Famous bands and their unknown twins

Spelled slightly differently, there was a 60s group called the Birds

 

Dawn, from 1965. "Can't Get Him Off My Mind":



This is actually a solo singer from Philadelphia named Joni Capetola.

 

Diamond Reo - 70s rock band
Diamond Rio - country band most successful in the 1990s, 2000s

 

Placebo and Placebo. Check out Englands Trance from 1982. Aura AUL721

 

The (English) Beat and Paul Collins' Beat

The Crickets (with Buddy Holly) and the Crickets (with Dean Barlow).

Here's the latter group of Crickets (from 1954, pre-dating the Buddy Holly version) singing 'Your Love'

 

Metelica from 1973

 

Screaming Trees which was

a. a Sheffield electro band.
b. a Mark Lanegan fronted guitar band

 

Canadian prog-pop band Saga
Swedish prog band Saga

Canadian prog-pop band FM
English AOR-hard rock band FM

 

How many outfits thought Earth was a good name?

 

And here's The Supremes with "Snap, Crackle and Pop." This Supremes was a do-wop group from the late 1950s based in Buffalo, NY.

 

Here's another do-wop group called The Supremes, that released this ballad in 1956 on the Old Town label:

 

Clinic:

A French band from the early 70's and the masked indie band from Liverpool. Which begs the question: Who is "famous" and who is the "unknown twin"?

 

Around the same time as The Shaggs, that infamously bad/good female band from New Hampshire, was another band called The Shaggs, who were students at the University of Notre Dame and made an album called Wink in 1967.

Though he was gone from the group by the time the LP was made, John Hall, later of Orleans and the U.S. Congress, was one of the Shaggs' co-founders.

Here's a nice cover of the Beau Brummels' "Just a Little," with a commonly mistranscribed lyric (that one line was "our worlds can never meet" on the original and not "I was kind and never mean")

 

Not a band, but

 

Here’s the lone single by the Australian Velvet Underground, a psych pop band active in the last ‘60s whose later lineup included future AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young.



More info here:
The *other* Velvet Underground featured a future AC/DC founder and a singer who set himself on fire

 

The Riot Squad/Riot Squad

One a Joe Meek produced 60s band, the other a early 80's punk band.

 

If I’m not mistaken, there were more than one R.E.M. not from Athens, GA gigging in the very early 80s. Tony Fletcher mentioned it in his book on the famous R.E.M.

 

We have Gods, Gods and Godz.

Pre Uriah Heep:



Another The Gods with a great Beatles cover:

https://youtu.be/UTVpJhZHl-I

And a very special band who told on her cover that they cannot play their instruments...'

https://youtu.be/5IaO4mmQB24

 

A decade before The Feelies emerged from Haledon, New Jersey, there was a Seattle garage band by the same name, that recorded a few singles for Jerden.

 

Kaleidoscope, American and British. Same time.

 

Spirogyra (British folk/prog):

Spyro Gyra (U.S. jazz/pop): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFHICdYkEeE

 

British band Roxy had to change its name to Roxy Music because of this U.S. group.

 

The Spinners (UK Skiffle / Folk Music band) from Liverpool.


(noticed them when I found a Spinners (USA R&B singing group) CD compilation from the UK, and "our" Spinners were called/renamed "Detroit Spinners" over there. Now I know why...).

 

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON (2) with The Animals:



He died very soon after this recording.

SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON (1)
https://youtu.be/htKDQTPIlHw

https://youtu.be/Zj293l5w2MU

Sonny Boy Williamson 2:

https://youtu.be/nCABIhKjfig

 

There was a Buck Cherry leading early '80s Vancouver combo The Modernettes, nothing to do with the later Buck Cherry.

Also Arthur Lee fronted a group named The Grass Roots before the Dunhill creation.

The Staccatos from Ottawa (later Five Man Electrical Band), and a South African Staccatos.

Lots of different Chessmen in the '60s too.