### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/5 "2018-11-16T17:08:08Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> The Who recorded _I Can’t Explain_ in 1964 so they may have been the first with any popularity that did not have a The \ name.
>
> Looking through [lists of #1 records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_number-one_singles_from_1958_to_1969) the first one I see without “The” at all is _Incense and Peppermints_ by Strawberry Alarm Clock in 1967. It doesn’t mean they were the first but they were the leading edge of the psychedelic bands with correspondingly absurdist names.
I haven’t searched but I think there would be at least as many cites for “The Straw…” as “Straw…”
They did the tune in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I’ll check the credits.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/6 "2018-11-16T17:09:43Z")
> **[Great Speckled Bird (band)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Speckled_Bird_(band))**
>
> Great Speckled Bird was a country rock group formed in 1969 by the Canadian musical duo Ian & Sylvia. Ian Tyson sang, played guitar and composed. Sylvia Tyson sang, composed and occasionally played piano. The other founding members were Amos Garrett on guitar and occasional vocals, Ben Keith on steel guitar, Ken Kalmusky on bass and Ricky Marcus on drums. They were named after the song, "The Great Speckled Bird", as recorded by Roy Acuff (1938).
> The group was featured in the film Festival Expres...
Here’s one from 1969
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/7 "2018-11-16T17:10:23Z")
Cream; 1966
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/8 "2018-11-16T17:11:08Z")
CREAM started in 1966
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/9 "2018-11-16T17:16:34Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> Cream; 1966
That’s gotta be it.
I wonder how people reacted. “What, is it ‘The Creams’?” Clapton being a known quantity must have helped.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/10 "2018-11-16T17:22:42Z")
Jefferson Airplane, 1965
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/11 "2018-11-16T17:24:36Z")
Jefferson Airplane formed in 1965.
ETA: Ninja high five!
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/12 "2018-11-16T17:30:52Z")
I found a list that says Steppenwolf - 1961.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/13 "2018-11-16T17:33:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> I found a list that says Steppenwolf - 1961.
That list would be incorrect. Steppenwolf wasn’t until 1967.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/14 "2018-11-16T17:33:56Z")
Les Brown and His Band of Renown? They were popular all the way back in the thirties.
There was Jan & Dean in the fifties.
But I feel these aren’t really in the spirit of what the OP is asking.
So the best answer is probably [Unit 4 + 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_4_%2B_2), a rather obscure British band which had a Number 1 hit “Concrete and Clay” in 1965. They formed the band in 1962 as Unit 4 (and later added two more members) and released their first single in 1964.
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### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/15 "2018-11-16T17:35:14Z")
Pink Floyd started in '65
Herman’s Hermits in '63
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/16 "2018-11-16T17:43:13Z")
When did Vanilla Fudge start?
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/17 "2018-11-16T17:44:29Z")
Pink Floyd started out with the
I guess I don’t need to finish that sentence.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/18 "2018-11-16T17:44:38Z")
Everly Brothers were billed both [with](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjMosOwtNneAhUGUK0KHevMDx4QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgenius.com%2Falbums%2FThe-everly-brothers%2FThe-everly-brothers&psig=AOvVaw0ZNeFoVw_CIEeT6PyxX83x&ust=1542474374836024) and [without](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwi1hbrJtNneAhUE0awKHSA7A50QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.last.fm%2Fmusic%2FThe%2BEverly%2BBrothers&psig=AOvVaw0ZNeFoVw_CIEeT6PyxX83x&ust=1542474374836024) “The.” As did (The) Strawberry Alarm Clock, and (The) Blues Magoos, so there probably wasn’t a hard and fast rule for a long time.
Manfred Mann was named after their keyboardist because their manager thought it sounded a lot cooler than the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. Jefferson Airplane seems to be the first U.S. group to completely go without The with their\* Takes Off \*album in 1965, although they didn’t hit the charts until 1966.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/19 "2018-11-16T17:47:47Z")
Them - 1964
Quicksilver Messenger Service - 1965
Jefferson Airplane - 1965
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/20 "2018-11-16T17:52:12Z")
My guess is that this became possible when rock and roll got enough cultural penetration to make this kind of gesture. Unit 4 +2 seems like the winner, from 1964, but probably an outlier. To me Cream were the ice breaker by being a supergroup. Led Zep had the kind of attitude that fit perfectly with the gesture, which seems to be a part of hard rock because of that. They even released an LP without any words on the cover. Similar gesture and attitude to me.
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