The Real Names of 25 Punk Rockers

I hate to break it to you, but many of our "punk" rockers changed their names. It's a showbiz tradition, after all. If John Denver (Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.) and John Wayne (Marion Mitchell Morrison) can change their names to something catchier, who can blame a young musician for deciding that Rat Scabies, Poly Styrene or Cheetah Chrome isn't a better way to get the world to pay attention?
Even my band decided upon leaving high school that before we practiced another note, we needed new names: So Cowboy Bob West, Robbie Thunderbolt, Jonny Bondage and Mike Miami became the official names of the guys who would become the legendary, original line-up of "Cool Ranch." Boy, were we lousy!
Anyhow, other "punk" rockers were more talented than us and made names for themselves that they haven't been able to escape since. In some cases, why bother? They chose right, anyhow. Some of these musicians even have the nerve to claim they were never punk rock in the first place. Some probably weren't. But I say take the notoriety wherever you can get it. It's not like being identified as a member of NAMBLA or the John Birch Society.
Here are 25 great names from the earliest waves of the punk movement (no one after the early 1980s need apply) I wouldn't mind having myself. The order is pretty random, really. - Rob O'Connor