# What was the first popular band to not have "the" in their name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622 "2018-11-16T16:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/61 "2018-11-18T18:25:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Ladysmith Black Mambazo-1960 > Rare Earth-1960 Rare Earths name came from 1968. LBM is a true example from 1964, (It had an articled name apparently before) but it’s another culture, language, and continent. There’s that. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/62 "2018-11-18T21:17:39Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > Ramones? Too late (1974) and does not conform. It’s a family name (even though it was made up) and even though sometimes styled as Ramones, usually seen as The Ramones. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/63 "2018-11-18T21:19:34Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Not to mention that “his” is an article. No; _his_ is a possessive pronoun. In English there are only three articles: \*the \*([definite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_articles#Definite_article)), and _a_ and _an_ ([indefinite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_articles#Indefinite_article)). ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/64 "2018-11-18T22:17:05Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > No; _his_ is a possessive pronoun. In English there are only three articles: \*the \*([definite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_articles#Definite_article)), and _a_ and _an_ ([indefinite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_articles#Indefinite_article)). Hm. To me the article is implied I suppose. It doesn’t fit the way I understand the OP. “His” stands right in the place of “The” and is a substitute for it. Most popular references were to “The Comets” IIRC, at least I have never heard of “Bill Haley and Comets.” Chuck Berry records were sometimes credited to CB “and his combo.” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/65 "2018-11-18T22:18:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Too late (1974) and does not conform. It’s a family name (even though it was made up) and even though sometimes styled as Ramones, usually seen as The Ramones. Ramones shows famously began with the phrase “WE ARE THE RAMONES!” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/66 "2018-11-19T02:40:48Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Hm. To me the article is implied I suppose. It doesn’t fit the way I understand the OP. “His” stands right in the place of “The” and is a substitute for it. Most popular references were to “The Comets” IIRC, at least I have never heard of “Bill Haley and Comets.” > > Chuck Berry records were sometimes credited to CB “and his combo.” I’m not debating whether if fits the OP, just stating the grammatical facts. ---
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/67 "2018-11-19T07:02:49Z")
Mountain (69) Jethro Tull (and predecessor band McGregor’s Engine, 67) Creedence CR (67) Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield (66) Big Brother and The Holding Company (65) Canned Heat (65) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/68 "2018-11-19T07:42:44Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Don Henley famously insisted that his band was called Eagles. Not The Eagles. Just Eagles. That then brings up Scorpions. Everybody \*says \*“The” Scorpions, but it’s actually just “Scorpions”, no “the”. Formed 1965 (though their first album wasn’t until 1972). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/69 "2018-11-19T07:56:25Z")
I thought it might be Golden Earring, 1961. But researching it, I see the started as The Golden Earrings, dropping “The” in 1967 and the S in 1969. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/70 "2018-11-19T10:29:16Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > All the early rock bands had names following the same rubric: The (insert plural of something). The Crickets, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, etc. > > The Who sort of broke this mold with its pronoun. (Must have seemed crazy radical at the time.) But by the late 60s, you had band names that completely escaped it: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc. > > So what was the first band with a non-“the” name? Is the question limited to rock bands? Is it limited to ones from English-speaking countries? I am sure there are plenty of non-English bands that don’t use the English “the” in their names, and there may even be some that don’t use a local word that is more or less equivalent to “the”. Even the Soviet Union had rock bands in the early 1960s, and many of the languages spoken there (most notably Russian) don’t even have articles, definite or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/71 "2018-11-19T16:29:45Z")
> [@Moris](#): > > Mountain (69) > Jethro Tull (and predecessor band McGregor’s Engine, 67) > Creedence CR (67) > Moby Grape, Buffalo Springfield (66) > Big Brother and _ **The** _ Holding Company (65) > Canned Heat (65) Also Jethro Tull are a name, like Alice Cooper ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/72 "2018-11-19T17:07:43Z")
Thanks, everyone – I was offline all weekend and I can’t believe how much debate this silly question generated! Based on first released recordings, the winners (sa far) seem to be: International: [ul] [li]Ladysmith Black Mambazo (64)[/li][li]Them (64)[/li][/ul] US: Canned Heat (65) ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/73 "2018-11-19T17:08:44Z")
> [@RobotDevilDog](#): > > Even though it’s not actually a valid response to the OP, I would just like to give a brief shout out to **The The**. I was wondering when someone would bring them up! (Not Them, just them.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/74 "2018-11-19T18:38:11Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Thanks, everyone – I was offline all weekend and I can’t believe how much debate this silly question generated! Based on first released recordings, the winners (sa far) seem to be: > > International: > [ul] > [li]Ladysmith Black Mambazo (64)[/li][li]Them (64)[/li][/ul] > > US: Canned Heat (65) Downliners Sect also had their first releases (an LP, and EP, and a single) in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/75 "2018-11-19T19:00:17Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > **Sounds Incorporated** (1961) > probably best known in the US for 1965 “In The Hall Of The Mountain King.” There’s also the similarly named **Blues Incorporated** , whose [first single](https://www.discogs.com/Alexis-Korners-Blues-Incorporated-Blues-From-The-Roundhouse-Vol-2/release/5470656) was (I think) released in 1959. They were never really popular as a band, but were influential on rock musicians. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/76 "2018-11-19T19:41:34Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Pink Floyd started out with the > > I guess I don’t need to finish that sentence. I thought I was the only one who knew this. 😛 I always call them, \*“The Pink Floyd” \*just to be a dick. > [@Johanna](#): > > Even Yes was called “the Yes” during their first few years. Weird. I had never heard this. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/77 "2018-11-19T20:35:18Z")
With bands that are in my frame of reference, it seems like 1965 was the year the name improvising really took off thanks in no small part to the psychedelic scene. To add a couple more, Love (Arthur Lee’s band) and Quicksilver Messenger Service also formed in '65. Herman’s Hermits is an interesting example, as I think of that as pretty calculated, formulaic music. When I was a kid and would hear their name, I could never make it out. It sounded like a fragment of a tongue twister. Apparently the origin of the name briefly was Herman & His Hermits - technically that counts too? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2018, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/78 "2018-11-19T20:47:14Z")
“Girls of the Golden West” was a country group formed in 1933. They were fairly popular in the 30’s and 40’s. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/79 "2018-11-20T00:04:39Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Downliners Sect also had their first releases (an LP, and EP, and a single) in 1964. > **[Downliners Sect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downliners_Sect)** > > Downliners Sect are an English R&B and blues-based rock band, formed in the 1960s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on their first album The Sect. Critic Richie Unterberger wrote: "The Sect didn't as much interpret the sound of Chess Records as attack it, with a finesse that made the Pretty Things seem positively suave in comparison." > In 1962, Mick O'Donnell, later known as ... If you look they don’t really qualify. They are even more connected to their article than the ramones or the MC5. Look at the title of the debut LP. Although I do have a feeling that getting pedantic and detailed using wikipedia may not lead to Truth. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622/80 "2018-11-20T00:09:57Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > With bands that are in my frame of reference, it seems like 1965 was the year the name improvising really took off thanks in no small part to the psychedelic scene. To add a couple more, Love (Arthur Lee’s band) and Quicksilver Messenger Service also formed in '65. > > Herman’s Hermits is an interesting example, as I think of that as pretty calculated, formulaic music. When I was a kid and would hear their name, I could never make it out. It sounded like a fragment of a tongue twister. Apparently the origin of the name briefly was Herman & His Hermits - technically that counts too? Love is a great example that I forgot. They were the most pain in the ass of them all because you always had to say “Arthur Lee and…” so that you wouldn’t have to repeat stuff while people didn’t grok it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-popular-band-to-not-have-the-in-their-name/824622.md?page=5)