....Musical Youth's first single for MCA was a version of the Mighty Diamonds' Rastafarian anthem Pass the Kouchie, with the lyrics and title famously altered to avoid any reference to marijuana. Driven by Kelvin Grant's exuberant toasting - a kind of Jamaican proto-rapping, then entirely alien to a British pop audience - Pass the Dutchie entered the charts at number 26 on September 25. The next week it leapt to number one. It was a hit across Europe. It reached the top 10 in America. They recorded with Donna Summer. Michael Jackson took a shine to them. "I was one of those kids that's been in his bedroom," says Grant indignantly, "and nothing untoward happened."
....By the late 1990s, Musical Youth had passed into history. The sound of Pass the Dutchie became a sort of musical shorthand for a less manufactured era of pop. In 1998, Seaton's former manager David Morgan heard it on the soundtrack of 1980s-themed romantic comedy hit The Wedding Singer. "I rang Dennis and said, 'You must be earning a lot of money. He said no. The members of Musical Youth had not received any royalty accounting from their record label since 1986, which was diabolical. Just the use on The Wedding Singer earned about £20,000."
It took him two and a half years to sort through Musical Youth's business affairs."Where there's a hit, there's a writ," said Universal's spokesman, when Morgan launched a £2m claim for unpaid royalties, damages and interest on the money owed Musical Youth. "I sent something like 10,000 letters," he sighs. "They tried to wear me down by ignoring me." In December 2002, MCA/Universal settled out of court. Morgan cannot divulge exact figures but claims "it amounts to close on a seven-figure sum. In the end, the record company were embarrassed about it."
In addition, he has convinced the label to release a Musical Youth compilation. Seaton and Grant plan to promote it with some club dates and a 1980s package tour. "Everyone remembers Musical Youth," says Seaton. [Guardian]
A sweet song of communal harmony among the downtrodden from the mouths of babes - powerful stuff, I hope they find peace.
Article comments
1 - Nathan
Like Elton John: "It's sad, so sad, it's a sad sad situation"... But these guys made some incredibly nice music that makes me happy all the time I'm listening to it. Music bizz has really ripped them off, but Michael and Dennis are some of the gretest and most humble guys I know. Everybody should at least have a listen to the "Maximum Volume" album and enjoy some sunny music!!!
Funny how people forget all their other songs and only remember "Pass The Dutchie" though. And sad about what happened to the other three members, really. They did not deserve this, they seemed such good guys.
2 - Chijioke Chiemela
i love musical youht and will always love them.we are humans , we reach the hieth of our ceare and we come down eventually. musical youth are no exception.
3 - Nathan
We recently put the official website online! Check musicalyouth.net for everything you never wanted to know about Musical Youth! :-D
4 - Carlo Khalifa
I was never a musician but the most ideal fairytale moment in my life as a teen would have to hang out with Musical Youth (of course with lots of pictures!). But if I couldn't meet them as a kid, I hoped to as an adult. Unfortunately the dream remained what it was... a dream. They did come close enough, featuring in a mid-80s international music show in Lagos, Nigeria put together by Silver Bird/Faze 2 promotions. However I wasn't living in Lagos then; I was almost 1000 kms away in the North! It's real sad to hear the tragic tale of a once promising youth band. It rankles all the more cos their kid rivals from America New Edition are still making money, while Britain has been really been unkind to its own!
5 - mickelodian
That is yet another example of why nobody should bother to worry about the music industrys whining about illegal downloads and why it is destroying the artists. Artists make their money essentially from concerts and even then ticketmaster are into them for most of the proceeds.
Its about time artists took control of their own music, after all what exactly does the music company do? distribution is digital and web based now, production is cheap as chips and advertising is not done offline any more... what is their justification for the huge proportion of the sales value? no justification? okay then no deal...bye bye... thats what needs to happen, simply kill them off by doing it yourself!
The music bosses truly are the scabs of the artistic world, feeding off the genius of others like vultures. Lets give it the old 'concerted effort' to remove them from the equation totally.