THIS RANT 30/05/96
Rant Of The Day is where I get to mouth off about whatever I feel like for however long I like. Theoretically, I'll update my whinge/opinion piece every weekday; in practice, maybe not so often. |
The strange case of Spandau Battle
Music Week reports that three former members of Spandau Ballet have sued Gary Kemp, the band's former chief songwriter and occasional actor ('The Krays', 'The Bodyguard' and probably other stuff too, we suspect) over unpaid royalties for 57 songs. As you may well recall (and if you don't, hang your head in shame) Kemp composed every one of the Spands' hits over a period of nearly ten years. Those hits included, in no special order:
- To Cut A Long Story Short
- Gold
- Through The Barricades
- Fight For Ourselves
- Lifeline
- Only When You Leave
- True (later mauled by PM Dawn)
- Instinction
- Raw
- Musclebound
- Highly Strung
- How Many Lies
- Paint Me Down
- Chant #1
- Round And Round
- The Freeze
- Be Free With Your Love
- Communication
- She Loved Like Diamond
- I'll Fly For You
Just refreshing your memory there.
Anyway, Tony Hadley (the ex-lead singer), Steve Norman (the ex-sax/keyboard player who broke his leg and attracted drooling girls) and John Keeble (the ex-drummer) have issued a writ, claiming that they are entitled to one-twelfth of publishing royalties for Spand material but haven't been paid since 1988 (about when income from the songs dried up anyway). This is a major 80s pop star story, but tantalisingly incomplete. In particular, it leaves at least two key questions unanswered:
- What about ex-bass player Martin Kemp? Doesn't he give a shit? Sure, he's Gary's brother and has had a recent bout with cancer, but can he have no plans to become involved?
- Why would any songwriter worth their salt sign over publishing rights to all 57 of their hits to other band members rather than a greedy promoter saying 'I'll make you a star'? Is it just that the other Spands own a share in the Reformation Publishing Company (a likely scenario, they owned Reformation Records and spent two years breaking that label's contract with Chrysalis in the mid-80s)? Or is there a hidden agenda? I wish we knew.
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