The Names (band)

Belgian post punk band

The Names are a Belgian post punk band from Brussels, Belgium, formed in 1978 around bassist, vocalist and songwriter Michel Sordinia.

The early lineup of the band featured Sordinia, guitarist Marc Deprez and drummer/keyboard player Christophe Den Tandt; Robert Frankson and singer Isabelle Hanrez were briefly also members. After local gigs as The Passengers, they changed their name in time for their debut single, "Spectators of Life", released by WEA in 1979 to test the market for homegrown new wave music. The band were keen to sign to a British label, and connected with Factory Records at a Joy Division gig at the Plan K venue in Brussels. In February 1982, the band recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, later released in 2009 as the Radio Session 1982 digital EP. The Names enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship with mercurial producer Hannett, who also oversaw their next single, "Calcutta" (Factory Benelux, 1981) and debut album Swimming (Les Disques du Crepuscule, 1982). Factory Benelux reissued the expanded album again in 2013, simply as Swimming; this 2013 edition included their 1982 John Peel radio session. In 1995, the original core trio of Sordinia, Deprez and Den Tandt reunited under the name Jazz, recording one self released album, Nightvision. Den Tandt left the band in December 2009 and was replaced by Christophe Boulenger. Compilation album In Time was issued by Factory Benelux in 2014, gathering the best tracks from Nightvision and Monsters Next Door. On 18 May 2015, as a quartet with new drummer Laurent Loddewyckx, The Names released their third album, Stranger Than You, on Factory Benelux. Another compilation, In Mutation, was issued in 2016 by Les Disques du Crépuscule, including a 1981 solo cassette single by Deprez and a 1982 live set.