Acts whose names *are* identical

[Jah Womble]

Paul Young (eighties UK blue-eyed soul boy) / Paul Young (deceased UK soft-rock singer with Sad Café/Mike & The Mechanics)

Ian Anderson (unconventional UK prog flautist/singer with Jethro Tull) / Ian Anderson (UK grebo front man of Crazyhead)

Nirvana (nineties US grunge legends) / Nirvana (sixties UK psychedelic/prog band)

New Edition (US R&B act housing Bobby Brown/Ralph Tresvant) / New Edition (UK dance/vocal troupe that backed Mike Batt's singles)

Good luck...

[Stumpy Pepys]

Acts whose names *are* identical

John Cale (Welsh avant-garde rocker) and John (aka JJ) Cale (blues guitar-noodler)

[Bored Of Education]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Oasis (Beatles rip-offs with one great album) and Oasis (70s Californians psychedelic folk rock group) and Oasis (80s group consisting of, get this, Peter Skellern, Julian Lloyd Webber, Mitch Dalton, Bill Lovelady and Mary Hopkin). I haven't heard all three but already prefer the latter.

[Jah Womble]

Acts whose names *are* identical

A three-way? Ooh, 'chapeau', sir!

The Monks (tonsure-toting US sixties garage rockers) / The Monks (UK one-hit-wonder punk cash-in founded by former members of The Strawbs)

[Stumpy Pepys]

Acts whose names *are* identical

The Charlatans (60s psychedelic San Francisco rockers) and The Charlatans (late-80s + psychedelic Northwich rockers).

There's another Suede as well (I remember being in the US and seeing familiar albums by The London Suede), but I'm not sure about the other lot.

[Jah Womble]

Acts whose names *are* identical

John Williams (British classical/rock guitarist and member of Sky) / John Williams (US composer/pianist responsible for Jaws, ET, Star Wars scores)

[Sits]

Acts whose names *are* identical

The Spinners (British folk group popular on 70s TV variety shows^); The (Detroit) Spinners, iconic 60s-80s vocal soul outfit.

The Beat had to be known as The English Beat in the US, but I don't know who the other Beat were.

^I may be doing them a major disservice there, but that's my experience of them. My Dad liked them.

[Bored Of Education]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Jah Womble wrote: John Williams (British classical/rock guitarist and member of Sky) / John Williams (US composer/pianist responsible for Jaws, ET, Star Wars scores)

Are they not the same guy? Bloody hell.

[Jah Womble]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Absolutely not, no. I remember there being much confusion over this around 1978-79 when both were in the public eye.

[tee rex]

Acts whose names *are* identical

The Beat had to be known as The English Beat in the US, but I don't know who the other Beat were.

Similarly, "UK Squeeze", a band I'd never heard of before moving down under.

[ursus arctos]

Acts whose names *are* identical

John Adams, American classical composer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, based in California (b. 1947) / John Adams, American classical composer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, based in Alaska (b. 1953)

[ursus arctos]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Bored, you actually thought they were the same person?

[Bored Of Education]

Acts whose names *are* identical

I've never bloody seen them! Well, I have seen the guitarist and just assumed it was him that did the film music.

[Beatle Simon]

Acts whose names *are* identical

ursus arctos wrote: Bored, you actually thought they were the same person?

One of them looks like a physics teacher, the other a disgruntled deputy-head to a head-mistress who has 'radical' new ideas.

[Satchmo Distel]

Acts whose names *are* identical

John Maher - Buzzcocks drummer

John Maher aka Johnny Marr

[Stumpy Pepys]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Bored of Education wrote: I've never bloody seen them! Well, I have seen the guitarist and just assumed it was him that did the film music.

Baldy classical music types all look the same to me as well.

[G-Man]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Ray Charles: R&B singer who died in 2004
Ray Charles: Easy Listening artist who sang the theme song of Three's Company and leader of The Ray Charles Singers who died this year at the age of 96.

[Bored Of Education]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Ian Watkins (H off of Steps) and Ian Watkins (Lostprophets) with hilarious results.

[jwdd27]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Mick Jones b.1944 Guitarist etc etc with Foreigner
Mick Jones b 1955 Guitarist etc etc with The Clash et al

[Tony C]

Acts whose names *are* identical

The Bees - British band of "Chicken Payback" fame.

The Bees - Nashville based indie band of the nineties (who later changed their name so as not to be confused with the British band of "Chicken Payback" fame).

[Fussbudget]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Andy Bell out of Erasure and Andy Bell out of Ride/Oasis/other tedious Gallagher-related lad rock projects.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Acts whose names *are* identical

The Drifters — (1) Classic US R&B vocal group

2) Cliff Richard's back-up group (later renamed The Shadows.)

The Tornados — British instrumental group and Joe Meek's session band.

The Tornadoes — Californian instrumental group, had a hitwith Bustin' Surfboards.

[Edit] Maybe the latter pairing should be in the 'almost' thread.

[ralf hooter]

Acts whose names *are* identical

New Order - post Joy Division Manc outfit

The New Order - post MC5/Stooges Detroit outfit

Maybe should be in the "almost" thread too, if definite articles are your thing.

[Jah Womble]

Acts whose names *are* identical

A [strike]quadruple[/strike] quintuple:

The Jets (sixties Trinidadian ska band formed by Lynn Tait) / The Jets (sixties Dutch pop group) / The Jets (seventies US power pop combo) / The Jets (eighties UK rockabilly band formed by members of the Cotton family) / The Jets (eighties US R&B/pop act formed by members of the Wolfgramm family)

(Edit: Found another!)

[Satchmo Distel]

Acts whose names *are* identical

Thomas Dorsey - "the father of black gospel music"

Tommy Dorsey - jazz trombonist and bandleader