# Contractual Obligation Albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940 "2006-08-31T16:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/21 "2006-09-01T16:32:46Z")
Nick Lowe recorded a string of deliberately bad singles in the mid-'70s to get out of a contract with United Artists, including “I Love My Label,” “Bay City Rollers We Love You,” “(Going to the) Rollers Show” and “Let’s Go to the Disco.” ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/22 "2006-09-01T17:00:48Z")
Prince’s _Old Friends 4 Sale_ was a contractual obligation album. He took the songs out of a vault of songs he’d recorded for himself and had never intended to be released. It got good reviews, and I like it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/23 "2006-09-01T19:23:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sean Factotum] Yes, The New Yardbirds was the contractual obligation part, and they just continued after that as Led Zep. Technically, then, not contractual ob, but it effectively was (and maybe that explains the label differences.) [/QUOTE] It was a tour contract they were fulfilling, not a record contract. They toured as “The New Yardbirds,” but recorded the first Led Zep album after the tour, and as Led Zep. (I can just imagine some fanboy at that tour: “_New_ Yardbirds? Where’s Jeff Beck? Where’s Keith Relf? I want my money back!”) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/24 "2006-09-01T21:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=DocCathode] Wrong. Urban Legend > **[Did Marvin Gaye Deliberately Record a Bad Album to Cheat His Ex-Wife Out of...](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/here-my-dear/)** > > Did Marvin Gaye deliberately record a bad album to cheat his ex-wife out of royalties? [/QUOTE] Backatcha. Read your own cite. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/25 "2006-09-01T21:56:01Z")
(FWIW, I had already read that snopes entry, and the wiki, to be sure of my facts. The record was not officially part of the settlement agreement, but Gaye knew, what with the size of the settlement and the nature of his income, that the settlement would be funded pretty much entirely by the proceeds from this album. Hence the title, and the theme. Read the snopes article and the wiki for details.) ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/26 "2006-09-02T01:22:33Z")
[QUOTE=ColonelDax] Nick Lowe recorded a string of deliberately bad singles in the mid-'70s to get out of a contract with United Artists, including “I Love My Label,” “Bay City Rollers We Love You,” “(Going to the) Rollers Show” and “Let’s Go to the Disco.” [/QUOTE] “Bay City Rollers We Love You” turned out to be a hit–in Japan! Lowe was able to get out of the contract anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/27 "2006-09-02T01:39:20Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] Just to be clear, I know how the group was originally formed as “The New Yardbirds,” and toured under that name to fulfill touring obligations, but had no idea the first Led Zepplin album was to fulfill an album contract. [/QUOTE] Art imitating life > [@Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap](#): > > We were The Originals. But then we heard there was a band from the East End called The Originals. So we changed our name to The New Originals. > > Then we became The Thamesmen -cackle- Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940/28 "2006-09-02T18:03:43Z")
I always wondered if that self-titled “Genesis” album – the yellow one with the geometric shapes on the cover – was a contractual obligation album. I don’t believe they changed record labels after that one, but between the cover and the music, it sure had every appearance of being slapped together in a hurry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contractual-obligation-albums/370940.md?page=1)