Namesakes #193: The Offspring

Imagine you're a new parent, dreaming that your precious little cherubs might one day grow up to form their own band... and maybe even achieve the ultimate musical accolade of being featured on Namesakes. If so, don't let your offspring call their combo The Offspring, because they'll have missed their big chance...

OFFSPRING #1

We start today in southern England in the glorious year of 1972. This Offspring appear to have released only one record... though it did get them an appearance on LWT. Mike Brayn would go on to write disco tunes about UFOs for Sylvia Love. The honour of getting your song on a Bob Stanley compilation would have to wait for another 50 years or so...

Offspring - Windfall

OFFSPRING #2

New Wave snyth-pop group from 1982 featuring Bo Diddley's daughter, Tammi McDaniel, on vocals. Or so discogs would like us to believe. Further investigation appears to reveal that guitarist Scott Deverin Smith was also a Diddley collaborator, and that Tammi's sister, Terri Lynn McDaniel-Bridge, was also in the band. If that's not enough, Bo gets a songwriting credit on the B-side under his real name Ellas McDaniel. I can't find that track online, but it's possible it's a snythy remake of this.

Do you have any questions?

Offspring - Too Many Questions

OFFSPRING #3

British Oi! punks from some time in the 80s...

Offspring - Nightlife

OFFSPRING #4

Soulful sounds from the UK in 1990...

Offspring - Midnight Blues

THE OFFSPRING #5

Definitive Californian pop-punks who made it very big towards the end of the last century by mocking middle class white kids who talk like black inner city rappers. With nine UK Top 40 hits under their belt (including a Number One), they're not to be sneered at. (Not that that will stop George.)

The Offspring - Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)

Which is your cherished cherub today... and which will you be writing out of the will?