather an attempt to glorify the actions of the army itself. This would explain why the stage name, Slade the Leveller. The Levellers a Political group of the time wanting change and more freedom for the common man.

No idea why Slade though. Maybe he is a fan of the band, or the T.V. show "Porridge"

Good Wiki page on the Levellers  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levellers

the irony here, the first picture - Plaque commemorating three Levellers shot by Oliver Cromwell in Burford. !!

I read that one and the levellers group seem like good people.  Sadly Cromwell had to kill them too.

[BlackCountryMaggiD]

I cannot imagine it was anything much more in depth than the band thought it sounded cool, or it was the best of a bad bunch of suggestion before their next gig and they needed a name for the poster - I'm sure Justin never imagined it'd still be used 35 years later

I think there's an interview somewhere that states that they only got together to play three (or something like that) gigs.

[Shush]

Yes, I remember the same interview, I think it is linked on here somewhere. Even so, I still imagine some thought at least went into choosing the band name an stage name. JS is interested in the Civil wars as stated in his answer to question 22 in the Q/A session.

[MARKXE]

Taken from Sounds in 1984

Tell me about the Levellers... I presume that's where the name Slade The Leveller comes from?

Slade:"Well, it isn't actually where it comes from, that's an in-joke but it does tie in. I'm very keen on that period of history... The name's origins though will remain a secret forever in the same way that how Stuart plays the Beginning of `Liberal Education` on his bass will."

http://freespace.virgin.net/biffer.a/inter160684.htm