Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000

Bob Leszczak

Recording Artists don't always enjoy success with their first release. A hit record relies on any number of factors: the right song, a memorable performance, a healthy promotional budget, great management, a spot of luck, and even some intangibles. Take choice of a name. For a single artist, duo, vocal group or band, the name can carry a lot of weight. Some recording artists changed their name to appeal to an entirely different demographic, like when country superstar Garth Brooks recorded as Chris Gaines to score on the pop charts. The Beefeaters became the Byrds—and they spelled the band name with a "y" in the wake of the meteoric success of the Beatles, whose letter "A" turned the image of a nasty bug into something intriguing. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel amassed a litany of aliases—Simon went by True Taylor, Jerry Landis, and Paul Kane; Art Garfunkel as Artie Garr; together they were Tom & Jerry before finally using their very ethnic-sounding given names.

Bob Leszczak has amassed several hundred examples of musical pseudonyms in The Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000, describing the history of these artists from their obscure origins under another name to their rise to prominence as a major musical act. Music trivia buffs, rock historians, and popular music fans will uncover nugget after nugget of eye-opening information about their favorite acts and perhaps learn a thing or two about a number of other acts. Leszczak goes the extra yard of gathering critical data directly from many of these famous recording artists through in-person interviews and archival research. Whether skipping around randomly or reading from cover-to-cover, readers will find The Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000 a must-have for that music library.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 494 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-4007-0 • Hardback • December 2014 • $114.00 • (£88.00)

978-1-4422-4008-7 • eBook • December 2014 • $108.00 • (£83.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Pop Vocal, Music / Reference, Reference / Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Recording Artists don't always enjoy success with their first release. A hit record relies on any number of factors: the right song, a memorable performance, a healthy promotional budget, great management, a spot of luck, and even some intangibles. Take choice of a name. For a single artist, duo, vocal group or band, the name can carry a lot of weight. Some recording artists changed their name to appeal to an entirely different demographic, like when country superstar Garth Brooks recorded as Chris Gaines to score on the pop charts. The Beefeaters became the Byrds—and they spelled the band name with a "y" in the wake of the meteoric success of the Beatles, whose letter "A" turned the image of a nasty bug into something intriguing. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel amassed a litany of aliases—Simon went by True Taylor, Jerry Landis, and Paul Kane; Art Garfunkel as Artie Garr; together they were Tom & Jerry before finally using their very ethnic-sounding given names.

Bob Leszczak has amassed several hundred examples of musical pseudonyms in The Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000, describing the history of these artists from their obscure origins under another name to their rise to prominence as a major musical act. Music trivia buffs, rock historians, and popular music fans will uncover nugget after nugget of eye-opening information about their favorite acts and perhaps learn a thing or two about a number of other acts. Leszczak goes the extra yard of gathering critical data directly from many of these famous recording artists through in-person interviews and archival research. Whether skipping around randomly or reading from cover-to-cover, readers will find The Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000 a must-have for that music library.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 494 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-1-4422-4007-0 • Hardback • December 2014 • $114.00 • (£88.00)

978-1-4422-4008-7 • eBook • December 2014 • $108.00 • (£83.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Pop Vocal, Music / Reference, Reference / Encyclopedias

Author

Bob Leszczak, author of Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide (McFarland Publishing, 2012), was also the writer and producer of Solid Gold Scrapbook, a weekly five-hour music trivia radio show for the United Stations Radio Network. For more than three decades, he’s been an oldies radio on-air personality. He is author of the Who Did It First? trilogy of titles on rhythm and blues, pop, and rock and roll cover songs and their original artists, all published in 2013 and 2014.

Table of Contents

(Sampling only…)

Billy Abbott and the Jewels, previously The Corvells
The Ad-Libs, previously The Creators
Jewel Akens, previously The Four Dots / The Rainbows
Arthur Alexander, previously June Alexander
Tony Allen, previously The Lions / Bobby Starr
The Alley Cats, previously Africa / The Untouchables
The Allman Brothers, previously Hour Glass
The Angels, previously The Delicates / Dusk / Jessica James and the Outlaws / The Starlets
The Archies, previously The Cuff Links / Ron Dante / The Detergents
Ashford And Simpson, previously Valerie and Nick
Atlanta Rhythm Section, previously The Candymen …

Reviews

Leszczak, radio personality and author of the publisher's Who Did It First? presents in this new encyclopedia some 350 name variations for individual performers and bands culled from archival research and interviews. Alphabetically arranged by the name most familiar to readers, entries list aliases, record labels, years active, and hits, along with short overviews of the artists' or bands' careers and discussions of name changes. Photos, primarily of relevant 45s, appear throughout. Entries features mostly pop, rock, and soul performers. . . .Useful historical information nonetheless transcends the trivial nature of the work, and an excellent index increases its value considerably. . . .Summing Up: General readers and professionals/practitioners.
— Choice Reviews

Musician and DJ Leszczak's unique compilation covers 50 years of musicians who have recorded and performed under more than one name. Nearly 400 artists and groups are profiled, including the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Jefferson Airplane, Stewart Copeland, and Paul Simon (who has recorded under six names). Entries list the alias(es), record labels, years active, and hit singles, followed by a brief, informal narrative. Coverage skews heavily male and mostly lies in the 1960s and '70s, but the entries are well researched and filled with interesting information. Trivia buffs and pop-music fans will enjoy this book, which belongs in the circulating stacks of most public and academic libraries.
— Booklist

Given the frequency with which artists nowadays change their recording names as well as form new groups, author Bob Leszczak is surely to be congratulated for compiling this veritable mine of information covering almost 400 artists active in this period. . . .For anyone, like this reviewer, whose youth was misspent in perusing the pages of the weekly popular music press, such as Record Mirror and New Musical Express, this volume will bring back many memories as well as reveal facts about individual artists of which only the most avid fans were aware at the time. . . .This volume should be of interest to both listeners to such programmes, as well as to those responsible for compiling and presenting the programmes. . . .[T]he volume is a 'must' for any such presenter. . . .[T]his volume is extremely comprehensive. It should be on the shelves of anyone addicted to quizzes and will doubtless aid in resolving many a bet between friends.
— Reference Reviews

Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000

Bob Leszczak

Encyclopedia of Pop Music Aliases, 1950-2000

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