In 1981, "The Names" seemed to come
out of nowhere. Bursting onto the Louisville music scene,
they created a buzz unlike anything that had been seen
before...or since. Fun, energetic and completely original,
The Names were often called "Louisville's Beatles."
For an entire generation of Louisville club goers in
the '80's, going "NAMING" became the centerpiece
of their weekend's activities and its not unusual to
find couples that still reminisce over how they met
at a Names concert. No matter how many times people
have been to see them, The Names never failed to impress.
Then, just as suddenly as they appeared, The Names stopped
playing in public. For many, their sudden departure
from Louisville music scene only added to their mystique.
At the same time, it left a void not fully filled until
2003, when again, out of nowhere, they began to make
public appearances.
The first thing a lot of old Names followers asked when
they saw their beloved group again was, "Where
the heck have you been?"
Ken Brown, The Names keyboard player said, "We
just had other things we wanted to do. People probably
thought or assumed that we broke up or had a big blow-up
like bands often do. We never really broke up at all
and we've stayed friends all these years. We planned
to stop playing for a while to work on individual projects.
It just lasted longer than we thought."
Not surprisingly, over the years, the band members have
all become successful Louisville businesspeople. Gerry
Canter, guitar player, and Tom walker, bassist player,
wrote a book together during The Names sabbatical.
Today's version of The Names will seem comfortably familiar
to the band's fans, but be warned: if you go to see
the group today expecting the same old, same old, you
probably don't remember what made them so unique in
the first place. Would any other band have the guts
to play ABBA's "Dancing Queen and Led Zeppelin's
"Kashmir" in the same set? That's exactly
what separated The Names from their contemporaries in
the old days and it still holds true today. They not
only play songs no other band would, but somehow it
comes off as the most natural thing in the world.
Partial Song List
Beautiful Stranger - Madonna
I Touch Myself - Divinyl
Train In Vain - The Clash
Get This Party Started - Pink
S.O.S. - Abba
Waterloo - Abba
Chain Gang - The Pretenders
Venus - Shocking Blue
Take Me To The River - The Talking Heads
Burnin' Down The House - The Talking Heads
Dancin' In The Streets - Martha & Vandellas
My Girl - The Temptations
Ain't Too Proud To Beg - The Temptations
Midnite Hour - Wilson Pickett
You Really Got Me - The Kinks
First Cut Is The Deepest - Sheryl Crow
Sweet Child Of Mine - Sheryl Crow
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Gimme, Gimme Good Lovin' - Crazy Elephant
California Sun - Chris Montez
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Ramrod - Bruce Springsteen
Girl You'll Be A Women Soon - Neil Diamond
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
Call Me - Blondie
Evil Woman - ELO
Showdown - ELO
Respect Yourself - Staple Singers
Stop In The Name Of Love - The Supremes
Temptation Eyes - The Grassroots
We Got The Beat - The Go, Go's
That Thing You Do - The Wonders
I Got A Line On You - Spirit
Would I Lie To You - Charles & Eddie
Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
Bend Me Shape Me - The American Breed
Neither One Of Us - Gladys Knight
Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac
Just What I Needed - The Cars
Honky Tonk Woman - The Rolling Stones
Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones
Jumpin' Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones
Get Off My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
It's Only Rock & Roll - The Rolling Stones
Laugh I Thought I'd Die - The Rolling Stones
L.A. Woman - The Doors
Rider's On The Storm - The Doors
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Evil Ways - Santana
Purple Rain - Prince
When You Were Mine - Prince
Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
At Last - Etta James
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
The Weight - The Band
Cripple Creek - The Band
Please Please Me - The Beatles
Money - The Beatles
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
Jesus Just Left Chicago - ZZ Top
Little Sister - Elvis
Marie, Latest Flame - Elvis
Takin' Care Of Business - B T O
Gloria - Shadows Of Night
Louie, Louie - The Kingsmen
Kashmir - Led Zeplin
Hang On Sloopy - The McCoys
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - The Animals
Bang A Gong - T. Rex
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
Rocket Man - Elton John
White Wedding - Billy Idol
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