DAILY DIRT: The band wound up as Motley Crue, the rest was history 

No One? The Group? The Hair? How about the Who? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 870 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Welcome again to our three-part weekend series dealing with on how some of the most famous rock singers and bands came up with their stage names.

Today’s final installment of five selections is led by Motley Crue, which had a couple of members with two of the greatest stage names in rock history — Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars. Some of the following information was provided by ultimateclassicrock.com.

Motley Crue: Mötley Crüe bassist and founder NIkki Sixx considered naming the band Christmas, but the other members hated it. While brainstorming, guitarist Mick Mars remembered that while playing with a band called White Horse, a bandmate referred to his group as “a motley looking crew.” Mars scribbled the name down as “Mottley Cru”. After tweaking the spelling for full rock potential, “Mötley Crüe” was eventually selected.

Monkees: Since the Monkees were created to be an American answer to the Beatles, they needed a moniker similar to that of the Fab Four. Accordingly, they corrupted the name of a creature from the natural world just as the Beatles had done before them.

The Who: The band was once known as the Detours and then High Numbers, then considered such choices as No One, the Group and the Hair. Roger Daltrey is said to have chosen “The Who” on a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Twisted Sister: According to legend, the band that began as Silver Star changed its name when someone in an the audience fortuitously referred to the band members (who were done up as heavy-metal drag queens) as a bunch of “twisted sisters.”

ZZ Top: The Texas trio’s name is rooted in guitar man Billy Gibbons’ blues obsession. He originally considered combining the names of two bluesmen: Z.Z. Hill and B.B. King. But when ZZ King didn’t seem quite right, Gibbons made the shift to ZZ Top.

2. The latest celebrities we have lost in recent days:

Actor Don Murray died at age 94. He was nominated for an Oscar in the 1956 movie “Bus Stop” and later had major roles in TV series “Knots Landing” and “Twin Peaks”.

Former NFL receiver Richard Caster died at age 75. He was one of quarterback Joe Namath’s New York Jets favorite receivers in the 1970s. Caster played in three Pro Bowls.

Henry Famborough, a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, the Spinners, died at age 85. He was the last original member of the group, which provided hits like “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” and “Rubberband Man”.

In related news, it was:

41 years ago this week singer Karen Carpenter died at age 32.

65 years ago this week when singers Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson) and Ritchie Valens all died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. That event is still referred to as “the day the music died”.

3. Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt has released his “way too early” top 10 for the 2024 season. You might want to note that the SEC and Big Ten each have four schools in the following rankings:

• 1. Georgia 
• 2. Ohio State 
• 3. Oregon 
• 4. Texas 
• 5. Alabama
• 6. Ole Miss (personally, I think this is your top dark horse pick for the national title)
• 7. Michigan
• 8. Utah
• 9. Notre Dame
• 10. Penn State

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Just think, we might have grown up thinking of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon and Co. as The Hair, instead of The Who.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Mizzou is +3000 to win the CFP National title next season.