Show Of Hands

Psychedelic jazz-rock band formed in 1967, San Diego, CA, United States, and disbanded in 1972. In 1971, Jerry McCann moved to San Francisco, where he released an album on Elektra with a group of musicians with whom he had done a couple of gigs in the mid 60s. When the group was signed to Elektra, they were called Anthrax. In one of the many meetings, Jerry suggested to call the group "Formerly Anthrax". After arguing, the Elektra staff proposed to call the band "Show of Hands" (which Jerry used during his argument) and call the album "Formerly Anthrax". The group agreed, but when they played gigs or were asked what the name of the band was, they called themselves "Formerly Anthrax" and called their album "A Show of Hands". Shortly after the album came out, Jim Morrison passed away, Elektra was sold to Kinney Corp. which owned Atlantic/Atco/Warner Bros./Reprise and Mad Magazine. The new owners came in and fired everybody from the janitors on up and the saga of which came first, the album title or the band name came to a quick and final demise. About 10 years later, Elektra signed another band called Anthrax. (Source: Jerry McCann)