Original Names for Some Famous Bands

Bands undergo a lot of changes before they become famous – members, musical styles, location, names … We’re going to be focusing on that last one here. 

See if you can match the famous band with their original name (often, one of many). Just match the number from the 1st group with the correct letter from the 2nd. Then, scroll down to see how well you did.

Original Name	Band
1.  Artistics	A.  Allman Brothers Band
2.  Blue Boys	B.  The Band
3.  Blue Velvets	C.  Beach Boys
4.  Broken Combs	D.  Beatles
5.  Carl & the Passions	E.  Black Sabbath
6.  Detours	F.   Creedence Clearwater Revival
7.  Escorts	G.  Eagles
8.  Falling Spikes	H.  Grateful Dead
9   Feedback	I.    Nirvana
10.  Hawks	J.   Pearl Jam
11.  Johnny & the Moondogs	K.   Pink Floyd
12.  Leonard's Lodgers	L.   Queen
13.  Mookie Blaylock	M.  Radiohead
14.  On a Friday	N.  Red Hot Chili Peppers
15.  Pen Cap Chew	O.  Rolling Stones
16.  Polka Tulk Blues Band	P.   Talking Heads
17.  Smile	Q.   U2
18.  Teen King and the Emergencies	R.   Van Halen
19.  Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem	S.   Velvet Underground
20.  Warlocks	T.    The Who

Got ‘em all written down?  Well, let’s scroll down and see how you did.

Artistics – Talking Heads

• Formed at Rhode Island School of Design

Blue Boys – Rolling Stones

• “Rolling Stones” was after a Muddy Waters song

Blue Velvets – Creedence Clearwater Revival

• AKA Vision, Golliwogs

Broken Combs – Van Halen

• AKA Genesis (already taken), Mammoth, Trojan Rubber Company

Carl & the Passions – Beach Boys

• AKA the Pendletones (already taken)

Detours – The Who

• Other ideas included No One, The Group & The Hair

Escorts – Allman Brothers Band

• AKA Allman Joys, Hour Glass

Falling Spikes – Velvet Underground

• AKA Primitives, Warlocks (already taken)

Feedback – U2

• AKA The Hype

Hawks – The Band

• Originally the backup band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins

Johnny & the Moondogs – The Beatles

• AKA Quarrymen, Rainbows

Leonard's Lodgers – Pink Floyd

• AKA Sigma 6, Spectrum 5, Meggadeaths, Abdabs, Screaming Abdabs

Mookie Blaylock – Pearl Jam

• After an NBA player

On a Friday – Radiohead 

• After when they practiced

Pen Cap Chew – Nirvana 

• AKA Sellouts, Skid Row, Ted Ed Fred, Bliss

Polka Tulk Blues Band – Black Sabbath

• After brand of talcum powder or an Indian/Pakistani clothing shop

Smile – Queen 

• Freddie Mercury was originally Farokh Bulsara

Teen King and the Emergencies – Eagles 

• Originally, Linda Ronstadt’s backup band

Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem – Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Formed at Fairfax High School, in LA

Warlocks – Grateful Dead

• “Grateful Dead” was picked randomly from a dictionary

Funny Names from the 2026 MLB Draft

What an embarrassment of riches – the NHL draft, the World Cup, Wimbledon, and now the MLB draft.

Ryan Niedzwiedz - #434, Rockies, SIU, 1B

• Spell check suggests "Netwide"
• School’s all-time HR leader, with 46

Hideki Prather - #497, Twins, Cal, C

• Nomo namesake?
• ACC Academic Honor Roll

Bane Barker – #355, Marlins, HS (Jacksonville), P

• Bane: n., "a person or thing that causes misery, distress, ruin, or death (e.g., the 'bane of my existence')"
• 6’8”

Jackson Flora - #4, Giants, UCSB, P

• Not to be confused with Jaxon Fauna
• Won the National Pitcher of the Year Award

Connor Comeau - #54, Rangers, HS (Texas), 3B

• Alliteration for the win
• Half-Canadian

Zach Crotchfelt - #420, Mets, Troy, P

• Name comes from old-timey words for “fork” (as in a river or a road) and “field”
• Has played college ball for Auburn, Texas Tech & Troy

Brendan Brock - #99, Yankees, Oklahoma, C

• Awesome alliteration
• Criminal justice major

Clayton Freshcorn - #564, Cards, Texas A&M, P

• Sounds like a farm stand
• 9.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2026

Crew McChesney - #495, White Sox, BYU, OF

• Here's hoping his nickname is "Cut"
• 2 brothers played Div I football

Here's hoping that pic was taken when he was 13

Dustin Dunwoody - #456, Tigers, HS (California), P

• Astounding alliteration
• 0.22 ERA with 115 K in 64 IP in 2006

Damarcus Rideout-Carter - #408, Pirates, HS (Canada), P

• Rideout is from "outrider," an "officer of a sheriff's court or monastery responsible for riding out to collect dues, supervise manors, and enforce orders" [familysearch.com]
• Just turned 18

Tazwell Butler - #301, Astros, KSU, P

• Goes by “Taz," though "Tazmanian Devil" would be even better
• Has not gotten a hit in 54 career at bats

Parker Dillhoff - #543, Guardians, UNLV, P

• Dilbert character?
• Grandfather played for the Green Bay Packers

Cashel Dugger - #256, Nats, UCLA, C

• Spell check wants "Digger" or "Dagger"
• “Left-handed hitter with an even base and hand set, late scap load with present hand speed” [perfectgame.com]

Maddox Molony - #187, Tigers, Oregon, SS

• Can't get enough of that alliteration
• High school valedictorian

Declan Dahl - #158, Tigers, Lou Tech, P

• Ditto
• Not to be confused with the wrestler of the same name

Savion Sims - #213, Guardians, HS (Louisiana), P

• Ditto ditto
• Has hit 100 on the radar gun

Selden Kolkebeck - #567, Rangers, HS (NJ), P

• Spell check wants "Kleeck" (?!?!)
• Commit to Columbia

Sawyer Strosnider - #66, Brewers, TCU, OF

• Weird last name, meet weird first name
• Led nation in triples as a freshman

Camden Wimbish - #523, Dodgers, Campbell, P

• Honestly, what's wrong with Jim?
• From the town of Locust (NC)

Banks Wickersham - #419, Royals, HS (SC), C

• "Translates roughly to the 'bushy copse of a man called Wine'" [myheritage.com] 
• “Sets up in a spread stance with a hanging inward timer” [perfectgame.com]

Kole Klecker - #287, Twins, Ariz State, C

• Alright, that's enough alliteration
• Freshman All-American 

Gavin Van Kempen - #373, Dodgers, ECU, P

• Positively patrician
• 6’7”

Drew Titsworth - #339, Phillies, Clemson, P

• I think the Phils are gonna sell a lot of this guy's jerseys
• Brother Parker plays D1 football

Ryder Helfrick - #15, D-backs, Arkansas, C

• Guess his parents were into rental trucks
• All-American

Ruger Riojas - #100, Phillies, Texas, P

• No truth to the rumor that he has an older brother named Glock
• An older prospect at age 23

Gabe Gaeckle - #73, A’s, Arkansas, P

• Enough with the alliteration already
• Had Tommy John surgery at age 15

Cameron Flukey - #22, Tigers, Coastal Carolina, P

• Spell check wants "Flunkey"
• Highest ever pick from CCU

Coleman Borthwick - #21, Padres, HS (San Diego), P

• British character actor from the 1930s?
• 6’6”, 245 lbs.

Roch Cholowsky - #1, White Sox, UCLA, SS

• Spell check suggests "Roach" (and just gives up on Cholowsky)
• Baseball America College Player of the Year for 2025

Caden Bogenpohl - #64, Phillies, Missouri State, OF

• How much bogen would a bogenpohl pohl, if a bogenpohl could pohl bogens?
• Formerly a Cotuit Kettleer

Bayram Hot - #33, Yankees, Louisville, SS

• "If you are looking for what makes a surname 'hot' in terms of current naming trends, short, one-syllable surnames (like Holt or Penn) and names ending in '-s' (like Hayes or Brooks) are currently the most popular" [geneanet.com]
• NYC native

Wimbledon Funny Names

Well, Wimbledon’s come and gone. Congrats to Yannick and Linda (who?).

Hard to believe, but I didn’t catch a match. I blame the World Cup. Indeed, all my sports fanning just comes to a halt when the FWC is going on.

That said, I definietly had time to do some more funny names.

 

Gentlemen

• Alexander Blockx (BEL) – just fine except for that “x"
  
  
  
  
  
• Vit Kopriva (CZE) – broke into top 100 in April
  
  
  
  
  
• Karen Khachanov – ladies’ dressing room is that way
• Kamil Majchrzak (POL) – I’d like to buy a vowel … er, several vowels
  
  
  
  
  
• Sho Shimabukuro (JAP) – currently Japan’s #1 player
• Learner Tien (USA) – “I am still earning.” (Michelangelo)
• Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) – by way of Greece, I would imagine
  
  
  
  
  
• Dalibor Svrcina (CZE) – spell check suggests “Sarcoma”
• Borna Gojo (CRO) – 6’5”
• Tallon Griekspoor (NED) – spell check likes “Greensboro”
  
  
  
  
  
• Yunchaokete Bu (CHI) – spell check suggests “Inchoate”
• Rinky Hijikata (AUS) – I’m sorry, did you mean Ricky?
• Zizou Bergs (BEL) – named after French soccer player Zinadine Zidane
  
  
  
  
  
• Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) – spell check wants “Biotic van de Bandshell”

 

Ladies

• Polina Kudermetova (UZB) – mom was top 10 player
  
  
  
  
  
• Anastasia Gasanova – surely, you mean “Kasanova”
  
  
  
  
  
• Maya Joint (AUS) – born in Michigan to Australian father & German mother
• Coco Gauff (USA) – I’m coocoo for Coco Gauff
  
  
  
  
  
• Iga Swiatek (POL) – currently #3
• Panna Udvardy (HUN) – lives in Miami
• Lanlana Tararudee (THA) – spell check suggests “Lantana Tirade”
  
  
  
  
  
• Leolia Jeanjean (FRA) – just in case one “jean” wasn’t enough
• Yuliia Starodubtseva (UKR) – played college tennis at Old Dominion
• Mananchaya Sawangkaew (THA) – spell check likes “Swankier”
  
  
  
  
  
• Aoi Ito (JAP) – short & sweet
• Zeynep Sonmez (TUR) – 2^nd Turkish woman to break top 100, after Çağla Büyükakçay
  
  
• 
  
  

 

 

Weirdest Licence Plates

Last week, I mentioned that there are plenty of specialty license plates out there. Here are some of the oddest.

Vermont – Highway Engineering Exchange Program Conference

Zzzz …

Florida – Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

The organization I can understand. That super-scary eye not so much.

Illinois – Ulysses S. Grant

Ten of them? Really?

Texas – Michigan State University

There are plenty of these out there, usually for in-state schools or those in neighboring states. There’s at least 1,000 miles between these two however.

Idaho – Pearl Harbor Survivor

A surprising number of states have these, but seeing as there are only 11 survivors left …

California – Press Photographer / New York - Chiropractor

“I’ll take Obscure Professions for $100, Alex.”

Wisconsin – Hobbyist

Of what, they don’t say

New York – American Bowling Conference / Virginia - Bowler

Pennsylvania – Square & Round Dancers / South Carolina – State Dance (The Shag)

I have to admit, I have no idea what “round dancing” is, though it does seem like Pennsylvania’s got all their bases covered. Also, be careful who you ask, “Do you want to shag?”

Texas – Disaster

Louisiana – Save the Tchefuncte Lighthouse / Virginia – Supporter of Greyhound Adoption

“I’ll take Super Obscure Causes for $200, Alex.”

Montana – Weed Control Association

Guess weeds are a real problem in Montana if they’ve got their own association … and license plate

Connecticut – Governor’s Footguard First Company

You got me

Nebraska – My Czech Home / Ohio – Eastern Europeans of Ohio

Iowa – Wartburg College / North Dakota – University of Mary / Ohio – Sant Albert the Great

As mentioned before, there are tons of alumni plates out there. These, though, might be the most obscure. 

North Carolina – Watermelon

Mmm …

Mississippi – Professional Hair Designer

You mean “barber”?

Illinois – Superman

Bet you didn’t know Superman was created by two teenagers in Cleveland, did ya, huh?

Texas – Bait / Bay / Gulf Shrimp

“You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. There's uh, shrimp kebabs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.”

South Carolina – Tree My Dog

Huh?

Nevada – Hot August Nights

Hey, Neil Diamond’s from Brooklyn

Arizona – Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is, though, from Phoenix