by Shawn Nagy
November 2003
The Great Pretenders
by Shawn Nagy
November
2003
The
Great Pretenders
What a problem it is getting to be. It's one thing to say you are a tribute band; it's another to say you are the band. The proliferation of fake oldies groups has caused immense concern among the "real" artists, who have been stripped of their identities and livelihood by unscrupulous artists, promoters, and managers. The ones who are really cheated are the fans that go to these shows that don’t know any better and believe they are seeing the real deal.
I’ve been to several of these shows myself, and cringe to see a fan getting a vintage LP or item of some worth getting signed by some schmoe who probably knows nothing more about the original band than the handful of songs they perform. The one-time worth of the item is then GONE.
The most obvious is the unbelievable amount of Coasters, Platters, and Drifters we have at many of the oldies’ shows and casinos. Even the largest Vegas casinos are charging $50 a ticket to see these three coupled up together, and the results are saddening. One report from a backup musician states that The Coasters simply put on wigs and switched suits between shows and then came out as The Drifters.
Frankie Ford ("Sea Cruise") got a shock when traveling through the Carolinas and saw The Platters on the venue marquee and thought he’d stop in and see some of the guys. "One of them was white . . . a white dude in The Platters!" he exclaimed, as only Frankie can.
Another blunder with these three happened this July in honor of the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice, a Washington D.C. event for the attending vets, which featured "three favorite acts of the era": The Platters, The Coasters and The Drifters. But according to Jon Newton at Gnutella News, "There's a problem. These Coasters aren't THE Coasters, and The Platters aren't THE Platters, and The Drifters certainly aren't THE Drifters." The official press release for the event also claims that the vets will be treated to "the sound of Motown," a label that didn't even exist during the Korean War. In other words, these veterans will find themselves "honored" on this special day by a cheesy casino-level show by three ripoff groups that had nothing to do with any of the original hits.
Carl Gardner is The Coasters lead singer and always has been. He's married to Veta Gardner, the group's manager and booking agent. "My son saw an announcement on the NBC Today Show, and he called me. It was news to me!" She called The Platters and The Drifters and, "it was news to them too," says Veta, author of Carl Gardner's autobiography, Yakety Yak, I Fought Back. But the non-Platter Platters, Cornell Gunter's Coasters and Beary Hobb's Drifters do concert shows in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Believe it or not, at one time there were 17 counted acts performing in the USA at the same time. Much like the watches peddled on street corners. Examine the name under a magnifying glass and you see R.OLEX, not ROLEX. To set the record straight on these three groups:
1. Eight other singers and three guitarists have made records with Carl Gardner as The Coasters, but only Veta and Carl own The Coasters’ trademark.
2. As for The Platters, Herb Reed founded and named The Platters in 1953, and has been performing ever since. Herb Reed and The Platters is the only group which includes an original member.
3. Bill Pinkney is the only original Drifter who still performs. Some of the other touring groups are down right rip-offs, while one is the result of Jennifer Moore, wife of one-time member Johnny Moore who stamped her rights on the name "Original Drifters" rather than "THE Drifters." Ah, how sticky the legalities can be. Not "original" at all unfortunately, and she has four young men carrying on the legacy and income. I wonder how these guys felt when they recently received Gold Records for 175,000 Drifters records sold? Cheap, or have they convinced themselves that THEY have earned them?
Creedence Clearwater Revival got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Shame . . . oops, Fame. Like The Beach Boys, the members have spent years battling in court over the rights to the name with John Fogerty. At the induction ceremony, Fogerty gets up and performs with a backup group while the other two (uninformed) original members get up and WALK OUT with their families. That was not the deal they made! I believe they are doing the proper thing with their current name, "Creedence Clearwater REVISITED."
What has happened over the years is that in the ‘50s and ‘60s, most of the performers were in their teens to early twenties and never gave legalities a second thought. Therefore, the rights to their band names went to agents, their management or many years later a band member, who slapped legal claim to the name when they were not founders at all.
Dennis Yost of The Classics IV only gained the legal use to the name "The Classics IV" last year after many years of court battling. Before, he could only bill himself as Dennis Yost "formerly of The Classics IV." What a slap in the face to a voice that defined a sound. And once he had the legal clout to do so, he ended up getting a throat disorder and almost lost the ability to sing after several operations. After a dozen-year hiatus, he is back to performing, but the damage is there . . . mentally and physically.
For those bandmembers out there who are thinking of tossing in the towel, trademark/copyright your band name if you think there is a remote chance of getting back together in the future and legally using your name again. The Diamonds broke up in the ‘60s, and according to court hearings, "abandoned" the name for over a period of 18 months, thus making their name open for legal claim. The Diamonds, which most of us have seen, are all obviously too young to have been on the hit recordings, but the group announces that the one older member is "an original." In fact he is . . . a fourth generation member (long after their popular hits), and Gary Owens went for the legal rights to the abandoned name "The Diamonds."
Little do promoters know that the real deal, THE voice on the hits, is readily available. On hits such as "Little Darlin’," you hear Dave Somerville, who bills himself as "The Diamonds original lead voice." Dave also added the moniker "Diamond Dave Somerville," and although he is very busy performing, the imitator group is getting much of the glory. At 70 years old, Dave looks fantastic, and along with the other original hit-making members, gets together two or three times a year for specialty shows and are "allowed" to use their original name.
In reference to The Spiral Starecase ("More Today Than Yesterday"), I recently added Pat Upton, writer and singer of the hits to my booking roster (he still sounds like the record!) and asked him about another group touring around Vegas that’s using the Spiral Starecase name. "Beats me. I don‘t know who that could be," he said. Turns out that one of the Starecase guitarists formed a music agency in Vegas and has one of his good friends and business partners singing lead for the shows. Again, the performer on stage has no original involvement, and the venues and listeners don’t know any better.
Often the venue bookers are not concerned with group history, but rather what they can charge to fill their seats with unknowing and sentimental baby-boomers. However, the fans are catching on and starting to get miffed. About a year ago Diana Ross attempted a US wide Supremes reunion and shows. Arenas were selling out and the fans couldn’t believe it was happening. And it wasn‘t . . . original Supremes, Mary Wilson and Barbara Martin were nowhere to be found. (Neither is on speaking terms with Ross.) When it was leaked that Diana was touring with two modern sidekicks, fans began asking for their money back and the whole tour was cancelled after only three shows.
While British Invasion artists tour frequently in their home country with original lineups, here in the USA you see groups like The Fortunes (with one latter member who was not on any of their hits), and bands such as Herman’s Hermits and the Hollies with one, and if we’re lucky, two original members. Current touring group, The Vogues, has NONE of the original members.
It is hard to distinguish where original ends and tribute begins. My opinion is that if you don’t have most of the original hit-making members and can’t settle your differences and perform together, then the name should not be out there ripping off and disillusioning fans. Bill it as "Joe Butler and Steve Boone OF The Lovin’ Spoonful." At least this lets people know John Sebastian will not be there. Or "Jim Kale OF The Guess Who" to give the fans a fair sense that Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman are not there either.
One of the more vocal personalities against non-original groups is Sha-Na-Na’s "Bowser," who refuses to or will cancel any show he is scheduled on that also features any of these deceiving lineups.
The moral of the story? Research the acts before you pay big bucks for a show or get items signed. Otherwise, it may make your items worthless and change your whole opinion on the group when it isn’t THE group you’ve come to love!