Adam VIII Limited was a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded by

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

Morris Levy Morris Levy (born Moishe Levy; August 27, 1927 – May 21, 1990) was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner ...

, and named after his son Adam. It operated in the late 1960s through the early 1980s. Adam VIII specialised in

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

issues and reissues of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

, including works originally appearing on

Roulette Records Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed ...

, also owned by Morris Levy. By 1976, they had sold up to a million units of disco hits and rock hits featuring

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

. They also marketed and sold albums recorded by

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

Lawsuit

In 1975 they released ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

'', a version of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

's album ''

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

''. Lennon originally undertook the project as a way to settle a

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...

lawsuit, over his song "

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

", which had borrowed noticeably from

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

's "

You Can't Catch Me "You Can't Catch Me" is a song written for 1956 musical drama film '' Rock, Rock, Rock!''. It was recorded by Chuck Berry and released as a single in 1956. Background The song's lyrics describe racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jerse ...

" (published by Levy). As part of the settlement, Lennon agreed to record three songs that were owned by Levy's publishing house, Big Seven Music. A planned deal to market the album through Adam VIII turned sour, and Levy released an album pressed from the rough-mix tape Lennon had given him, weeks before the album was finished, then sued Lennon,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

(Lennon's American label), and

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

for breach of contract for $7 million dollars. Levy claimed that Lennon had agreed to allow the album to be released on Levy's mail-order label, as further settlement to the "You Can't Catch Me" lawsuit. The latter three countersued and won, receiving $144,700 for lost royalties and damaged reputation over the album, and an injunction was ordered for Levy to suspend the sales of the album. Levy later opined that "I lost because the judge fell in love with John Lennon, and Yoko knitted all day long, as a pregnant lady in the first row of the court". After Adam VIII suspended sales of the album, naturally, the copies that had already been purchased became a collectors item. According to court documents, exactly 1,270 copies of ''Roots'' were sold.

References

External links

Adam VIII, Ltd. Album Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam Viii Defunct record labels of the United States Pop record labels Disco record labels

Lawsuit

See also

References

External links