This just came to my mind out of nowhere... And I have no idea what's the story behind Yes naming the band like that?

Who came up with this and why did they go with it?

Legend has it that their guitarist, Peter Banks, came up with the name.  It was short and very positive.  

https:///www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-banks-original-guitarist-yes-giants-progressive-rock-8535209.html" rel="nofollow - https:///www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-banks-original-guitarist-yes-giants-progressive-rock-8535209.html

Here, this is brilliant history!  Peter also came up with the Yes logo:

http://www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-peter-banks-yes" rel="nofollow - http://www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-peter-banks-yes

Great, I will certainly check these articles!

Because it's a big improvement over Mabel Greer's Toyshop.

Never heard of that name before... And you're damn right.

Ha! Not wrong.

I once read that they were named after a certain bubble from the Yellow Submarine cartoon. Had no doubt about it. Never watched the whole cartoon, though - never witnessed the existence of that bubble.

As a sidenote, I can only re-repeat the story that already told it in this forum at least twice. When I was like 15 or so years old I sure dreamt of creating own legendary cult megapopular rock band. At the time my favourite fruit was orange, favourite digit - nine. I've noticed that Ninth Orange gives NO (I've just gotten to know about the band Yes and so found the coincidence very interesting). The funniest thing happened to me like fifteen years later when I have realized that when translated in Russian, my native language, Ninth Orange becomes Devyaty Apelsin - DA, that is YES in Russian...

Frankly I liked the way they both played and would have been interested to see what direction they would have taken with them. I'm not sure Flash nor Badger really represented what they could have done considering they didn't gave the others to work with later.

Zeph wrote: Has anyone made a poll in here about which 60-70’s band has the best name?

Don't think so

Right now, I can imagine a band calling themselves 'No' but you are right for sure.

You may be interested to know I have some Yes solo album polls coming up soon, when I've eventually sorted out the long list of Yes band members, past and present.

I thought you did it already, or at least something similar. 

I've done solo album polls for Genesis, the Moody Blues & Pink Floyd recently, but I don't remember doing any solo album polls for Yes, although I could be wrong.

Bring 'em on, Paul!

I just hope 25 poll slots is enough for all of the many ex-members of Yes.

oh my God, there's gonna be a ton of weak albums in there. 

Should we make it a poll? 

Yes, but there'll be some real gems in there too, at least to begin with.

Thanks, good history! 

I remember the early 1970s, when "Yes" were sometimes referred to as "The Yes."  When I saw the CTTE show in Chicago (22 Sept 1972), the US band The Eagles opened.   When they finished, one of the band members introduced the band as "...our friends, the Yes!"  

I know Peter Banks was very favorably impressed by Pete Townsend and The Who, so that may have figured into it a bit.  

Funny, they are constantly referred to as "The Eagles" by the media.  

https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/eagles" rel="nofollow - https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/eagles

Yes (lol!) I remember hearing this, as well (regarding potential Yes band names). What a positive group of young lads, lol!

I've played in more than a few bands....the advantage of the name "Yes" is that it is easy to pronounce drunk! 

I'm serious!!  

As someone that has played semi-professionally in rock and metal bands since 2006, nobody understands (and learned this the HARD WAY) now more than myself! 

WE ARE PSYCHOTHERATROXICAUST AND THIS NEXT TRACK'S OFF OUR NEW RECORD ENCAPSULATED DECIMATION!!! (all of that was made up but it's an accurate representation of the un-marketability of most rock and metal LOL).

Yes is a genius band name. How many times have you asked someone what time it was, and they were hammered and just said "Yes" because they didn't understand the question?

Is this the band?

"Yes!"

What time is it?

"Yes!"

LOL.

We once entered a battle of the bands contest where we were billed as "Red Mullet Factory".

Many years ago I was in a band called Hoozhoo and nobody could ever spell it properly.

In Russian language there are no articles (like a/an/the in English), no [w] sound and (usually) no copula in the present tense. Hence we e.g. have Kvin (or Kuin).

To demonstrate these features, the sentence "ya inzhener" - I am an engineer - is sometimes used. I still long for a band, album or tune named "I engineer".

Or all the pop punk bands with numbers in their names, etc.

I remember t-shirts in the 70s that had No and Maybe printed on them in the Yes logo style. That's a sure sign of success.

For example, on Sept 22, 1972, I saw a fresh young band, the Eagles, open for Yes on their CTTE (Yessongs) tour.  

After a very rousing set, one of the Eagles (Don Henley?) came out and said something like "And now, we would like to introduce you to our good friends, The Yes!" 

Makes sense, as the band (especially Banks and Squire) were huge fans of The Who!  I don't think it was ever formalized, but I also had friends who called them "The Yes."  

I'm a bit younger than you but I remember some guy in my class in Jr. High when mentioning bands his brother or someone told him about saying something like "and also the Yes." That was probably not too long before the 90125 album came out(maybe 5 or 6 months before it). After that I would say no excuse. I also don't know why my eighth grade teacher said "and a little bit of Yes in there as well" after I mentioned them when he wanted names of rock bands. It seems he was judging them based on his perceived popularity of them or something. Was Yes ever an obscure band. 

Anyway, that happened not too long after 90125 and they were pretty big then but I guess he didn't think so or maybe he didn't turn on the damn radio at the time. Oh well. Anyway, I can see people calling them the Yes because of the Yes album. Pink Floyd were briefly called the Pink Floyd. Initially Yes were called Yes! but after two months the exclamation mark was dropped.

Thanks, great comments and good history!! 

Many bands in the psychodelic and proto-prog era seemed to use "The...." in their name, didn't they?  The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Guess Who, The Grateful Dead, The Yardbirds and so forth.  It doesn't seem to be a naming convention that has carried on to our modern era.  

You're twice my age and we both love YES just as much. Envious that you got to see them live in the golden era! Same with my father lol.

YES were originally known as Mabel Greer's Toyshop, but they wanted to come up with a shorter name. Jon Anderson wanted to call the new band "Life", and then Chris Squire suggested "World", and Peter Banks simply replied "Yes", and the band YES was born. After all,  it's easier to design the logo for a 3-letter band name. 

I think that depends on the person you ask and whether they know the band or not.

Germaine Greer's Toyshop would have been, at the very least, a funnier name.

lol