Ongoing History Daily: Today is an important Weezer anniversary

It was on this day—Valentine’s Day, 1992—that Weezer was formed. Back then, the group hadn’t settled on a name which explains why the label of their first demo tape was littered with possibilities.

They thought about Fuzz, Meathead, Outside, The Niblet, Hummingbird, and The Big Jones. They might have gone when Avant Garde and Zoom, two of Rivers Cuomo’s earlier bands. They eventually settled on Weezer. That was the nickname given to Rivers by his father who got it from the old film series The Little Rascals which featured a kid named Weezer.

“Why pick him?” asked Rivers. Dad replied, “Because he’s the cool one.”