Original member of Sha Na Na tells band impostors: Get a job

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 | 7:38 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Nevada is home to a fake Eiffel Tower and a fake Egyptian pyramid, but when it comes to Sha Na Na Na Sha Na Na Na - hey, that's where the state is drawing a line.

A bill to ban impostor music groups, bands that call themselves, say, the Platters when they don't have any of the real members playing with them, received a hearing before an Assembly committee Monday and is likely on its way to passage.

It's part of a movement in legislatures across the country, led by Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, formerly of Sha Na Na, meant to prevent phony acts from fooling customers in the Ozarks, the Dells, the Jersey Shore, and of course, your higher class venues, like on the Strip.

Bauman, having traveled the country on his own dime for the cause of the Truth in Music Committee, has begun to look and sound like another lobbyist with his smart suit, slicked hair and articulate mien.

The law will prevent "unscrupulous promoters from making specious claims," Bauman said, adding that the impostor groups need to "Yip yip yip dum dum dum get a job!" in his deep basso voice.

The law would create criminal and civil penalties for anyone claiming to be a musical group that either doesn't own the trademark or doesn't have any members who recorded the original records.

Tribute and cover bands, such as Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra, could continue to operate freely. Phew!

Bauman conceded he didn't expect Metro Police to run around town cuffing the fake Platters, but he said the law has had a strong deterrent effect elsewhere.

Sonny Turner, who joined the Platters in 1959 when he was 19, said the phonies have cost him money while also cheating the fans, who are getting duped.

The only nominal opposition to the bill was eliminated when gaming lobbyists had an amendment inserted so the venues won't be held liable if they mistakenly host an impost or band .

After all, they can't be blamed if they get conned into hiring a phony band to play by the Brooklyn Bridge at New York, New York.