Back in the day, when I was working on my first solo projects, it was clear to me that my given name would not do. James White and the Blacks existed. I used to joke that Jim’s Big Ego was taken because there was, in fact, a New Hampshire seacoast band with that name. In a fit of hubris, I became obsessed with the idea that I Needed A Unique Name. Part of this was a result of my first truly original band, Naked (with my brother Will), being “forced” to change names (we had a radio personality as a drummer at one point, and he had heard that a new band called Naked was coming out on a Warner Brothers subsidiary and feared we would be sued). Something unique was needed. What was a poor boy to do?
Enter A Bit of Fry & Laurie, the British comedy series that was a vehicle for the hilarious and twisted collaborations of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. One recurring sketch involved two bold business men who repeatedly want their businesses to, “put [the small town of] Uttoxeter on the goddamned map once and for all…” With their accents and my ears, I heard “Uttoxeter” as “Eutoxita.” And so it goes.