Beech Tree News Network

Do you know the Shrinky Dinks? Maybe the Shrinky Dinx? Nobody does.  This would be named after the oven-heated arts and crafts kit of the same name.  Once the group got hot and landed with Atlantic Records in 1994, the name Shrinky Dinks had raised the ire of Shrinky Dinks manufacturer Milton Bradley, who threatened to sue, the band was renamed Sugar Ray in honor of Sugar Ray Robinson.

Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem is quite a mouthful.  I can only imagine who greenlit that name.  They probably got fired eventually.  Lead singer Anthony Kiedis said “ that’s how we wanted to play: majestic and chaotic.  In 1983, a friend suggested that bassist Flea, guitarist Hillel Slovak and local character Anthony Kiedis play a song before the band’s gig at the Rhythm Room in Los Angeles.  Years later, the band renamed themselves Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I’d say that name has done better than would the original.

When Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward came together in 1968, they were doing Blues-Rock numbers under the name Polka Tulk Blues Band.  Iommi once told Osbourne the name was terrible.  :It’s crap”, he told Ozzy.  His next idea was to rebrand themselves Earth.  There was, however, another English band with that name.  Butler eventually saved the day when he saw a crowd of people lined up to see the Boris Karloff film Black Sabbath and convinced his bandmates to try it out.  I’d say they liked it.

This next band would probably be remembered as the Vanilla Ice of the Vanilla Fudge era had they had they stuck with the Golliwogs-a band in frizzy white afro wigs.  They were working as the Visions.  Fantasy Records owner Max Weiss changed the name of the embryotic band for its first single, 1964’s “Don’t Tell Me No Lies”.  “I think, at least, To Max anyway, the Golliwogs sounded sort of British, said rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty.  “We always hated the name-still do-but Max owned the label and we were new and wanted very much to n=make records, so we went along with things”.  When Saul Zaentz bought the company in 1967, he made them find a new handle.  ACCORDING TO SONGFACTS. “They changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, reportedly in honor of a friend of a friend of Tom's named Credence Nuball. 

If this was a best bands list, CCR would be #1 However, this is a worst original names list so we end with Naked Toddler.  Yes, there was a band whose original name was Naked Toddler.  Guitarist Mark Tremonti presented his bandmates with a newspaper clipping he kept in his pocket about a story of a naked toddler.  He somehow convinced his bandmates this was a good name for a band.  Hey, it got them a name.  They surely knew it would have to change.  Singer Scott Stapp said in his autobiography “the name didn’t go over well.  Girls hated it and it made them think of pedophilia”.  I could’ve come to that conclusion.  The band adopted Creed as a shortened version of bassist Brian Marshall’s previous outfit called Mattox Creed.  https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/25-worst-original-names-of-famous-bands/ar-AAGzHL7?ocid=spartandhp#page=5  There are your worst original band names.