re: Fueds & Lawsuits Within Bands

That's why I have always admired.. by Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe

quote:

---

That's why I have always admired.. by Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe

---

Saved them a lot of headache probably. I know people hate Billy Corrigan, but he said something in an interview that was very interesting to me. He was asked by the company rep who did the songwriting, and he said, just me. The reply was, oh, that's going to be a problem. Billy asked, why? Because you're going to make a lot more money than the others.

It's hard to keep track of how many times Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain have sued each other. Might be the most amicable series of lawsuits ever as it hasn't seemed to have affected their band relationship at all.

Book review



The Mansion on the Hill: Dylan, Young, Geffen, Springsteen, and the Head-on Collision of Rock and Commerce by Fred Goodman (1997)

I recently finished this book. For anyone interested in the history of Rock, especially the business side, I have to call it a must-read.

The nominal premise is that R&R was all Age Of Aquarius in the '60s, then went greedy in the '70s. This dubious idea (Tin Pan Alley was always cutthroat) does allow the author to explore how the music business became so profitable in the '70s, even making more money than the movie business.

The title is somewhat misleading. Dylan is only peripheral to the story; we hear mostly about his manager, Albert Grossman, perhaps the first modern music manager, different from the ex carny barker Tom Parker and dilletante Brian Epstein. Young gets 1 chapter, as do The MC5. The final section of the book is devoted mostly to Springsteen.

The main characters are:

David Geffen, the agency mailroom boy who eventually became a billionaire through artist management and then starting his own label, pushing the El Lay "Yacht Rock" sound. He made his first million by shrewdly maneuvering to get 50% of his client Laura Nyro's advance, instead of his 15% manager's fee.

Jon Landau, the rather pretentious Boston rock critic who covers a little known artist opening for Bonnie Raitt and then writes the most influential review in rock history ("I have seen the future of Rock and Roll and it's name is Bruce Springsteen"). Landau works his way into Springsteen's good graces, co-producing his next album and eventually becoming his manager, guiding his client from confused early marketing (CBS wanted to sell him as a Dylanesque singer-songwriter, like so many of the Yacht Rock acts) to the carefully crafted image of "The Boss".

Even if you can't stand any of the aforementioned acts, it you're interested in the history of R&R you should read this book. It may answer some "Why on Earth did they do that?" questions

Hell yeah, I'm going to watch that. Thanks.

The Smiths history was pretty nasty post breakup.

quote:

---

Morrissey said in an interview eight months later: The court case was a potted history of the life of the Smiths. Mike [Joyce], talking constantly and saying nothing. Andy [Rourke], unable to remember his own name. Johnny [Marr], trying to please everyone and consequently pleasing no one. And Morrissey under the scorching spotlight in the dock being drilled. "How dare you be successful?" "How dare you move on?" To me, the Smiths were a beautiful thing and Johnny left it, and Mike has destroyed it.

---

I seem to remember the original drummer of Oasis suing the band after being ousted.

Say what you will about U2, but they did it the right way from the beginning. Split everything four ways.

The pissing match between Roger Hodgson and the Late Rick Davies of Supertramp. A handshake deal that quickly disintegrated between the two of them. Davies promised not to play any of Hodgson's songs in concert and then realized that without some of those songs, Supertramp wasn't Supertramp anymore. So he and the remaining members did it anyway. Long feud that ended up in court until very recently.