Steel band then, not iron. That's good that you could get it off of there.
After talking to Chuck this morning, he suggested that a steel front band could be reinstalled with the valve body off. The old iron bands would be virtually impossible to remove or install without breaking them.
Report back on how things go. I don't think you can get the rear band out, but then I didn't think you could get the front band out either. Good to know!
I always pull the transmission out to go after the bands, if just to inspect everything else. Even when the frictions look fine, I've replaced them. Just too much hassle pulling it to forgo the opportunity to refresh the transmission while in there... project creep.
CJ