As we explored previously, band names can be all over the place depending on what kind of vibe you’re looking for. Here, we’ll take a look at five bands from the 1960s that had names based on inanimate objects.
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1960s Band Names Based On Inanimate Objects
The Dixie Cups
The Dixie Cups were a trio originally consisting of sisters Barbara and Rosa Hawkins alongside their cousin Joan Johnson. Joan passed away in 2016 after leaving her music career, while Rosa Lee passed in 2022, but Barbara is keeping the group strong as a duo with Athelgra Neville. There were a couple of lineup changes over the years, with Rosa leaving and returning to the group, but the Dixie Cups still produced a number of hits.
Their biggest hit was “Chapel of Love,” released in 1964 and hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. They also had hits with “People Say,” “You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked At Me,” and “Iko Iko.”
Art
Art was a band formerly named The V.I.P.’s until 1967, when they changed their name with the release of their album, Supernatural Fairy Tales. The band featured various members, but notably was the early home of Keith Emerson, Mike Harrison, Greg Ridley, Luther Grosvenor, and Mike Kellie. Emerson left to form The Nice in 1967, after Art’s first album. Then, the final lineup of Harrison, Ridley, Grosvenor, and Kellie went on to form Spooky Tooth after Art formally disbanded, later adding Gary Wright.
The Cuff Links
The Cuff Links was the brainchild of Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, who controlled everything about the group and subbed in various musicians. Vance and Pockriss were previously known for their novelty hits “Catch a Falling Star” and “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.” In the 60s, however, they created phantom group The Cuff Links, which was mainly the work of Ron Dante.
The big hit for The Cuff Links was “Tracy” from 1969, which featured Dante on lead vocals with about 18 background vocals, all performed by Dante and layered over one another. “Tracy” was on the U.S. charts for 12 weeks, and Vance and Pockriss immediately wanted Dante to make an album for the ghost band. He worked on the album for about a day and a half, according to a 2001 book by Kim Cooper and David Smay exploring bubblegum pop. “It was the quickest album I’d ever done,” he said.
The Box Tops
The Box Tops formed in Memphis in 1967 and produced hits like “The Letter,” “Cry Like a Baby,” and “Soul Deep.” They combined soul and pop music and are considered to be a prominent “blue-eyed soul” group of the time (blue-eyed soul being a term for R&B performed by white artists). They created some minor classics in songs like “Neon Rainbow” and “I Met Her In Church,” along with their well-known hits.
The Box Tops even reformed in 2015, with Bill Cunningham and Gary Talley responding to pleas from fans. The two, along with Rick Levy, performed sold out shows in the U.S. on the Happy Together Tour, which features 60s and 70s legends going on the road again.
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Strawberry Alarm Clock is perhaps the best known band named after inanimate objects. They formed in 1967 and released the hit song “Incense and Peppermints” that same year. Known for their acid and psych-rock style, they charted two songs on the Top 40 in their time, even with several lineup changes.
The group disbanded in 1971 following a U.S. tour that featured then-unknown Lynyrd Skynyrd opening for them. They reunited briefly in 1974 before breaking up again, then reunited once more in 1982. They managed to stick it out this time, releasing an album in 2012, their first since 1969.
Featured Image by CBS via Getty Images
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