These days, pretty much every band recognizes the power of a unique name, to the point where attempts at uniqueness run together into a sludge of commonality (that makes sense, doesn’t it?). So whether it’s new words, word/number combos, weird word combos, etc., many bands are trying to stand out from the crowd.
To what extent did this start with the Beatles? I am trying to think about other bands/musicians previous to the Fabs that purposely misspelled a common word in order to stand out and can’t come up with one - which may say more about my music knowledge than anything. I am sure that there were purposely misspelled band names before the early 1960’s, but perhaps they simply didn’t have the significance of the Beatles - just like other basketball players shaved their heads and/wore baggy shorts, but when MJ did both, he defined NBA style for years…
Thanks
PS: BTW, I did a search on the SDMB for the word “Beatles” and came up with nothing - clearly I need help - I will start a thread in GQ on SDMB searches…
I don’t think I’d called “Beatles” misspelled – it’s clearly meant to include the word “Beat”, not just be a cutesy spelling of an insect name.
I’m not sure of your point. There were plenty of named groups in the 50s and earlier, and a lot (most?) of them were made-up names. I can’t think of any examples, but I’d bet there were quite a few exotic spellings in the bunch, meant to invoke musical images.
I hear what you’re saying, Cal, maybe “misspell” is the wrong wording, but I think my point is clear - the word “Beatles” did not exist until they used it - the fact that it played on both “the Crickets” whom the Beatles loved, and “Beat” was clearly why they went with it. Other band names are clearly misspellings - e.g., “Led” Zeppelin - for “Lead”, changed to make its pronounciation more clear; “Motley Crue” with umlauts, just to annoy us even more (although I do like “Looks that Kill” an awful lot)…
You may be correct here, Cal, hence the point to my question. I am thinking of the Del-Vikings, the Platters, the Coasters, the Ink Spots, Sinatra, Presley, and while they have names that became instantly recognizable, they didn’t contain the same type of wordplay that the Beatles were going for. I am not saying that bands didn’t do it before the Beatles - I am asking, I guess, how prevalent was it, and did any group really achieve fame while doing it - but the fact that they did it first has been clouded by the Beatles doing it - like, say, people not realizing how truly great Oscar Robertson was when looked back at through the career of Michael Jordan…
The Beatles also cite Buddy Holly & the Crickets as their inspiration for choosing an insect name. Buddy Holly also inspired the Hollies. Maybe pop branding started with making a connection to him.
Going back a little further you have Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Spike Joens and the City Slickersetc. But if you want a name deliberately misspelled to make an impression, how about Kay Kayser and the Kollege of Musical Knowledge?