# Bands with slightly different names depending on where on the planet you are standing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635 "2025-08-02T22:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/1 "2025-08-02T22:56:39Z")
So we’re driving up the NJ Turnpike, as one does sometimes. A song by the band I’ve always known as “Cream” comes on. I ask my Dearly Beloved™ if she’s ever heard of another name for this band. She glanced at me with caution but didn’t shove me out the door because I happened to be behind the wheel. Go me. I asked her because the Brit husband of my dear old pal, who’s got about 7 years on me ( and so is around 70 ) has referred to them as “The Cream”. Without any wink or nod. And, he’s a drummer from wayyyyyy back. He’s got a photo of Charlie Watts with an arm around his shoulder and he’s about 19 if that. So, drummer in the U.K. from the 60’s forward. He’s also been the drummer for Graham Parker and The Rumour. Anyway. “The Cream” apparently is a thing. I’m struggling to come up with ANY other band that’s got two “legitimately recognized” names besides the band I’ve mentioned. Anyone? Or is this a quirk of English opposed to Americanish ? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/2 "2025-08-02T23:06:58Z")
Yazoo, the English New Wave duo of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke, was called Yaz in the United States because there was already a band named Yazoo there. > **[Yazoo (band)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_(band))** > > Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America) were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, formed in late 1981 by former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The pair released two albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both. Yazoo played a key role in shaping the emerging genre of synth-pop, particularly in the mid-1980s house music scene. The duo split in May 1983, and later reunited for a tour in 2008. > Clarke and Moyet grew up in Basildon and attended th... ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/3 "2025-08-02T23:15:30Z")
Alabama 3, the group famous for recording “Woke Up This Morning” (AKA The Sopranos Theme), were credited as A3 in the US. This was apparently to avoid confusion with the American country music group Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/4 "2025-08-02T23:19:01Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Yazoo, the English New Wave duo of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke, was called Yaz in the United States because there was already a band named Yazoo there. My understanding is that the change was mostly because they had named the band Yazoo after the name of an American record company, and when they released music in the U.S. under that name, Yazoo Records sued them. As per that Wikipedia entry: > [@](#): > > According to Moyet, the name Yazoo was taken from the specialist blues record label [Yazoo Records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_Records).[[20]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_(band)#cite_note-lawsuit-name-20) This decision led to a £3.5 million lawsuit threat by the label over the band’s name[[20]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazoo_(band)#cite_note-lawsuit-name-20) and, coupled with the fact that the name Yazoo was already in use by a lesser known American rock band, the group was renamed Yaz for the North American market. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/5 "2025-08-02T23:33:33Z")
When Wham!, which was based in the UK, first started releasing music in the U.S., they went by “Wham! U.K.” in the States, as there was already an established band named Wham! in the U.S. Eventually, I guess that there was some sort of settlement or arrangement, and they dropped the “U.K.” portion of the name for later U.S. releases. Their first album cover, as released in the UK: [![](https://media.musicarts.com/is/image/MMGS7/WHAM--Fantastic-LP/M10677000000000-00-1600x1600.jpg) ](https://media.musicarts.com/is/image/MMGS7/WHAM--Fantastic-LP/M10677000000000-00-1600x1600.jpg) And as released in the U.S.: [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DvEAAOSwcRxnIVCN/s-l1200.jpg) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/DvEAAOSwcRxnIVCN/s-l1200.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/6 "2025-08-03T00:29:05Z")
Some bands tweak their names to scan better and leaner, like The Pink Floyd Sound. Also they are adjusted to prevent inadvertent duplication such as Squeeze being marketed in Australia as UK Squeeze. Ditto The Beat being the British Beat in some markets. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/7 "2025-08-03T00:32:07Z")
Puffy goes by Puffy AmiYumi in the US because of Puff Daddy. > **[Puffy AmiYumi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffy_AmiYumi)** > > Puffy (sometimes stylized in all-caps), also known as Puffy AmiYumi in the US, are a Japanese pop rock duo formed in Tokyo in 1995, consisting of singers Ami Ōnuki and Yumi Yoshimura. In the United States, they adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, who also performed under the name Puffy. The duo sings in Japanese, English, and Mandarin Chinese. > Both Ami and Yumi were scouted by Sony-affiliated talent agencies and put together in the mid-1990s. Most of t... ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/8 "2025-08-03T00:34:19Z")
Rock band [Bush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_(British_band)) was known as Bush X in Canada because we already have a [Bush](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_(Canadian_band)). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/9 "2025-08-03T00:35:17Z")
A lot of British bands have different names in the US. The Beat =\> The English Beat Suede =\> London Suede ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/10 "2025-08-03T00:41:05Z")
Iconic Australian rock band The Angels were known in the US as Angel City, I guess to avoid upsetting Xtians? 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/11 "2025-08-03T00:47:44Z")
Or to assert a connection to Los Angeles, California, the “City of Angels”, and a very largec player in the total USA music scene? ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/12 "2025-08-03T01:06:51Z")
There was also already a glam rock band called Angel. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/13 "2025-08-03T01:37:51Z")
These are all pretty good answers - but almost all if not all are legally-constrained kinds of answers. Is it possible that “The Cream” and “Cream” stand alone? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/14 "2025-08-03T02:05:12Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Is it possible that “The Cream” and “Cream” stand alone? From what I can see, it seems like they may have initially started out naming themselves “The Cream,” but very quickly just shortened it to “Cream.” The two variations may have gotten used interchangeably in the early days of the band, and fans (like the gentleman you mention) might have clung to calling them “The Cream,” but AFAICT, they never released any records credited to “The Cream.” As per this link: > [@](#): > > But they tried to put that behind them (perhaps naively) for the sake of the new project. Together, the trio settled on the name Cream, since the three were known to be the best of the best in the United Kingdom. At first, they were called The Cream but quickly, [as with Facebook](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEgk2v6KntY), the principles dropped the “the.” > **[Behind the Slightly Arrogant Band Name: Cream](https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-slightly-arrogant-band-name-cream/)** > > Formed in London in 1966, the rock band Cream, with Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, has gone on to iconic status. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/15 "2025-08-03T02:14:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > A lot of British bands have different names in the US Also Charlatans =\> Charlatans UK ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/16 "2025-08-03T02:37:52Z")
“ Slightly arrogant” !?!?!? 🤣 I mean, have you WATCHED Ginger Baker on stage?? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/17 "2025-08-03T07:35:40Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > These are all pretty good answers - but almost all if not all are legally-constrained kinds of answers. It wasn’t official, but here in Canada, Butthole Surfers were called Buttonhole Surfers on MuchMusic, our version of MTV, because they didn’t want to say the real name on air. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/18 "2025-08-03T10:53:03Z")
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine were often called Carter USM for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/19 "2025-08-03T11:42:18Z")
In the UK, Blink-182 is called “Blink One Eight Two” as opposed to “Blink One Eighty Two” elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2025, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635/20 "2025-08-03T11:53:45Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Is it possible that “The Cream” and “Cream” stand alone? I have never heard of them being called ‘The’ Cream. It’s possible they may have occasionally been introduced as such by some ill-informed DJ or radio host? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-with-slightly-different-names-depending-on-where-on-the-planet-you-are-standing/1021635.md?page=2)