# Musical groups for whom a name change was a good idea. . .or a bad one **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 17, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138 "2025-04-17T15:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/81 "2025-04-18T19:02:23Z")
I was going to say that Oingo Boingo was originally called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, but apparently the latter was actually a street theater troupe that kind of evolved into the band. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/82 "2025-04-18T19:07:07Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > but apparently the latter was actually a street theater troupe that kind of evolved into the band. And, they appeared on _The Gong Show_! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W1lQueHpLmQ/hqdefault.jpg "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo | Haydn Trio on The Gong Show | 1976") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1lQueHpLmQ) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/83 "2025-04-18T20:37:15Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > that’s so cool! Could you imagine world famous groups doing that these days? It would never happen. Seriously, you could never keep it a secret now. I believe these Bingo Hand Job concerts were at a tiny venue in London called “The Borderline.” They also featured guest appearances by Billy Bragg and Natalie Merchant, according to my tapes, anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SwissMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/84 "2025-04-18T21:00:56Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Green Jellÿ was originally Green Jello, but the makers of Jell-O pudding sent them a cease-and-desist letter for trademark infringement. I think the band members stressed that, despite the name change, the heavy metal umlauts meant that the new name was still pronounced like “Green Jello.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/85 "2025-04-18T21:28:29Z")
Simon & Garfunkel were originally Tom and Jerry, which was just. . .wrong. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/86 "2025-04-18T22:14:01Z")
Hotlegs had a hit in “Neaderthal Man” and put out two albums in the UK, but once sales dried up, the musicians rebranded themselves at 10cc and became a massive success with several hit albums and singles, notably, “I’m Not in Love.” ---
**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:** [April 18, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/87 "2025-04-18T22:17:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > the musicians rebranded themselves at 10cc and became a massive success with several hit albums and singles, notably, “I’m Not in Love.” And also spurring an oft-repeated story (denied by the band’s members during their heyday) about the origin of the name: that 10 cubic centimeters was the average volume of a male human’s ejaculate. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/88 "2025-04-18T22:19:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > And also spurring an oft-repeated story (denied by the band’s members during their heyday) about the origin of the name: that 10 cubic centimeters was the average volume of a male human’s ejaculate. Just the amount to make a spoonful, after which the Lovin’ Spoonful were named (to be precise, after the Mississippi John Hurt song of the same name). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/89 "2025-04-18T22:35:14Z")
There was a Southeastern regional band ca. 2000 (+/- 10 years or so) that had a bassist named Mike Mills. Their gig flyers would say “Featuring bassist Mike Mills” and their shows would sell out. And Mr. Mills WOULD walk out on stage, just not THAT one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/90 "2025-04-18T22:39:10Z")
Maybe they could toss him in the same prison as Lostprophets’ singer Ian Watkins. You REALLY don’t want to know what Watkins did. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/91 "2025-04-18T22:42:16Z")
My brother was a college DJ when the Reverb Motherfuckers put out an album. They only played it between midnight and 6am, when the FCC rules about profanity, etc. didn’t apply. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/92 "2025-04-18T22:52:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I remember reading an interview with Micky Dolenz in _Playboy_ in the mid 1980s (my college roommate had a subscription). Speaking of Mickey, should he decide to tour again he’d be _The Monkee_. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/93 "2025-04-18T22:57:53Z")
The late 1980s band the Cult started out as a punk band called Southern Death Cult, complete with mohawks. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/94 "2025-04-18T23:09:32Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Styx started out as The Tradewinds and then changed their name to TW4 TW4 used to play at my high school dances fairly frequently, although I never saw them there. It was many years later, after I had been listening to Styx for years, that I learned that Styx and TW4 were the same group. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/95 "2025-04-18T23:10:38Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Simon & Garfunkel were originally Tom and Jerry, which was just. . .wrong Though retroactively oddly appropriate to decades of on-again off-again animosity. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/96 "2025-04-18T23:50:31Z")
If not for Robert Heinlein, they would have been the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. > [@Jay\_Z](#): > > Kantner had used the Jefferson Starship moniker for his cast of thousands that backed him on his 1970 solo album. That’s _Blows Against the Empire_, a concept album about hippies hijacking a starship. “[Hijack](https://youtu.be/zU0FMTooM90?si=0USczu5vbabUqB-w)” is the centerpiece song, and the concluding track is “[Starship](https://youtu.be/_kUlAtpa9wc?si=Ep3FwHtw-q848w8d),” > which relates a mutiny fought for control of the ship, to determine whether to surrender and return, or to continue. Eventually the idealists win control and the ship is flung by gravity slingshot around the Sun and out of the Solar System. > By Kantner’s admission, the underlying premise of the narrative was derived in part from the works of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein. In Heinlein’s novel _Methuselah’s Children_, a group of people hijack a starship. In the song “Mau Mau (Amerikon)” Kantner quotes a line from the novel where the hijackers turn on the ship’s drive. At this point the main character of the novel, Lazarus Long, says “Push the button, pull the switch, cut the beam, make it march.” > Kantner went so far as to write to Heinlein to obtain permission to use his ideas. Heinlein wrote back that over the years many people had used his ideas, but Paul was the first one to ask for permission, which he granted. In 1971, _Blows_ was the first rock album ever nominated for a Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation. Kantner’s ad hoc supergroup of Airplane, CSN, and Grateful Dead members were called “Jefferson Starship” in the album credits, but it’s obviously not the same band as the “Ride the Tiger” Jefferson Starship. Before they took that name, they were the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/97 "2025-04-19T01:25:57Z")
Maybe it would have been a good idea to change: [Ian Anderson](https://www.ianaanderson.com/). He does use his middle initial (Ian A. Anderson), but it doesn’t prevent confusion. His website says “Oh, and I have two legs and don’t play the flute. That’s a different Ian Anderson.” ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/98 "2025-04-19T02:07:24Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Maybe it would have been a good idea to change: [Ian Anderson](https://www.ianaanderson.com/). He does use his middle initial (Ian A. Anderson), but it doesn’t prevent confusion. David Bowie’s first few singles were issued under the name Davie Jones. Three guesses why he changed it! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/99 "2025-04-19T03:42:26Z")
Johnny Blue Skies originally went by the name of Sturgill Simpson. Glad Johnny decided to go with his real name rather than that ridiculous nom de plume. > [@Shoeless](#): > > The Van Halen brothers named their band Genesis before they found out there was some British group with that name. Great decision by the brothers. > [@SwissMan](#): > > I think the band members stressed that, despite the name change, the heavy metal umlauts meant that the new name was still pronounced like “Green Jello.” Little pig, little pig, let me in! I grew up when that video was on MTV every freaking hour it seemed. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2025, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/100 "2025-04-19T12:16:42Z")
There’s an old video clip out there of a visit to England by an American musician (can’t recall who). He’s greeted by a fan club, the president of which is a very young David Bowie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138.md?page=6)