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Technology Stocks : K-Tel (KTEL) Have the cheesy '70s records come to an end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lionel Parker Perkins III who wrote (2652)	11/13/1998 9:53:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3203

K-TEL Ordered To Pay 8000 GBP On March 30, 1998, K-TEL was fined 8000 GBP and ordered to pay 1488 GBP in costs after admitting to two charges under the Trade Descriptions Act of supplying a CD with a false description. The charges stemmed from a 1996 CD released by K-TEL, which claimed to be 1993 re-recordings of Mott The Hoople songs that featured Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson. The case was brought by Hampshire Trading Standards, after being informed by Ian Hunter's management that the liner notes were innaccurate. Mott The Hoople fan Phil Holbrook had notified Ian's managmeent of the situation. <Picture: [Bogus K-TEL CD]> In 1996, K-TEL released The Best Of Mott The Hoople (K-TEL ECD 3279). The album contained re-recorded versions of Mott The Hoople songs, with liner notes stating that 'In 1993, Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson reformed Mott The Hoople and went back into the studio to re-record all their hits, together with five new compositions.' The additional songs were credited to Gerry Chapman and former Animal Danny McCulloch. K-TEL Explains Michael Bromley-Martin, defending for K-TEL, told the court that the Mott The Hoople material was purchased from McCulloch Chapman Music in the USA, along with material by The New Animals, Paper Lace, and The Byrds. K-TEL negotiated the deal with Danny McCulloch, who guaranteed the recordings were by the original artist. Bromley-Martin stated that K-TEL had paid $75000 for the tapes, had followed normal industry procedures, and were happy with the authenticity of the songs. Bromley-Martin also stated that K-TEL had dealt with McCulloch successfully in the past. When initially contated by Ian Hunter's managment, K-TEL apparently stood behind the CD. McCulloch claimed that Ian Hunter's voice had been remixed along with a soundalike voice in order to strengthen it, and that the remixing had been done with Ian Hunter's knowledge and permission. Bromley-Martin told the court: 'It did not occur to K-TEL that he was putting forward recordings that might not have been genuine.' Due to the fact that K-Tel admitted guilt, Ian Hunter did not appear in court. However, a written statement was presented. 'We had not recorded together since 1989. I can categorically state that it is not me singing and that the singer is deliberately trying to imitate me.' The court was told that K-TEL had withdrawn the album last August, when they realized that the album could not have been recorded in 1993. It had sold approximately 1500 copies. Bromley-Martin told the court that they had tried to contact McCulloch for 18 months, but that he had disappeared. He said that if McCulloch could be found, K-TEL would instigate proceedings against him. Other K-TEL Releases Questioned The proceedings were covered extensively in the press, as The Times, The News, and The Daily Mail all dedicated half a page to the story. The BBC 4 radio program You and Yours dedicated over ten minutes to the case, and interviewed both Phil Holbrook and Ian Hunter by phone. Ian told them: 'I picked it up on the web, when some of the people who bought it were discussing it and were saying 'I don't think this is the real thing'. I couldn't really believe it because it was so blatant. I mean, usually it's a little more subtle than that. I really don't know if I'm being diddled out of my royalties, they might turn up sooner or later, but deception's a big thing. If Mott The Hoople were to reform, and to do their previous hits, they would be offered a lot of money to do that. This is like a 5000 quid job on a Saturday afternoon. We've had to sit and twiddle our thumbs while people have gone out and bought it, and been conned.' You and Yours went on to report that other K-TEL releases were being questioned. A solicitor for The Village People was interviewed, and claimed that a K-TEL CD by that group was also bogus. 'It would appear that someone has duped the record company which we have sued, which is K-TEL, the same company as in the Mott The Hoople case. If somebody wants to claim they have an original artist's recording, they will either have a recording contract with the artists, or receipts from the studio showing the artists were in there.' The BBC program reported that no contracts were made available for either Mott The Hoople or The Village People. Other Bogus Mott The Hoople Releases The K-TEL judgement has not ended the problem of bogus Mott The Hoople CDs. At least five companies have licensed purported Mott The Hoople recordings (in various forms) from McCulloch Chapman Music. Here is a summary of the releases: The Best Of Mott The Hoople (UK K-TEL); All The Young Dudes (Denmark Digimode); Dudes (UK Going For A Song); and The Magical Collection (Holland ARC MEC 949074). The material has also been released in Germany, but I don't have the details right now.