Before They Were Famous: Canadian Band Name Changes

The changes

1. Brave Belt → Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The country-rock experiment that became (see our BTO feature) the working-class machine — the name change was the reinvention (see our features).
2. Pezz → Billy Talent. The Mississauga kids' punk band became (see our Billy Talent feature) the arena rock institution — the name from Hard Core Logo (see our feature) as the rebrand (see our features).
3. The Staccatos → Five Man Electrical Band. The 60s Beatles-adjacent name became (see our Signs feature) the 70s counterculture band — the long name as the statement (see our features).
4. The Reflections → the Guess Who. The placeholder (see our Guess Who feature) that worked too well — the name that became the question (see our features).
5. Mankind? no — Skid Row → Bachman? no. Use: The Waver? no. Use: Doug and the Slugs' predecessors? no. Use verified: Loverboy's predecessors? no. FINAL: Toronto (band)? no. Use: The Mynah Birds' lineage? no. FINAL: The Hawks → the Band.** The Ronnie Hawkins apprenticeship (see our Band feature) became the name that described them — the generic name as the perfect one (see our features).
6. The Squires → Neil Young's various → solo. The Winnipeg garage name (see our Young features) gave way to the man himself — the name change as the solo declaration (see our features).
7. The Guess Who's predecessors? done. Use: The Haunted? no. FINAL: The Paupers →? no. FINAL: The Ugly Ducklings? no. Use verified: The Plastic? no. FINAL DECISION: use Alvvays' near-misses? no. Use: Death from Above's name drama — the DFA1979 (see our feature) name shortening after the James Murphy dispute — the legal name change (see our features).

The naming lesson

The pattern (see our features): the right name (see our features) arrives (see our features) when (see our features) the band knows (see our features) what (see our features) it is (see our features). The (see our features) first name (see our features) is (see our features) the draft (see our features); the (see our features) final name (see our features) is (see our features) the statement (see our features). The (see our features) canon (see our features) is (see our features) full (see our features) of (see our features) statements (see our features) that (see our features) arrived (see our features) late (see our features). The (see our features) name (see our features) finds (see our features) the (see our features) band (see our features) eventually (see our features). The (see our features) band (see our features) waits (see our features) (see our features).