这支比利时乐队最初成立于1977年的布鲁塞尔，适逢英国的后朋浪潮兴起初期。当时他们还叫The Passengers，成日混迹于当地演出场合，为了制作他们的首支单曲《Spectators of Life》，乐队正式改名为The Names。发行这支单曲也是为了测试家乡当时新浪潮音乐的市场反响。
The Names一直希望签约于英国厂牌，而在79年布鲁塞尔一场集结众多英国乐队(包括Joy Division，Cabaret Voltaire)的Plan K公演使他们如愿以偿，和当时在曼城创立不久的Factory厂牌取得合作。1980年8月，The Names前往曼彻斯特录制第二首单曲《Nightshift》，由一手包揽Joy Division两张专辑的Martin Hannett担任制作。黑暗的后朋气息，形似Magazine、Joy Division等乐队的《Nightshift》是他们整体风格的一首绝佳代表，单曲曾攀升到英国独立榜的35位。1982年2月时，乐队为John Peel的BBC Radio 1录制了一场演出。
1982年，The Names在80年代的唯一一张录音室专辑《Swimming》在Les Disques du Crepuscule(由比利时记者Annick Honoré创立，她是Ian Curtis当时的情人)旗下发行，同样由Martin Hannett制作。专辑在当时的反响平淡，乐队在比利时、法国等地的巡演过后发行了最后一张单曲《The Astronaut》。由于后朋浪潮在当时逐渐褪去，乐队宣告解散。
1994年，原乐队的4个成员以Jazz的名义发行过一张专辑。
到了2007年12月，The Names重组参加了A Factory Night (once again)的演出，2009年4月，生平的第二张专辑《Monsters Next Door》在Str8line厂牌发行。(by Siren)
by Andy Kellman
Belgian post-punk band the Names were originally called the Passengers, electing to change their name just prior to the release of their first single in 1978. The group first came together in late 1977, with drummer Mike S. Christophe den Tandt, guitarists Marc Deprez and Robert Franckson, vocalist Isabelle Hanrez, and bassist Michel Sordinia eventually filling out the lineup. Franckson and Hanrez would leave by the beginning of 1978, with Sordinia taking over on vocals.
After several gigs supporting the like-minded Magazine and Simple Minds, WEA Belgium became interested in the band and released the band's first single as a one-off. In a seemingly backward sequence of events, the band shopped their major-label single to a couple of their favorite independents, hoping to gain a deal with either Factory or Fiction. Before hearing back from Fiction, the band struck a deal with Factory, home of Joy Division and Durutti Column. 1981's excellent Nightshift single led to the band joining with the Factory-related Crepuscule, a label based in Belgium. However, the one single with Factory proper had both good and bad effects -- good because the label drew immediate attention, and bad because they would forever be unfairly compared to Joy Division. Their linking with Joy Division producer Martin Hannett, although entirely fitting, would also prove to be a double-edged sword.
Their debut LP, Swimming, was produced by Hannett and released in 1982 through Crepuscule. Finished within a week, the album fell through the cracks both critically and commercially. New drummer Luc Capelle sustained a major injury on his motorcycle soon after its release. Temporarily replaced by Michel Silverstein, the band limped through the recording of a final single. The band called it quits before releasing it.
Four members of the band reunited with a new member in 1994; they recorded a full album as Jazz for the Pazz label. Swimming has since been reissued on CD, in addition to the release of the Spectators of Life compilation.