10 Rock Bands Who Had Horrible Original Names

It's astonishing how quickly Green Day got their start in the late 80's. Formed when frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was still in his late teens, the band were making a name for themselves on the punk rock circuit of California alongside bands like Operation Ivy and the Offspring. The band was definitely up to par on the music front, but their original incarnation as Sweet Children had to go.

Even though Armstrong had named the band and even written a song under the name "Sweet Children," the band quickly began to outgrow it as they went in to cut their first EP. Recognizing how lame their original name sounded, Armstrong started to think of something else before settling on Green Day, which was a euphemism that the band used for a day spent doing nothing except smoking pot.

The name captures the band's pop punk brattiness perfectly, but even Armstrong stands by the fact that he still didn't think the name was right. When being interviewed during the early 2000's, Armstrong talked about how he traded one bad name for another one, labeling his band as one of the worst-named groups in rock and roll. Armstrong may have his reservations, but that name has been one of the most dominant forces in rock and roll for well over 2 decades.