#31
1980 Housekeeping
Asia
Armed to the Teeth
Genre: Prog-Metal
Highlights:
Thunder Rider
No, not THAT Asia. But this one did have to fight that one for the rights to the name and was killed, apparently.
I love Queen. That much has been made clear over the years. Hell, I once reviewed every single Queen song on my blog, one a day, until I was done. I called it “Queen for a Day” and, it was fun, but not really very edifying.
One thing about Queen that many people forget or didn’t even know from the start is that, while they became very rich and well known for their bombastic stadium anthems and pop singles, they actually started off trafficking in that early 70s middle earth meets Zeppelin metal that was all the rage in 1974.
And, apparently, it took a while to get to South Dakota. Cuz this band seems to have devoted itself to that sound. I mean, it sounds JUST like 1974’s Queen. “Paladin”, especially.
I sort of love it for that reason.
Here is the story of the name in it’s entirety from Mike Coates’ website:
The demise...
The demise of ASIA was a tale of classic rock and roll tragedy. I've told the story so many times in the last ten years that I hope this account relieves me, at least, in part, of that responsibility in the future. But here it is for the record.
After the completion of ARMED TO THE TEETH there was a considerable amount of time that passed before we saw finished product--six months, as I recall. So many odd things occurred which affected the release date that when one looks back at the string of events it seemed like our fate was pre-determined. We had put everything we had--financially and emotionally--into that project. I had personally invested almost two years of work and hundreds of hours into the album, and we had all entered the project with a certain sense of desperation. I think the band felt that it was our last shot, but we were very pleased with the final mixes and were excited about the imminent release. Our management had just secured a distribution deal that would rack product clear to the west coast and "Paladin" had entered a coordinated number of Midwestern radio stations. Things were looking quite positive and the morale of the band was high. Then, without warning, a news story came out over the NBC newswire about a European supergroup ASIA that was forming with band members from YES, ELP, and KING CRIMSON. Radio stations dropped our single like a hot potato and we scrambled to meet with our attorneys. We had not yet trademarked the name because our experience in WhiteWing had demonstrated that we actually had to use the name for a number of years before we could officially register it, but now materials were hastily gathered and mailed off.
During the wait for our trademark, we confidently proceeded as if we were certain owners of the name. We sent the European ASIA copies of both of our albums to demonstrate our ownership along with an assurance that we were willing to negotiate a settlement. I remember our initial offer was $100,000 for the name or a slot on their world tour (--we were not money hungry, we wanted the tour!) Not long after we heard from Brian Lane, former manager of YES, and the manager of this new "supergroup." He indicated that he felt our monetary offer was absurd but that his band was interested in negotiating--in fact, he said, they were very interested in our band because they had enjoyed the albums, adding that we sounded "very British." Counter offers were bantered around for several weeks until one morning manager Mike Chambers and I found ourselves sitting in our lawyer's office on a conference call to Brian Lane, who, the day before, had dropped a bomb on us. Mr. Lane explained that his investigations had turned up seven different "ASIAs" in the world, and that he had just procured the name from a Louisiana outfit. His legal representative in the U.S., Elliot Hoffman, had supplied our lawyer with the official documentation, i.e., the alleged registered trademark numbers (which I saw), and we all thought: "This is it . . . it's all over." Then, curiously, he offered a much smaller settlement, saying that his organization was not in the business of crushing other smaller bands--especially good ones. He offered five thousand dollars and proposed to fly to Rapid City to meet us and to help us negotiate a contract with a major label (the eventual contract specified that he would accompany Chambers and myself to four major labels within the year). We were, of course, stunned, but in no position to turn down his offer.
Within weeks Brian Lane was in Rapid City where he watched us perform at "The Barbarian." After the performance he was extremely complimentary, comparing Larry to David Coverdale and claiming that I was "as good as any guitarist on the face of the planet." Two days of intense discussion ensued, and it appeared that Mr. Lane was genuinely interested in the band. He said that our only fault was our birthplace and at one time even offered the services of Pete Sinfield as a lyricist, claiming that he was the English poet's landlord. I also clearly remember asking him why someone like Carl Palmer, who had accomplished so much musically, would ever be involved in such an obviously commercial venture as he had explained this new European ASIA was conceived to be. His answer, in a heavy British accent, was this: "Carl can't get a job anywhere in England, and he's just plain bored." Before Mr Lane left, he even assembled a list of new names for our band, all of which I found to be infinitely forgettable. He also insisted that I begin playing keyboards onstage again, in addition to my guitar duties, which I ultimately did do. All in all, he was extremely complimentary and we were exhilarated when he left--this seemed to be the break we had sought for so many years.
After Brian Lane returned to England we were to call and arrange a time for our rendezvous at various major labels (Geffen & Atlantic were his early targets). Over the course of the next three months we called more than forty-five times, but Lane was never available. His secretary alluded to the fact that he had been in an auto accident, but no other information was forthcoming. Then, the next bombshell hit--our trademark application suddenly returned granting us exclusive ownership of the name ASIA! We were stunned. Apparently the Louisiana ASIA story had been a total scam. We immediately notified Mr. Lane and his attorney that we considered the deal null and void and that we were suing him and his band for fraud. Two days later Mr. Lane called, claiming he was on the coast at a major record label and inquiring why we were not there to meet him!
Over the next several months our manager drove to both Minneapolis and Denver to meet with Lane and the actual members of ASIA about our suit. There was even talk that Carl Palmer wanted to manage us, but that we needed to make an effort to be more commercial. I remember screaming, "Carl Palmer, of EMERSON, LAKE, & PALMER, is going to call me and ask me to write more commercially?!" But, of course, nothing happened.
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