Have you ever heard the name of the band named Tom and Jerry, Kara’s Flowers, and Smile?
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare famously remarked What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Whether it is true, it is hard to say as names do help to form an impression. Would you have listened to Simon and Garfunkel if they were called Tom and Jerry or Queen if they were called Smile? We might never know the answer to that, but we can increase our knowledge about our favourite band by knowing their OG name.
Tom and Jerry (Simon and Garfunkel)
The legendary folk-rock duo always felt that they had more boring names, and a band with these names would not be marketable. So, Paul Simon became John Landis, and Arthur Garfunkel became Tom Graph. Their names were inspired by a girl Paul had a crush on and Arthur’s love for graph (we are serious). They started calling themselves Tom and Jerry. Soon they realized that they should be honest about who they are and be known for themselves.
Atomic Mass (Def Leppard)
The mass of an atom, as a name of band sounds really immature. But apparently, a group of rockers from England didn’t felt that. So, they stuck to the name even though it never got them a job. After a while, Joe Elliot to suggested them the name of a mock band he designed for his art class. And thus, Def Leppard was born.
Kara’s Flower (Maroon 5)
A beautiful name for a pop band, isn’t it? Adam Levine and company were your typical high school garage playing boyband in 1995 when they debuted under the name “Kara’s Flower”. They even went on to release two albums under this name but could not find success. After taking a hiatus for a few years, they went on to change their name to Maroon 5 in the year 2002.
Smile (Queen)
Not as impressive and regal as Queen, but the iconic band started off with the name Smile. It all started with Brian May forming the group in the year 1968, along with the drummer Roger Taylor and Tim Staffell. Tim Staffell was Freddie Mercury’s classmate. After a while, Tim Stafell left the group, and Freddie took his place, and the band was renamed as “Queen”, and the rest, they say is history.
Which one of these is your favourite band? Do you like their original names?
