Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: The Former Names of 10 Bands
by Stacy Conradt - September 14, 2009 - 4:44 PM

q10

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has never heard of The Beach Boys or Led Zeppelin. The Pendletones and The New Yardbirds? Maybe not so much. Check out 10 bands who are probably thankful they changed their names before they hit the big time.

cleo1. The Beach Boys were once known as “The Pendletones.” It was kind of like the Beatles trick of changing the spelling of a word to include a music reference – “Pendletons” were a style of shirt popular at the time. When the Boys were signed to a label and produced their first single, the label changed them to “The Beach Boys” without consulting them.
2. Sonny and Cher have such distinctive names there was really no reason for them to go by Caesar and Cleo. The names referred to each of their distinctive hairstyles.
3. Black Sabbath definitely has more of a metal ring to it than Polka Turk, don’t you think? They were actually called “The Polka Turk Blues Company,” partially named after an Indian clothing shop, then shortened to Polka Turk, then changed to Black Sabbath after the 1963 Boris Karloff movie of the same name.

4. Angels and Snakes may sound like a Guns ‘N’ Roses reject name, but it was actually Blondie who went by that name for a while (or Angel and the Snake, depending on which source you believe). The name change was inspired by truck drivers who shouted at Debbie Harry.

5. Can you imagine “Stairway to Heaven” by The New Yardbirds? Members of Led Zeppelin actually completed a tour for the original Yardbirds (including Jimmy Page) who were contractually obligated to do so. They got permission to use the name to complete the tour for them, but before too long it was decided that touring as the New Yardbirds was basically fraudulent and they change their name.

6. We could all be playing Johnny and the Moondogs Rock Band right now and enjoying their remastered albums if the Beatles hadn’t come to their senses. To be fair, it was John Lennon’s skiffle group back before the band was really solidified.

goliwogs7. Creedence Clearwater Revival could have been known as The GWs instead of CCR if they had stuck with their original name, The Golliwogs. The name was coined by their label, Fantasy Records, who wanted the name to sound similar to popular British bands at the time. When Fantasy was purchased by another company, the band was given the opportunity to change their name.
8. Not that the Champagne Music Makers is such a great name – they were Lawrence Welk’s band – but the Honolulu Fruit Gum Band is even worse.
9. It’s a good thing Journey changed their name, because “The Golden Gate Rhythm Section” wouldn’t have fit on an album as nicely. The band intended to just be a backup band for artists in the San Francisco area, but when they proved to be more talented than that, they scrapped the generic name and came up with Journey.

10. Perhaps the Bangles only added two letters to their name, but I bet it really cut down on the jokes that probably came from being called The Bangs. And actually, this is only one of quite a few names – first they were christened The Colours, then The Supersonic Bangs, then The Bangs, and finally The Bangles.

Know of some other names that probably wouldn’t have looked so hot on a marquee? Share in the comments!

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Comments (38)

  1. Green Day was once called Sweet Children.

    posted by Cait on 9-14-2009 at 4:54 pm

  2. Simon and Garfunkle were once know as Tom and Jerry.
    I know it was low hanging fruit but I saw the pitch and I swung away.

    posted by Don on 9-14-2009 at 5:02 pm

  3. The New Kids on the Block started out as Nynuk.

    I’m a blockhead, what can I say?

    posted by holly on 9-14-2009 at 5:04 pm

  4. Well it must be late in the day because when I first read the headline I was expecting to read about AIG transforming into 21st Century Insurance…. or some other reb(r)anding.

    posted by TXCherokee on 9-14-2009 at 5:16 pm

  5. Apparently, during one Scandinavian tour early in their career, Led Zeppelin had to tour as \KNOBS\.

    Some contractual thing.

    posted by Son of Spam on 9-14-2009 at 5:26 pm

  6. John Lennon’s old high school band was the Quarrymen – which Paul & George joined – and they only used the name Johnny & the Moondogs for one competition. They also tried: The Silver Beetles, The Beatals(Beat-AllS). Others tried to get them to use names like Long John & the Silvermen, or Johnny Silver and the Pieces of Eight but they refused.

    posted by Nerak on 9-14-2009 at 5:37 pm

  7. The Velvet Underground, ZZ Top and The Grateful Dead all originally called themselves The Warlocks.

    posted by EMStoveken on 9-14-2009 at 5:46 pm

  8. History of Headaches became Tears For Fears. I think I like the final result better.

    posted by Whiplash77 on 9-14-2009 at 5:51 pm

  9. Led Zeppelin also performed once under the name The Nobs after threatening to be sued by the Baroness von Zeppelin.

    ZZ Top was also once known as The Moving Sidewalks.

    posted by will on 9-14-2009 at 6:26 pm

  10. The original Alice Cooper group was both The Spiders and The Naz before they changed their name to Alice Cooper. And after that, since people kept asking who Alice was, the lead singer ended up changing his name to Alice Cooper.

    posted by Moth on 9-14-2009 at 6:53 pm

  11. Radiohead was originally called “On a Friday” because when they were in school they would always practice on fridays.

    Then they changed it before the release of their first album “Pablo Honey” after a Talking Heads song/lyric.

    posted by xanderjones on 9-14-2009 at 7:13 pm

  12. Prog-rock progenitors Jethro Tull went through a number of different names, including Bag of Blues, Bag o’Nails, and Candy Coloured Rain (!) before getting stuck with the name of the 16th-century inventor of the seed drill because it was the name they had performed under the first time they were invited back to the same venue. Their first single was miscredited to “Jethro Toe.”

    Pink Floyd were The Tea Set until Syd Barrett discovered that there was already a London band called Tea Set.

    Deep Purple were initially supposed to be called Roundabout.

    The Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa’s backing band) were originally just The Mothers, but their record label demanded a name change, thinking (correctly) that “Mothers” was actually short for “Motherf***ers”.

    reCaptcha: 7, Senator bivouac

    “7, Senator” would be a great name for a band. “Bivouac” wouldn’t be bad either.

    posted by Jon. on 9-14-2009 at 7:18 pm

  13. Seether was known as Saron Gas

    posted by claire on 9-14-2009 at 7:32 pm

  14. The Replacements originally played a The Impediments.
    Green Jello was forced to change their name.

    posted by Scott on 9-14-2009 at 8:55 pm

  15. Silverchair started as The Innocent Criminals.

    Placebo used to be known as Ashtray Heart (which is why I got all geeked that they used it as the title of their 2nd track on their latest album; yeah, I’ve been a huge fan for over a decade, what can I say?)

    The Dandy Warhols were once known as Andy Warhol’s Wet Dream.

    posted by Krie on 9-14-2009 at 9:33 pm

  16. Spinal Tap was first called The Originals. It turned out there was another band called The Originals, so Tap became The New Originals.

    Later on, The Originals became The Regulars. The New Originals could have changed back, but then they figured what would be the point.

    posted by Josh on 9-14-2009 at 11:59 pm

  17. Motley Crue was originally known as “Christmas”

    posted by Dave on 9-15-2009 at 12:51 am

  18. Hot Tuna really wanted to call themselves Hot Sh*t. Sparks was HalfNelson

    posted by skook on 9-15-2009 at 1:27 am

  19. I THINK it was the doors went through a TON of different names (diff one every night so they could keep playing @ the same club) before finally they got announced as ‘the doors’ and it stuck.

    Also Nirvana went through a TON of name changes before Kurt settled on nirvana. some notable ones: Fecal Matter, Ed, Fred, and Ted, Pen, Cap, chew (eventually used as a song name). and yes im a HUGE cobain fan so i know too much nirvana trivia for my own good lol.

    posted by MergedLoki on 9-15-2009 at 4:23 am

  20. I think the Lovin’ Spoonful began life as the Mugwumps.

    posted by Decam on 9-15-2009 at 8:50 am

  21. The Barenaked Ladies only chose that name because when they were playing bars the sign outside would say: Live on Stage Tonight–Barenaked Ladies; and more people would come to the show.

    There was a band in the late 90s/early 2000s that used a different name on every demo tape they sent to the record companies, and the name they used was the one that got them signed.

    posted by Wayne on 9-15-2009 at 10:18 am

  22. I am going to leap out of the music nerd closet with this one, but I believe Black Sabbath’s earlier name was actually “The Polka TULK Blues Company,” not TURK.

    I’m pretty sure they also had a short stint where they were called Earth (until another band named Earth told them to, you know, stop calling their band Earth). I may be wrong about that one, though.

    posted by clint on 9-15-2009 at 10:21 am

  23. By the way…what about names groups ALMOST went with? Is there enough information to do a Quick 10 on that?

    For example, somewhere between The Warlocks and the Grateful Dead, Messrs. Weir, Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann and McKernan actually considered naming the band “The Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle.” I guarantee the band would never have lasted past a couple Acid Tests with an albatross like that hanging around their collective neck.

    Worse still, it would have completely thrown off the meter of “I Hate Everything” by the Queers. “I hate the Grateful Dead, their hippie fans are such a waste.” There’s no way Joe King could have ever crammed a twelve-syllable band name into that line.”

    posted by clint on 9-15-2009 at 10:34 am

  24. KISS was at one time known as (among other names) Wicked Lester

    posted by Scott on 9-15-2009 at 11:25 am

  25. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were known as Mudcrutch before the moved west.
    They reunited for a small tour last year. Yes, I went.

    posted by Ramona on 9-15-2009 at 11:31 am

  26. Mother Love Bone became Mookie Blaylock with a few lineup adjustments, which became Pearl Jam.

    posted by Stephanie on 9-15-2009 at 11:37 am

  27. Blue Oyster Cult was originally called Soft White Underbelly.

    posted by Anthony on 9-15-2009 at 12:48 pm

  28. When Chrissie Hynde played with an early Damned ( before either had a record out) she insisted they call themselves Mike Hunt’s Honorable Discharge.

    posted by Robert Holdridge on 9-15-2009 at 2:05 pm

  29. Styx was originally “Plus Fours” when they were a Chicago bar band.

    posted by JohnHo on 9-15-2009 at 3:12 pm

  30. The Police were briefly known as Strontium 90 and also as The Elevators.

    posted by casimar on 9-15-2009 at 3:56 pm

  31. My band went through a number of name changes, started as Monday In May, Violet Cuts the Olive (when we were in our new wave phase). The Sodding Rots, Hazmat, Nicaragua, The Hobgoblins (when we were in our punk phase) and finally stuck with Psychic Orange when we were in our post-punk original gothic phase when we were trying to emulate bands like P.I.L. The Church and Sisters of Mercy. It was also at this time that we realized we really sucked and disbanded. These phases and name changes happened within a couple of months.

    posted by Muerte Del Toro on 9-15-2009 at 4:00 pm

  32. The Goo Goo Dolls were originally The Sex Maggots, back when they were more punk rock than adult contemporary. The Goo Goo Dolls may be nonsensical, but it *is* better than Sex Maggots.

    posted by Marial on 9-15-2009 at 6:20 pm

  33. The Who changed their name to the High Numbers, and then changed it back to The Who.

    Love was originally The Grass Roots, but their band name was ripped off by a rival group who got a record on the air first. They chose Love from a name-the-band contest held by their fans.

    posted by Wallis Lane on 9-15-2009 at 9:33 pm

  34. When REM first started, they invited people to write name suggestions on a wall. As such, they started out as Cans of Piss but quickly changed it to Slutbank. They finally settled on REM after Michael Stipe discovered it while looking through a dictionary.

    posted by Russell Arnott on 9-16-2009 at 12:42 pm

  35. The Turtles were known back in the day as Flo and Eddie. I think the Mugwumps were the Mommas and Pappas. The Beach Boys were (before the Pendletones?) briefly Carl and The Passions and when Brian ‘left’ there for a while they returned to that for one album (“So Tough”).

    posted by Nita on 9-16-2009 at 8:28 pm

  36. Chicago was originally named “The Big Thing”. Then, they altered that to “Chicago Transit Authority”. Too bad a CTA already existed. Fearing a lawsuit they shortened it to Chicago.

    How about this for your new band? From the Boxer Rebellion in China, The Righteous Fists of Harmony!

    posted by gewurz on 9-16-2009 at 9:14 pm

  37. Muse used to be called “Rocket Baby Dolls”, after the drummer’s favorite x-rated film…

    posted by Hugo on 9-16-2009 at 10:56 pm

  38. No, Decam, that was the Mamas & the Papas. The Beach Boys also went by the name Carl & the Passions.

    posted by Sara in AL on 9-19-2009 at 10:55 pm

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