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In an era when artists routinely lip-sync onstage, hire anonymous hacks to substitute for them in the recording studio and fabricate monumentally unbelievable tales about their age and background, it might sound kind of odd to hear that Congress is considering passage of what's been called the "Truth in Rock Act."
Then again, the act, which has been introduced by Cleveland-area
Democrat Dennis Kucinich and Georgia Republican Charles Norwood,
doesn't address these issues. Rather, its concern is with the
rising tide of fraudulent bookings on the oldies circuit, where
promoters are booking ersatz versions of bands that bear no
similarity to the real deal.
While the practice is most prevalent on the '50s and '60s circuits,
where fake Drifters, Coasters and so on have been trekking
cross-country for years, it's started to move forward thanks to
spiraling '80s nostalgia.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood is a prime example. The gay-themed
post-new wave act split up nearly a decade ago, following a
successful run marked by hits like "Relax." So when ads for
appearances by FGTH began cropping up earlier this year, most folks
thought it to be a natural reunion, what with the successful
revival mounted by kindred spirits Culture Club. In fact, about the
only folks surprised by the "reunion" were the members of FGTH
themselves, who've had nothing whatsoever to do with it.
"The group posing as Frankie appear to be passing themselves off
fully as the original band and there seems to be an intent to rip
off punter and promoter alike," says a spokesperson for
Pleasuredome, the label run by the band's former frontman Holly
Johnson. "Mark O'Toole, the bass player from Frankie, lives in the
states and has managed to stop some advertised gigs by informing
promoters."
The man behind the FGTH scam seems to be R.D. Turner, who claims
that he's never represented his act as the original, but merely a
tribute band -- an account that's being disputed by Lesley
Groetsch, co-owner of New Orleans' Howlin' Wolf, a club that
canceled a performance by the ersatz Frankies after discovering the
nature of the act.
"We are a live music club with an impeccable reputation within the
industry and would never book a "tribute" band," says Groetsch, who
insists that she has "amassed all the documentation and promotional
materials that Mr. Turner sent," and found no indication that he
was promising anything other than a genuine FGTH show.
Turner could not be reached as of press time, but one fan who
attended a Georgia performance by the not-so-frank Frankies
describes the show as "convincing," despite her disappointment that
the promised original members weren't in evidence.
DAVID SPRAGUE
(March 19, 1999)