Caveat Auditor
On Tuesday, New York became the seventeenth state to pass a "Truth in Music" bill. The bill's intent is to prevent counterfeit bands from cashing in on the real deal, to the tune of up to $15,000 in fines. The bill's most ardent advocate has been Jon "Bowzer" Bauman from the group Sha Na Na (whose $300 check for performing at Woodstock famously bounced). Deception is especially prevalent among classic doo-wop groups such as the Platters, Coasters, and Drifters. So while founding Coasters lead singer Carl Gardner retains legal rights to the group's name, you can also hear Cornell Gunter's Coasters (who were trained by early member Billy Guy) and Coasters tribute acts such as Edwin Cook & Friends. As Jerry Adler wrote about the issue in Newsweek:
Early R&B groups were mostly faceless voices on the radio, in part because record companies weren't eager to remind audiences that their faces were usually black. And yet, in doo-wop as in painting, an undeniable aura clings to the authentic, the genuine, the original. Which is why if you go to a concert by the faux Drifters or a performance by the Platters manqué, you will always see, says Bauman, one guy in his 70s there so that you, the discerning doo-wop consumer, can nudge your seatmate and say, "That's the real one!"
[Newsday]