CRUE, LEPPARD, And Other 80’s Bands That Couldn’t Spell

KLAQ has a trip to give away to see Motley Crew, Deaf Leopard, and Joan Jet!  Of course, you’ll need to misspell most of the words in that line-up to do a proper Google search. Let’s call it the “80s Bad Spelling Tour”.

There are as many reasons a band might misspell their name. Joan Jett, because it “sounded more rock than her real last name”, Def Leppard because “it looked better on a poster” and Motley Crue because, let’s face it, umlauts are metal as hell!  In the case of Crue, you can’t even SPELL their name without a specialized keyboard, that’s how awesome it is.

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Misspelling your band’s name didn’t originate in the Nineteen Eighties. You could put on an EPIC tour with misspelled bands from the Seventies. Imagine seeing Lynyrd Skynyrd AND Led Zeppelin out on tour. If you think misspelling your band name doesn’t go back to the Sixties, then you’ve never heard of The Byrds, The Monkees, and an obscure little skiffle group called The Beatles.

But the Eighties, man…THAT’S the decade where intentional misspelling really hit its stride. You could do a three-day festival JUST with eighties bands whose names don’t pass spellcheck.

DAY ONE:

Rough Cutt, The Quireboys, Blonz, and Jackyl (I’m counting them even though their first album didn’t release until 1991. Musically, the Nineties didn’t begin until Nirvana released “Nevermind”).

DAY TWO:

Kix, Tuff, Stryper, Ratt, and Living Colour (unless you’re from the U.K. that’s not how you spell “color”).

DAY THREE:

To end the “Bonaroo of Bad Spelling” you’ve got the line-up that we’re actually talking about: Crue, Leppard, and Jett. (Sorry, Poison, but you’re going to have to change it to “Poy Son” or something to make it on THIS tour).

 Here are the details of the trip we’re giving away.

I almost forgot. There’s another misspelled band that got their start in the Eighties. They’re from San Dimas, California and they ARE…Wylde Stallyns!