Pop Goes to Court: Rock ‘N’ Pop’s Greatest Court Battles by Brian Southall

Author:Brian Southall [Southall, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-85712-036-6
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Published: 2008-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

THE STONE ROSES

Disputing a million pound record contract

When Manchester once again spawned a new wave of bands more than 20 years after its mid-Sixties heyday, The Stone Roses were one of the main acts leading the way. Fusing guitar rock with acid house beats, they helped to create the movement that became known as “Madchester”.

Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani (Gary Mountfield) and Reni (Alan Wren) all hailed from the Greater Manchester area and by 1987 – after an earlier one-off record deal with local label FM Revolver – they had signed a deal with the emerging Silvertone label.

In just over two years – between 1989 and 1991 – The Stone Roses (a name created from a combination of the band’s earlier identity as English Rose and The Rolling Stones) notched up half a dozen hit singles and one critically acclaimed eponymous Top 20 debut album.

As a band with attitude, the Roses rapidly became firm favourites with the alternative media and late-night radio. Alongside fellow Madchester trendsetters Happy Mondays, they made an unlikely debut on the mainstream Top Of The Pops in November 1989.

Loud and brash, the Roses took umbrage when their original label, FM Revolver, used an unauthorised video to promote a re-release of the band’s 1987 single, ‘Sally Cinnamon’. The band members forced their way in to the label’s offices and spray-painted the interior, causing an estimated £23,000 worth of damage.

Hauled before the court, and in the midst of fan pandemonium, Brown, Squire, Mani and Reni were fined a total of £3,000 in March 1990. But further, much more serious, court action was just around the corner, as a dispute with their new record label looked set to turn into a major legal battle.

The deal with Silvertone required The Stone Roses to sign both recording and publishing contracts as a package, which gave the rights to the band’s songs to the company for the life of copyrights although, after five years, The Stone Roses could ask for the rights in any songs not exploited.

As they were linked, both the record and publishing agreements could be extended indefinitely, and there were concerns over the level of advances and the lack of artistic or creative control enjoyed by the songwriters. Under the terms of the record deal, Silvertone had no obligation to release or distribute any records by The Stone Roses in the territories covered by the agreement – “the world and its solar system”.

As one of the hottest bands around, The Stone Roses were now being pursued by others in the business, and Silvertone, part of the expanding Zomba Music Group, was keen to protect its investment. The label was granted an injunction in late 1990 to stop the group signing to a rival label.

Just months earlier, The Stone Roses had hit the UK Top 10 for the first time with ‘One Love’, but the wrangle with their record label looked set to keep them out of the charts and the recording studios for well over a year.

A date

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