The Band Previously Known As... Part II Quiz

Answer: The Ravens

Famous for their fights on stage as well as their cutting-edge music, Ray and Dave Davies, Pete Quaife and John Start formed The Ravens. Start was replaced by Mickey Willet, and they changed their name to The Kinks. Shortly after, Willet left and Mick Avory joined the band.

I made up the Davies Brothers and the Hornsey Hollers... but the band includes the brothers Davies and Ray Davies studied theatre at Hornsey College of Art. Ray played guitar with the Dave Hunt Band before starting The Ravens.

Answer: The Strawbs

The Strawbs' lineup has included Rick Wakeman (later of Yes), John Hawken (Spooky Tooth, Renaissance, Nashville Teens) and Blue Weaver (Amen Corner, Mott the Hoople, Bee Gees). Early on, Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) also sang with them. Probably their best known songs are "Part of the Union" and "Lay Down".

Answer: Metropolitan Blues Quartet

They didn't remain a quartet for long, but the Metropolitan Blues Quartet they were - at first. (Schoolgirls comes from one of their early covers, the other choices were names of venues where they played.) Alumni of the group include Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck; the group eventually formed into the nascent Led Zeppelin.

Answer: The Bee Gees

According to Wikipedia (my main source, apart from the bands' own websites), the Bee Gees did NOT take their names from the initials of 'brothers Gibb' but in fact from the name of radio DJ Bill Gates (no relation to a certain computer software multibillionaire). Another less known fact: the brothers were born on the Isle of Man and only later moved to Australia. Okay, you knew it; I didn't!

Cheap Trick formed in 1968 in Illinois, their biggest hit single was "I Want You to Want Me".

Dr. Feelgood is a British band, formed in the early '70s. Their only top ten single was "Milk and Alcohol". Yum...

Golden Earring is a Dutch band whose "Radar Love" is still heard regularly on the modern rock airwaves. And the classic rock airwaves. And in elevators. Incidentally, their vocalist, Barry Hay, was born in India.

Answer: Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane began as a folk group in San Francisco, way back in 1965. The following year, personnel changes included the introduction of Grace Slick, formerly of The Great Society, on vocals. The rest is history - psychedelic rock, white rabbits and somebody to love. Woodstock, Altamont - then the incarnation of Starship. Grace's alcoholism led to a lot of problems, and after a show in Germany where she accused all Germans of war atrocities and kept asking them who won the war, she left the group. Eventually the group dropped 'Jefferson' from their name and became, simply, Starship. Slick returned but left again, and the group split.

Answer: The Warlocks

Probably the most famous jam band of our times, the Grateful Dead was formed by the late Jerry Garcia on lead guitar and banjo, Bob Weir on rhythm guitar, Phil Lesh on bass, the late Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on keyboards, harmonica and vocals, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart on drums/percussion. Personnel was not always fixed, and other members included Tom Constanten and Keith Godchaux on keyboards, the late Brent Mydland and the later Vince Welnick on keyboards and vocals, and Donna Godchaux on vocals.

They all just kept on truckin'...

Answer: Beatles

John Lennon formed The Quarrymen way back in 1957 as a skiffle group. That year, John met Paul McCartney, and in February 1958, George Harrison first saw then joined the group. They had a couple more names: Long John and the Beetles, the The Silver Beetles, and finally, in 1960 they changed their name to The Beatles. The rest is history - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Answer: Creedence Clearwater Revival

John Fogarty, Doug Clifford and Stu Cook formed an instrumental group, The Blue Velvets, in the late '50s, later playing as backing band for John's brother Tom. They signed with Fantasy Records, who initially changed their name to The Visions but then changed it again to The Golliwogs when their record was released.

In 1967, Fantasy records was bought and the new owner offered to record the band, but only if they changed their name (can't say I blame him!). They started getting national attention and kept recording until they disbanded in 1972.

Answer: The Crossfires

Okay, this one is personal: it's my husband's and my "our song". And we are still happy together. Unfortunately, The Turtles stopped being happy together as a band, and went their separate ways in 1969.

The band was formed in 1965 by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, with Don Murray and Chuck Portz. Other members included John Barbata, Chip Douglas, Al Nichol and Jim Pons.

Answer: The Byrds

Roger McGuinn (born James McGuinn), Gene Clark, and David Crosby started the band in 1964; they called themselves The Jet Set and recorded a few songs. Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke joined soon afterwards and they became The Beefeaters. They joined Columbia Records in 1964 and changed their name to The Byrds.

Their first hit, "Mr Tambourine Man", was followed by others including "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Eight Miles High". Okay, it was a bad pun anyway. Hope you enjoyed the quiz!