The Guess Who’s Randy Bachman recently shared details about confronting members of The Who over their similar band names. He recounted the humorous exchanges that developed between the two groups, as reported by Classic Rock History.
Bachman described his initial approach to The Who members about the name similarity and how it evolved into an ongoing joke between the bands.
“I said to them, ‘Hi, we’re The Guess Who from Winnipeg. We want you to stop using your name,'” Bachman said. “John Entwistle and Pete Townsend looked at me, and said, ‘I think there’s a band called The Byrds, and a band called The Yardbirds, so there could be The Who and The Guess Who. Why don’t you guys just bugger off.'”
The confrontation eventually turned into a playful ongoing prank between Bachman and The Who’s bassist John Entwistle.
“We’d be flying from L.A. to London. We’d be doing Top of the Pops because ‘American Woman’ was number one, and we’d find out The Who were at the same hotel,” Bachman continued. “I’d ask what room John was in. I’d phone him at like two in the morning while he was asleep, and I’d say, ‘John, this is Randy from The Guess Who… bugger off!’ Then I’d hang up. It became like a Monty Python-type joke after that.”
Years later, the two musicians were able to reconnect and laugh about their past exchanges.
“John and I played with Ringo Starr in ’95 with his All-Starr Band, who were opening a Hard Rock Café in Vancouver,” Bachman said. “We went down there, I sang, and he played, and we joked about it and had a great time.”
The band name confusion between The Guess Who and The Who has deeper roots than many fans realize. It stems from the early days of both groups’ careers when they were establishing their identities in the music world.
Guitar Player reported that the similarity in their names originated from a publicity stunt created by Quality Records for Bachman’s previous group in 1965. The Canadian label used “Guess Who?” as a marketing gimmick for their cover of “Shakin’ All Over.” This inadvertently led to the ongoing confusion with The Who. Bachman’s confrontation with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle actually took place at the Marquee club during a Who performance that was being filmed for German television. He waited four hours to make his demand that they change their name.
The timing of these confrontations coincided with The Guess Who’s peak commercial success. Wikipedia noted that “American Woman” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in 1970, marking their biggest U.S. hit alongside other successes like “These Eyes” and “No Time.” This chart success solidified their fame precisely during the period when the name mix-up with The Who was causing the most confusion for fans and industry professionals alike.
Ironically, Bachman left The Guess Who shortly after “American Woman” reached its peak in May 1970. His departure was due to tensions with Burton Cummings and his conversion to Mormonism. He went on to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, while The Guess Who continued without him. However, recent developments have brought the band name issue full circle in an unexpected way.
In a remarkable twist that adds new irony to the original band name rivalry story, YouTube documented that Bachman and Cummings settled a legal dispute in 2024 to regain control of “The Guess Who” name from an unauthorized version led by ex-bassist Jim Kale. They had been calling this unauthorized group the “fake Guess Who” or “Kale’s Klones.” They criticized the imposters who used original photos and recordings to mislead fans. After winning back their name after 60 years, they announced a 2026 reunion tour with plans to perform classics like “American Woman.” They celebrated the end of their legal battle and their return to performing together.
