In hindsight, this was a perfect hint for lateral thinking, because while true it’s also misleading. I had assumed that we’d recognize the name of one of the parties or corporation, not that we’d notice that the same name appeared twice in the puzzle. Well played.
Seconded. Well played to the point at which I was going to report that I’d never heard of any of those people when I saw the above post. Nice job.
I got a new one, and I’ll be generous - I’ll name the party involved! (Which naturally makes this very Googlable.)
In 1974, Fleetwood Mac went on tour. The shows were well received at first, but soon people got angry. Venues started cancelling on them, and they and their manager even got sued. Just for showing up to play! What was the problem?
Was the Fleetwood Mac that turned up to play the same lineup that people were expecting?
No
Did they do that thing bands sometimes do where they refuse to play their hits but only their new material?
1974 seems quite early in Fleetwood Mac’s history though (but I guess you wouldn’t know that in 1974).
No. (At least, if anyone had a problem with the setlist, it wasn’t the main problem.)
Was the band fraudulently advertising themselves as “Fleetwood Mac” even though they had no actual connection to the band everyone knows by that name? In other words, a trademark violation?
Did the actual band have some changes in membership (but still the same overall organization), that fans objected to?
Were there multiple, officially-licensed, bands by that name, so that they could play multiple venues at once?
Was the band fraudulently advertising themselves as “Fleetwood Mac” even though they had no actual connection to the band everyone knows by that name? In other words, a trademark violation? Yes!
And since that was quick, let’s pull the thread a little further. Why were the musicians in the fake Fleetwood Mac blindsided by this reaction?
Had the fake Fleetwood Mac not heard of the more famous band, and had coincidentally called themselves that?
No
Saying they “had no connection” isn’t true. It was the same manager (i.e. Clifford Davis), just none of the original band.
As far as why the musicians were blindsided, did the fake musicians get told by Davis that they were going to replace the original members of the band? (The original members did sue Davis, but I don’t know the timeline of when they did it relative to the fake tour.)
Yes, that’s exactly it. I probably could have been clearer on the connection through their manager, but that’s what I was hoping somebody would figure out.
Anyway here’s the story. One version of it, anyway.
I’m not sure how lateral this is but let’s give it a shot. I ask that you don’t look up the names I give you as that would probably ruin the puzzle.
Howie Shanks and Benny Bengough are part of a triumvirate. Who was the third person?
Were they better known by other names?
Nope. Awesome guess.
Are Howie and Benny H/A/M? Are they American?
Does the triumvirate still exist in 2024? If not, was it from the 20th century? 19th?
No clue what that is.
Yes
Nope
Yes
Is the third person famous, i.e. an easily recognizable name? Or is it the name of the triumvirate that we might recognize?