The Silver Beetles

The Silver Beetles was one of the earlier band names before The Beatles. John Lennon wanted a name that sounded English. He wanted The Crickets, but Paul McCartney, laughing, said, "I think that's already taken."It was Stuart Sutcliffe who suggested they call themselves The Beetles.

John liked it but quickly changed it to The Beatals, and then to The Beatles, because it had the word beat. The Silver Beetles was the name that stayed with them for most of the Hamburg tour.

While on their tour in Hamburg, the band met a woman named Astrid. She was the woman solely responsible for most of the major changes to the band, the first of which was giving them a new haircut. She cut their hair to a style which was popular in Germany at that time (the early stages of a mop top).