Bands that had to change their names (4 Viewers)

[Theseus Mock]

Reading the news that One Direction have a clashing namesake in the US, I'm trying to think of other examples of this.

Didn't Suede go under the English (or UK) Suede in the US/Canada?
Blink 182 appending 182 because of Irish band Blink?

 

[east hastings]

The Frames changing to Frames DC or something like that in the US

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

There's a ton of them

Beat/English Beat
Charlatans/Charlatans UK etc etc

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

There was a US band called Sleeper who sold the name to the uk band.

 

[east hastings]

Death From Above - DFA1979

 

[east hastings]

Warsaw - Joy Division

 

[ann post]

the evangelists, from london. sent us an email saying they would sue us if we didnt change ourname. we told them to fuck off.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Warsaw - Joy Division

Wasn't that just a choice?

i.e. "We prefer this other name"?

 

[Thayl]

LFO.

 

[pavlos]

Manitoba, changed to Caribou after yer man from the Dictators threatened legal action.

 

[shower another shower]

Pop Etc.

 

[pavlos]

The Chemical Brothers used to be called the Dust Brothers.

 

[rettucs]

Mary Black used to be called Freddie White

 

[pete]

Death Angel, briefly

The band released the "A Room with a View" video and single under the name "D.A.," and Cavestany explained to a reporter at the time that he now found the band's original name "Restricting. The name Death Angel seems to imply hardcore thrash gloom-and-doom death metal, and we're not like that at all. If I were presented with 10 records, and one of them was by a band called Death Angel, and I'd never heard of them, I'd stick that one on the bottom!"

 

[therealjohnny]

David Bowie
David Bowie is David Robert Jones, born in Stanfield Road, Brixton, South London, on the 8th of January 1947 to Peggy (whose real name was Margaret) and John (whose real name was Haywood Stenton) Jones. He changed his stage name from Jones to Bowie in 1966 because of the success of Davy Jones on the London stage. That was prior to the success of the Monkees (with Davy Jones).

Similarly I heard Aimee Duffy saying she was advised to go under the name Duffy to distance herself from another white girl blues singer called Amy

 

[RayRay]

Irish band Penfold changed to Penfold DC because of name clashing. The other Penfold changed their name to The Begrudgers.... All many moons ago

 

[pete]

Imelda May

 

[magicbastarder]

irish band U had to change their name to U2 after hearing someone had beaten them to their first choice.

 

[Unicron]

Pop Etc.

They didn't do it due to a clashing name though, they did it becasue they thought they were offending gay people. That whole annoucement read like a Portlandia script.

 

[rettucs]

what was that band that used to post on here that were named after a Nick Cave song?

they changed their name after being threatened with suing, no?