Pop Musicians Want Impostor Crackdown

Oh yes, they’re the Great Pretenders.

So complained a group of rock ‘n’ roll stalwarts who came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to sound a sour note about the growing number of musical “impostors” who perform under the names of original groups.

Three different groups calling themselves the Drifters performed in three cities on the same night last year, according to the musicians. And singers billing themselves as the Drifters were slated to entertain at a fund-raiser attended by President Clinton in Florida on Tuesday night--even as two members of the 1950s group were in Washington to complain about clones cashing in on their reputation.

Nearly two dozen performers from such legendary groups as the Supremes, the Coasters and the Shirelles touted a “truth in rock” bill that, its supporters said, would give performers “new powers to chase impostor groups” in the courts under the federal trademark law.

It would do so by allowing performers to recover legal fees and triple the amount of damages they might win in trademark suits against impostors. This would give original artists the same large stick that the Olympic Committee has used to deter companies from manufacturing unauthorized products with the Olympics logo.

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), the measure’s sponsor, said that its provisions would stop knockoff artists from “deceiving the American public.”

The legislation also would allow artists to perform under the name of their old groups, even if they do not own the trademark.

The bill received an apparent boost from Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), who chairs the courts and intellectual property subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, where it will be sent for public hearings. “Conceptually, I agree with what you all talk about,” he told the musicians.

The measure is aimed at music promoters such as Larry Marshak, who manages multiple groups that go by the names Platters, Drifters and Coasters. In a phone interview from New York, Marshak said that he does not believe he is infringing on any musician’s rights and that he views the bill as unnecessary.

He noted that musical groups change all the time “like a baseball team. When you go see the Yanks, you don’t expect to see Babe Ruth. . . . The public is well aware that there are no original members of these groups.”

Tuesday’s rally in support of the bill offered a glimpse into how legislation is born.

Sam Moore, surviving member of Sam and Dave (“Soul Man”), said that he spent so much money fighting to stop his former partner from signing up another Sam and trading in on the pair’s name that he lost his Encino home in 1986.

“We had the trademark,” said Moore’s wife, Joyce, who founded Artists & Others Against Impostors. Sam Moore said that he went after his old partner but the legal bills were “staggering.”

The fight, he said, did not end until Dave Prater Jr. died in 1988.

Moore about three years ago sought out the late Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Palm Springs), a former recording star; they once shared the same label. But before he received a response from Bono, he said, he ran into Kucinich, whom Moore met during the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Kucinich’s Cleveland district.

“I started explaining to him about the artists sitting around while these phonies are playing places and calling themselves the originals,” Moore said in an interview Tuesday.

Kucinich said: “At any given time, there are five fake Drifter groups, six fake Platter groups, a couple of fake Supremes, and an impostor Sam and Dave, to name a few.”

While imitation is supposed to be the sincerest form of flattery, the musicians complained that “phony groups” are cashing in on their fame and the continuing popularity of the music of the 1950s and ‘60s in clubs across the country.

“They’re taking away jobs,” said Beverly Lee of the Shirelles (“Will You Still Love Me?”)

Currently, “you have to go broke trying to protect something that was yours in the first place,” said Tony Butala, who founded the Lettermen (“Goin’ Out of My Head/Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”) in his North Hollywood garage in 1958.

Others appearing in support of the bill included Charlie Thomas of the Drifters (“Under the Boardwalk”), Joe Terry and Frank Maffei of Danny and the Juniors (“At the Hop”) and Carl Gardner of the Coasters (“Charlie Brown” and “Yakity Yak.”)

“They no longer are imitating us,” said Mary Wilson of the Supremes (“Stop! In the Name of Love”). “They are taking over our identities. . . . Start your own group. Don’t say you’re us.”

While walking the hallway on her way to lobby lawmakers, Wilson ran into Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who shouted, “Mary Wilson!” She turned and sang “Happy Birthday” to the congressman, even though his birthday is in July.

As Wilson stopped by other offices, one of the most often asked questions was, “Will you sing?”

Answered Wilson: “If you support the legislation, I’ll sing!”

Times special correspondent Kimberly S. Jones contributed to this story.