### Author:  [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/9 "2014-04-12T14:25:31Z")
Marty: Let’s…uh talk a little bit about the history of the group. I understand Nigel you and David originally started the band wuh…back in…when was it…back in 1964?
David: Well before that we were in different groups, I was in a group called The Creatures and which was a skiffle group.
Nigel: I was in Lovely Lads.
David: Yeah.
Nigel: And then we looked at each other and says well we might as well join up you know and uh…
David: So we became The Originals.
Nigel: Right.
David: And we had to change our name actually…
Nigel: Well there was, there was another group in the east end called The Originals and we had to rename ourselves.
David: The New Originals.
Nigel: The New Originals and then, uh, they became…
David: The Regulars, they changed their name back to The Regulars and we thought well, we could go back to The Originals but what’s the point?
---
### Author:  [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/10 "2014-04-12T17:16:47Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#):
>
> What was the first band/group whose name didn’t follow the “The \” convention?
>
> First I can think of is Cream, who debuted in 1966, and even they were briefly “The Cream.”
Pre-dating this would be Them, Van Morrison’s original band, which formed in April 1964.
I’ve often asked this same question, and the above is the best answer I can come up with.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/11 "2014-04-12T17:32:44Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#):
>
> It’s a running gag to declare a particularly catchy, random collection of words a “Band Name.” But my question is, when did musical bands start to appear as entities with odd names?
>
> …
>
> So, I’m asking…when _did_ you start seeing bands named like “The Proper Nouns”?
It seems to me that those are two different questions. There were plenty of groups in the 1950s with “The Proper Nouns” type names: The Silhouettes, The Platters, The Coasters, etc. What you’re asking about in the first sentence seems to be an incongruous juxtaposition of adjectives and nouns, like Strawberry Alarm Clock, Jefferson Airplane, Velvet Underground, etc. And that was a phenomenon that took off in the late 1960s. This is the kind of name that is the subject of the “Band name!” meme, which may have originated with Dave Barry.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/12 "2014-04-12T17:33:26Z")
> [@DChord568](#):
>
> Pre-dating this would be Them, Van Morrison’s original band, which formed in April 1964.
>
> I’ve often asked this same question, and the above is the best answer I can come up with.
Simon and Garfunkel’s first group in 1957 was called Tom and Jerry, and they even had a minor hit under that name, but I guess you couldn’t consider them a band, really, as there weren’t backup musicians that I’m aware of.
Colibri: I think 1965 is more accurate, with the advent of groups like Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, etc.
---
### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/13 "2014-04-12T17:42:39Z")
Steven Allen, ca. 1962, thought _Dow Jones and The Industrials_ would be a great band name.
---
### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/14 "2014-04-12T17:47:52Z")
> [@DChord568](#):
>
> Pre-dating this would be Them, Van Morrison’s original band, which formed in April 1964.
>
> I’ve often asked this same question, and the above is the best answer I can come up with.
How about Bluesology, formed circa 1962?
---
### Author:  [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/15 "2014-04-12T17:52:47Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> How about Bluesology, formed circa 1962?
Good one…though of course, they didn’t achieve the renown on the charts that Them did.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/16 "2014-04-12T18:10:06Z")
> [@movingfinger](#):
>
> The first group whose name made me sit up and say, “HUUUnnhh??” was The Lovin’ Spoonful in the late sixties. Before that group names always made sense, sort of.
For me it was Bread.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/17 "2014-04-12T18:37:53Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Colibri: I think 1965 is more accurate, with the advent of groups like Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, etc.
Well it started in the mid sixties, but as I said it really took off (and probably peaked) in the late sixties then.
Let’s take a look. These are just names on the “Incongrous adjective/noun” model, not “The Proper Nouns” or “Somebody and the Whatever” models, even if the latter were outlandish. Some of these may be literary references or puns, but I’ve included them anyway.
[Musical groups established in 1960](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1960)
Nothing.
[1961](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1961)
Nothing.
[1962](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1962)
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, maybe.
[1963](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1962)
Nothing.
[1964](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1964)
Blues Magoos (maybe)
Velvet Underground
[1965](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1965)
Captain Beefheart
Chocolate Watchband
Electric Prunes
Grateful Dead
Jefferson Airplane
Pink Finks
Pink Floyd
[1966](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1966)
Buffalo Springfield
Iron Butterfly
Moby Grape
Soft Machine
Vanilla Fudge
[1967](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1966)
Blue Cheer
Blue Oyster Cult
Electric Flag
Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
Opal Butterfly
Peppermint Trolley Company
Plastic Penny
Savage Resurrection
Spooky Tooth
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Tangerine Dream
[1968](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1968)
Fat Mattress
Flying Burrito Brothers
Grand Funk Railroad
Illinois Speed Press
Led Zepplin
Medicine Head
Plastic People of the Universe
[1969](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1969)
Atomic Rooster
Beefy Red
Blue Mink
Steeleye Span
---
### Author:  [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/18 "2014-04-12T19:10:26Z")
Mississippi Sheiks
> **[Mississippi Sheiks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Sheiks)**
>
> The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, primarily in the first half of the 1930s. In 2004, they were inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame.
> Their 1930 blues single "Sitting on Top of the World" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2018, it was selected for preserv...
---
### Author:  [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/19 "2014-04-12T20:23:54Z")
Re 1964: members of the bands that became The Velvet Underground and The Blues Magoos came together in this year. However, the Velvets didn’t adopt that name until November 1965. The name Bloos Magoos wasn’t used until 1966, to be changed soon afterwards.
Re Captain Beefheart: that was Don Van Vliet’s alias, but not the name of the band. Through most of his career, the billing was Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bands-start-having-band-names/685897/20 "2014-04-12T23:19:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Well it started in the mid sixties, but as I said it really took off (and probably peaked) in the late sixties then.
>
> Let’s take a look. These are just names on the “Incongrous adjective/noun” model, not “The Proper Nouns” or “Somebody and the Whatever” models, even if the latter were outlandish. Some of these may be literary references or puns, but I’ve included them anyway.
>
> [Musical groups established in 1960](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1960)
>
> Nothing.
>
> [1961](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1961)
>
> Nothing.
>
> [1962](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1962)
>
> Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, maybe.
>
> [1963](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1962)
>
> Nothing.
>
> [1964](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1964)
>
> Blues Magoos (maybe)
> Velvet Underground
>
> [1965](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1965)
>
> Captain Beefheart
> Chocolate Watchband
> Electric Prunes
> Grateful Dead
> Jefferson Airplane
> Pink Finks
> Pink Floyd
>
> [1966](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1966)
>
> Buffalo Springfield
> Iron Butterfly
> Moby Grape
> Soft Machine
> Vanilla Fudge
>
> [1967](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1966)
>
> Blue Cheer
> Blue Oyster Cult
> Electric Flag
> Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
> Opal Butterfly
> Peppermint Trolley Company
> Plastic Penny
> Savage Resurrection
> Spooky Tooth
> Strawberry Alarm Clock
> Tangerine Dream
>
> [1968](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1968)
>
> Fat Mattress
> Flying Burrito Brothers
> Grand Funk Railroad
> Illinois Speed Press
> Led Zepplin
> Medicine Head
> Plastic People of the Universe
>
> [1969](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_established_in_1969)
>
> Atomic Rooster
> Beefy Red
> Blue Mink
> Steeleye Span
Nobody likes a smart-ass, you know. 😃
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