# Ugliest rock n roll legal battles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840 "2018-10-12T06:27:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/21 "2018-10-12T15:32:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Well, that and the fact that John hasn’t the slightest interest in any sort of reunion in the first place. FWIW, the [CCR article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival#Reunions) on Wikipedia contains several quotes from Fogerty, from the past few years, in which he’s suggested that he might be open to a reunion (though it sounds like it’s been couched as “yeah, I might be open to it,” not “I’d like to do a reunion”). It also quotes interviews with Cook and Clifford from recent years stating that they’d have no interest in it anymore, and their opinion that Fogerty’s recent, mellower statements are just an attempt to improve his image. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/22 "2018-10-12T15:36:43Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > So that’s what happened to her. I’ve got Hello, and think its a pretty good album. She did seem kinda weird and dependent on her brother for stage fright. I figured that’s why she vanished. Her second album, _Haunted_, is a bit strange but great. It’s at least one of my top 10 favorite albums all-time. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/23 "2018-10-12T16:02:19Z")
Bob Daisley is going to have to keep suing Ozzy Osbourne to get the money that he’s owed. > [@](#): > > May 5, 2017 > > There will be no more tears or anything else regarding a lawsuit against Ozzy Osbourne by his former bassist. > > The case over unpaid royalties by Bob Daisley, who played in Osbourne’s original Blizzard of Ozz band, has been dismissed by a U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder and directed to arbitration. > > Daisley sued Osbourne last August for $2 million in royalties he said he was owed for his songwriting and playing on Osbourne’s first two solo albums, Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman; Daisley further claimed that Osbourne and his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne set up a bogus company that allowed them to not report some revenues from the album. > > Osbourne’s representatives called Daisley’s suit “harassment” since the bassist had made other attempts to sue the singer before – including a suit with drummer Lee Kerslake that was dismissed during 2002. > > There’s no word yet on when, or whether, arbitration will take place. [Https://wror.com/2017/05/05/ozzy-osbourne-royalties-lawsuit-dismissed/](Https://wror.com/2017/05/05/ozzy-osbourne-royalties-lawsuit-dismissed/) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/24 "2018-10-12T16:31:48Z")
You can’t get much more ugly than a family feud, and that’s what happened to the Cowsills. The kids were managed by their father, and when he discovered that eldest son and lead singer Bill was smoking pot, he fired Bill from the group. The next oldest, Bob, took over as lead singer, but at various points the other members of the family quit, and even Bill’s return a few years later couldn’t get the whole band back together. Susan Cowsill took family unity the other way. At one point in the 1990s she was in a band with both her current and future husbands. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/25 "2018-10-12T16:47:02Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Off the top of my head, there are the Ozzy v Black Sabbath battles, McCarthy v the Beatles, and I can only imagine what Yes has been through. Credence Clearwater Revival is a band unable to reunite even 50 years later due to legal issues. “I have here in my hand lyrics that prove these four are communists”. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/26 "2018-10-12T19:34:43Z")
I think the grandaddy of all these types of legal issues has to be by UK band called Badfinger - you will likely know them by the Nilsson cover of Without You. > **[Why Badfinger Fell Apart With the Failure of 'Wish You Were Here'](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/badfinger-wish-you-were-here/)** > > Badfinger's 'Wish You Were Here,' the last album to include all four classic-era members, arrived in November 1974. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/27 "2018-10-12T20:12:03Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You can’t get much more ugly than a family feud, and that’s what happened to the Cowsills. The kids were managed by their father … Papa Cowsill also stole the kids’ money but didn’t pay the IRS. So the kids were stuck paying taxes on money they never got! Their debt to the IRS lasted quite a long time. I think the Beach Boys have had the longest span of various spats. Starting with the troubles with the father Wilson and still having disputes as to who is or is not in the group for touring and other purposes. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/28 "2018-10-13T00:05:07Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Bob Daisley is going to have to keep suing Ozzy Osbourne to get the money that he’s owed. > [Https://wror.com/2017/05/05/ozzy-osbourne-royalties-lawsuit-dismissed/](Https://wror.com/2017/05/05/ozzy-osbourne-royalties-lawsuit-dismissed/) Speaking of Ozzy, what about bands/artists that get sued for alleged controversial lyrical content that “inspires” bad behavior in listeners, like the kid that killed himself and his parents sued over the lyrics to the song “Suicide Solution”, a song about the slow death involved with alcohol, not “Hey, I want you to kill yourself!”. Good grief. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/29 "2018-10-13T00:14:37Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Speaking of Ozzy, what about bands/artists that get sued for alleged controversial lyrical content that “inspires” bad behavior in listeners, like the kid that killed himself and his parents sued over the lyrics to the song “Suicide Solution”, a song about the slow death involved with alcohol, not “Hey, I want you to kill yourself!”. Good grief. Judas Priest were involved in a similar lawsuit many years ago. Turned out the two young men who shot themselves (one died immediately, the other years later after being horribly disfigured) both came from incredibly dysfunctional backgrounds. Boston has been a moveable lawsuit, most of it associated with Tom Scholz, since at least the late 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/30 "2018-10-13T02:14:02Z")
The Jefferson Starship were locked in some very ugly legal battles. According to the book “Gotta Revolution”, the band had legal wrangles going all the way back to the early days of the Jefferson Airplane, but things got very nasty just prior to turning into Starship. Around about '84, Paul Kantner, the last remaining original member and supposed band leader, told the rest of the band he couldn’t stand what the band turned into, he was quitting the band, and that he wanted the band to disband. When the rest of the band disagreed, he sued claiming ownership of the name “Jefferson Starship” and demanded they change their name. THEN things got ugly. Kantner apparently had something of a nervous breakdown and went completely off the deep end. At one point, he phoned lead singer Mickey Thomas’s mother and told her he’d been killed in a car crash. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reindeer_flotilla/32/3024_2.png) [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer_Flotilla)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/31 "2018-10-13T05:36:10Z")
Also for your consideration, Hogdson vs Davies which broke up Supertramp. Similar to CCR, it was essentially Hodgson wanting nothing anymore to do with the band and the feuding commenced. Somewhat recently, Hodgson mentioned that he was finally open to a reunion but Davies, author of _Goodbye Stranger_, said thanks but no thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/32 "2018-10-13T19:46:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Her second album, _Haunted_, is a bit strange but great. It’s at least one of my top 10 favorite albums all-time. I pulled _Hello_ out of the vault yesterday and gave it a listen. Still sounds pretty good. I’ll look for\* Haunted.\* ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/33 "2018-10-13T20:23:28Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > You can’t get much more ugly than a family feud, and that’s what happened to the Cowsills. The kids were managed by their father, and when he discovered that eldest son and lead singer Bill was smoking pot, he fired Bill from the group. The next oldest, Bob, took over as lead singer, but at various points the other members of the family quit, and even Bill’s return a few years later couldn’t get the whole band back together. > > Susan Cowsill took family unity the other way. At one point in the 1990s she was in a band with both her current and future husbands. Anyone who has heard of the Cowsills probably already knows this but they were the inspiration for The Partridge Family. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/34 "2018-10-13T20:34:06Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Queensryche had quite the nasty breakup with Geoff Tate, so much so that they both released albums under the Queensryche name at the same time. > > Tate’s band is no longer allowed to tour as Queensryche, but he retains exclusive rights to Operation:Mindcrime in its entirety while his former band mates are only allowed to play selections from the 2 albums under the condition that they are not played as part of a stage show dedicated to the albums. In other words, they can play Eyes Of A Stranger but they can’t play the entire album with the accompanying show that was developed as part of the album concept. > > Lots of technicalities, animosity, and silliness. It’s quite a mess. It was uglier than that. The band got together in a meeting and fired their manager and the head of the fan club. Tate was not at the meeting. The two that were fired were his wife and step-daughter. That lead to a physical fight before a show in Brazil. It was rumored that Tate pulled a knife but he denies that. Soon after he was kicked out of the band. When Tate put out his album under the Queensrÿche name it featured remakes of all their biggest songs with the new band. The album was called Frequency Unknown but the most prominent letters on the cover artwork were “F” and “U”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/35 "2018-10-13T20:34:21Z")
The ugly feud that immediately came to mind was the one between Bruce Springsteen and producer Mike Appel, which led to Springsteen not recording new music for a year (just when he’d reached a peak of national fame) and festered in court for a long time. > **[Bruce Springsteen: 'People thought we were gone. Finished'](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/23/bruce-springsteen-darkness-edge-town)** > > Hobbled by legal wrangles, a frustrated Bruce Springsteen turned Born to Run's optimism on its head – and Darkness on the Edge of Town was born. With a hugely expanded reissue finally compiled, he talks to Keith Cameron ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/36 "2018-10-13T20:37:56Z")
Motley Crue and Elektra records. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/37 "2018-10-13T21:02:11Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Motley Crue and Elektra records. Didn’t Vince Neil kill someone drunk driving? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/38 "2018-10-13T22:59:59Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > It was uglier than that. The band got together in a meeting and fired their manager and the head of the fan club. Tate was not at the meeting. The two that were fired were his wife and step-daughter. That lead to a physical fight before a show in Brazil. It was rumored that Tate pulled a knife but he denies that. Soon after he was kicked out of the band. > > When Tate put out his album under the Queensrÿche name it featured remakes of all their biggest songs with the new band. The album was called Frequency Unknown but the most prominent letters on the cover artwork were “F” and “U”. Oh, I know. But I didn’t want to give away the juiciest parts of the story. The best part was when Tate spent a lot of time at the last show spitting on the rest of them. ---
**Author:** ![cgg419](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cgg419/32/2847_2.png) [@cgg419](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgg419)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/39 "2018-10-14T00:04:35Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Didn’t Vince Neil kill someone drunk driving? Oh yeah. > **[Razzle (musician)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzle_(musician))** > > Nicholas Charles Dingley (2 December 1960 – 8 December 1984), better known by his stage name Razzle, was an English musician, who was the drummer of the Finnish glam rock band Hanoi Rocks from 1982 until his death. > Born in Royal Leamington Spa, England, to a young single mother, Patricia Ingram, who decided to give up her child for adoption. He was adopted by Henry and Irene Dingley. The family's only child, he grew up in Coventry, after which the family moved to the village of Binstead, Isle... ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840/40 "2018-10-15T04:09:58Z")
The warfare between Frank Zappa’s children is pretty sad. Perhaps not that surprising considering how emotionally ugly both parents were. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugliest-rock-n-roll-legal-battles/822840.md?page=3)