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I found a Sham 69 LP on Spotify called
To The Ends Of The Earth,
which isn’t by the current Jimmy Pursey-led Sham, but another with latterday frontman Tim V singing. What other band names have been used by different line-ups at the same time?
Alan Lloyd, via e-mail
MOJO says: If it’s not a case of plain old namelifting by strangers – see the fake Frankie Goes To Hollywood from Alabama, or the Norwegian Popol Vuh, which was apparently an honest mistake – distinct yet connected groups using the same name is rare but does happen. Faust existed in two formations for years, one led by Werner ‘Zappi’ Diermaier and Jean-Hervé Péron, and another by Hans Joachim Irmler (and now it seems Zappi has his own Faust). There were also two bands called The Sweet in the 2010s, led by Andy Scott (for Europe) and Steve Priest (for North America). While they waited for a judgment from our learned friends, for a time there were two bands called Queensrÿche, who both released LPs in 2013. The ‘…featuring…’ option is an effective legal salve in off-shoots for groups including Yes, UB40, Asia and Starship. It’s also worth reflecting on the two Sonny Boy Williamsons, how Tom Petty and Johnny Thunders were both backed by groups called The Heartbreakers, and the strange case of identical twins Jay and Michael Aston’s band Gene Loves Jezebel. A post-split court case concluded that Jay’s band can be Gene Loves Jezebel in Britain and Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel in the US, while Michael’s band is Gene Loves Jezebel in the US and Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel in the UK. Got that? Feel free to tell us your favourites!
