The band 's name came from Linger 's obsession with 1960s proto - punk band John 's Children ; ' Neil ' was the nickname of Hawkins due to him apparently resembling Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey .
Hawkins is the group 's original bassist .
The band 's name came from Linger 's obsession with 1960s proto - punk band John 's Children ; ' Neil ' was the nickname of Hawkins , the group 's original bassist , due to him apparently resembling Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey .