Comments on: The Quick 10: The Former Names of 10 Bands

By: Sara in AL

Sara in AL — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:55:25 +0000

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

By: Hugo

Hugo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:56:02 +0000

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

By: gewurz

gewurz — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:14:58 +0000

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!

By: Nita

Nita — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:28:55 +0000

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”).

By: Russell Arnott

Russell Arnott — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:42:43 +0000

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.

By: Wallis Lane

Wallis Lane — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:33:40 +0000

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.

By: Marial

Marial — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:20:52 +0000

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.

By: Muerte Del Toro

Muerte Del Toro — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:00:58 +0000

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.

By: casimar

casimar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:56:10 +0000

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

By: JohnHo

JohnHo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:12:48 +0000

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