10 Rock Bands Who Had Horrible Original Names

When you talk about the great artists in American music, Tom Petty has to brought up at some point in the conversation. The man's impressive run of hits not only formed the basis of heartland rock, but also impressed the rock luminaries of old from Bob Dylan to George Harrison. Though Petty has proved to work well on his own, he would be nothing without the Heartbreakers.

The band themselves might not really be the heartache type, but the name definitely suits the from-the-gut musical approach that they have cultivated. However, the band's name was a bit of a mystery when they started out. After half the band disbanded the terribly named Mudcrutch, Petty nabbed a record deal and assembled his friends behind him as the unofficial Heartbreakers.

Going through the list of names, some pretty bad ones came up like nitro spelled NIGHTRO. That may have been a stretch, but the worst one by far was the King Bees, which sounds like a band that would play a school dance in the 50's rather than a rootsy 70's rock act. Things were looking spotty, but once Petty drew the logo of a heart impaled by a guitar, the name suddenly fell into place.