- Johnny Boy Would Love This
- 2 CD tribute to John Martyn includes Beck, Snow Patrol, David Gray, Phil Collins, Nicholas Barron and others. [Read More...]
- Nicholas Barron and Swimmer 1998
- SWIMMER '98
I would later learn a couple things about how that stuff works when a friend of
ours (mine and Ed's) in Chicago had a GREAT band called Swimmer. This guy,
Nicholas Barron, is like Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and Joe Cocker
all rolled into one. Swimmer built some serious momentum in the Midwest, named
as a "top band to watch in the midwest" by Playboy at a time when the Midwest
was producing tons of major-label, taste-making bands. They were on the
circuit of South By Suthwest type conferences where (at the time) that was the
primary way bands got record deals (and at a time when getting a deal meant
everything). Then some baby band from England called Swimmer signed to
Madonna's label, Maverick, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. They trademarked the
name and our friend Nicholas got hit with a cease-and-desist order. What he
learned was, even if someone else beats you to the punch by trademarking a
name, if you can prove you were using it in trade first, you can challenge and
trump that trademark. The irony is, especially when battling a company like
Warner Bros., in order to protect what's yours your pockets must be deep. Our
friend didn't have the dough to embark on that, and Warner Bros. was offering
him [we know how much but let's call it approximately the annual income of the
average American at the time] to stop using the name Swimmer, so he took the
deal. After changing the band's name, the audience disappeared virtually
overnight and his career has not been the same since. That said, Nicholas
ranks among the world's smartest motherfuckers and despite the knuckleballs
life has thrown him, dude does well and has never done anything other than
create and perform music to make a living. But for that Warner Bros. thing,
though, our friend would be a household name, counting his millions.
[Read More...]
