# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**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 20, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/121 "2025-04-20T23:44:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > “Look, it’s like a bug, which is pretty rock and roll, right? But didja notice it’s got the word _Beat_ in there, knowhatImean, eh? Pretty hip, no?” > > Pretty hip, no. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7NEWA32jqk0/maxresdefault.jpg "The Be Sharps name") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NEWA32jqk0) ---
**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 21, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/122 "2025-04-21T00:36:21Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Before becoming the Grateful Dead, Jerry and the boys were the Warlocks. In 1989, following the release of _In The Dark_, Grateful Dead concerts were starting to get inundated with hordes of ticket-less people who would show up and try to gate-crash or just hang out in the parking lot, sometimes overwhelming the local infrastructure. The band made an attempt to avoid this problem at two shows in Hampton, Virginia which were billed merely as “Formerly The Warlocks”, no mention of the Grateful Dead name. They hoped that only dedicated fans who knew the band’s history would show up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/123 "2025-04-21T19:03:13Z")
My point is that the next people might really, really not have wanted to see pornography on their TV. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/124 "2025-04-21T23:27:14Z")
How well did it work? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/125 "2025-04-22T00:13:43Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > David Johannsen, who had a modest success as songwriter and singer for the New York Dolls, started billing himself as Buster Poindexter after he went solo. While it might have worked out for him, it’s usually a bad idea for a well-known performer to suddenly take on a persona/pseudonym. Other examples include [Chris Gaines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Gaines) (Garth Brooks) and [Dee Dee King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_in_the_Spotlight) (Dee Dee Ramone). ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/126 "2025-04-22T00:52:58Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hard to take them seriously, especially when they started breaking new ground musically. I’ve often reflected on how absurd “The Beatles” sounded to me the first time I heard it (when my older brother came home one day gushing that they were going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show), yet how quickly the awkwardness became utterly inconspicuous to me. ---
**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 22, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/127 "2025-04-22T13:03:19Z")
> [@sunacres](#): > > I’ve often reflected on how absurd “The Beatles” sounded to me the first time I heard it Same here. But then a whole lot of groups started following suit and it became the new normal. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/128 "2025-04-22T13:57:22Z")
And fleas from Spain. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/129 "2025-04-23T15:03:28Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Hard to take them seriously, especially when they started breaking new ground musically. Right. This became clear to me when I was ten, and my friend gave me the _Let It Be_ album. The liner notes claimed this was a “new phase Beatles album,” and I thought, “the name Beatles is so much more appropriate to their ‘She Loves You’ phase.” (At the time of its early 1970 release, it was already clear that the “new phase” was akin to death being just another stage of existence, but that’s another story…) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/130 "2025-04-23T22:14:35Z")
I’d heard somewhere that someone at **The Black Crowes** record company tried to get them to call themselves “Kob Kounty Krows” but that was even too Assholerly for Chris Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/131 "2025-04-24T06:53:13Z")
Steve Hogarth once said in an interview that he wishes Marillion had chosen a new name after he replaced Fish as vocalist in order to enjoy a clean break between the two eras. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/132 "2025-04-24T10:37:33Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Pink Floyd formed as Sigma 6, then changed to Meggadeaths, then The Abdabs, then **The Screaming Abdabs** I’m not sure if they have this joke in the US, but this is a term for violent Diarrhea, ie: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Abdab Abdab Abdab. ---
**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 24, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/133 "2025-04-24T13:50:53Z")
The UK band Gypsy recorded an album and discovered the was a US band with the same name. They changed their name to English Gypsy to avoid confusion in the US. The US band was originally the Underbeats. In retrospect, that wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/134 "2025-04-24T16:46:58Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Steve Hogarth once said in an interview that he wishes Marillion had chosen a new name after he replaced Fish as vocalist in order to enjoy a clean break between the two eras. To me they are two bands. One band that I love and will listen to forever and a band that I don’t like at all. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-groups-for-whom-a-name-change-was-a-good-idea-or-a-bad-one/1017138/135 "2025-04-25T00:52:07Z")
How about an accidental name change? When the group _Chad Allan and the Expressions_ released their first single, their label Quality Records disguised the single by crediting it to _Guess Who?_, as a publicity stunt to generate speculation that it was by a more famous British Invasion band working incognito. After Quality Records revealed the band to be Chad Allan and the Expressions, disc jockeys continued to announce the group as Guess Who?, effectively forcing the band to accept the new name. The question mark would be dropped later. > **[The Guess Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guess_Who)** > > The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, with hit songs including "American Woman", "These Eyes", and "No Time". > During their most successful period, The Guess Who released eleven studio albums, all of which reached the charts in Canada and the United States. Their 1970 album American Woman reached n... [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=6)