A lot of NYHC fans have a partial knowledge about Profile Records, and the difficulties every band had dealing with them, but I'm going to try and set the record straight with facts to give you an honest understanding to the truth of it all over overblown assumptions that occur when people talk out of school with no true knowledge of any of it.
Leeway signed with Profile roughly in the late Spring with a couple of "courting" dinners just like they did back then, and they gave us the VIP treatment...we were psyched...we were signing with the label that RUN DMC built, and other label-mates were Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, DD Ramone, Destruction, and eventually MOTORHEAD along with hiphop stars Dana Dane, DJ Quick, and more that escape me this moment
The contract we signed was the same deal RUN DMC signed and automatically most other artists/bands signed the same deal which was we had to give up 50% publishing....in a few years RUN DMC would go to court over this, but Profile had the best shysters in the business and they couldn't get out despite all their power and influence....they had a huge staff, and the publicist was a very nice woman, but she had no clue what to do with us
The budget we were offered was the biggest at the time, and I don't think many bands were getting as much as 18 grand to record....back then recording was crazy expensive to lock out a reputable analog studio with capable engineers, and on our debut release we did such a bang-up job with the overall sound and guitars that everyone and their mother went up to Normandy after us to try and capture that....even some felt threatened by us, and made that very clear to Chris Williamson...hahaha....I guess we really did make an impression if we scared some of the biggest egos in our thing.
Most of the HC bands in the country couldn't get our budget with their labels....even the average 3-album total budget bands received didn't come close....we were lucky, but it was just a matter of time for us to see this was the wrong label to be stuck with
In less than a year Chris Williamson's contract with Profile expired on his Rock Hotel subsidiary and Profile took complete control of all bands on the subsidiary, and this is when the tables turned....Born To Expire was released after an 18 month delay because Zowie left us for Circus of Flowers....a grungy NYC-based band with a horrible drummer, and a singer who had a wig in his leather biker cap....they were a major label act and they put Zowie on salary so he did what he thought was best because at this time he saw what Profile was about and I started self-medicating after I started making too much money bartending in nightclubs and chasing too much tail....I started to lose focus.
That summer we toured with BAD BRAINS for 11 of the 12 weeks they toured the QUICKNESS album, and it was the best summer I ever had being all over America showing them what we were all about...this was probably the last thing CW did right for us, but we starved and scrapped with each other most of the way in frustration....we were seeing that Profile was advertising us in newspapers in major cities at chain stores, BUT THE ALBUM WASN'T EVEN IN STOCK AT THESE STORES....it was turning into one of those SPINAL TAP routines
When we did Desperate Measure we went back up to Normandy and showed the world we weren't a flash in the pan and we finally did a video for Kingpin and got some attention from MTV....we started to establish a true fan-base, but after the Quickness tour we didn't have the chance to jump on a good tour because we didn't have any support...Profile was just going through the motions....it was like they just wanted us to blow up so they could collect but they weren't giving us any help other than the video....by today's standards if I was able to get what I was getting then I'd be a happy pig in shit
I became fed up and started acting out going in there almost daily to grab whatever wasn't nailed down to stay alive and keep a roof over my head I was the only band member living on my own, married, and even more reckless....I showed them my disgust and things just got worse....my actions were wrong, but I felt in limbo watching all these opportunities fly by it's kinda hard watching other bands get over on MTV with no talent and I just didn't understand why we couldn't go over just like them.....because we had no true support...a staff of about 35 people and nothing was getting done way before I acted out
The attitudes of label people are still the same...they all talk shit about artists especially the mail-room boys with their snide remarks like they had any position to talk this way....but, when the artist came into the office they were the first to slobber and show their skills in fellatio and how they controlled their gag-reflex better than the porn-stars back then....I always found it amazing how these talent-less hacks thought they were somebody who was in a position to talk that way and how they all thought that with a little money they can simply co-opt the art and think they were an integral part of the creating the art...No...just hacks getting in the way of a good thing....Fred Feldman was one of these guys who started in the mail-room and slithered his way into a higher position....I can still see that smirk of his today(as if he had us fooled or looked down on us), but he's gone now from our thing and probably wormed into something else....maybe someday I'll run into him
By the time Desperate Measures came out and we were about to fly to Europe for our first tour we were lucky they finally gave us our walking papers so we could go find a better opportunity and a better fit, but that never worked out....I went into 4 more years dealing with an addiction issue that I didn't start to climb out of until 1995 when treatment started to actually work for me and wanted recovery.
Because Profile had the rights they re-issued us on compilations and did a 2-album CD, but we got nothing....always, creative accounting always claimed they never recouped on us despite tens of thousands of unit sales and radio airplay....once in a while I'd receive a few hundred bucks in cash because I didn't even have a bank account then I was strictly street and cash having being shunned from opportunity and chance putting me against the law and establishing a criminal record as I floundered to get my life back and whatever was necessary to stay afloat....the industry loves a desperate artist so they can control everything....this only works with newjacks who are just happy to be there getting attention....it's a con they play while blowing smoke up your ass
Over time I became more and more rebellious against the industry and they all knew I had their number....and when this happens most of them won't even fuck with you because they don't want you to publicly reveal their practices and have you prove it so they avoid you and keep you down like being black-balled, if you know the word.....AJ also stopped letting me do most of the larger interviews because I wouldn't keep my mouth shut and play along....I think he wanted to be with the so-called beautiful people that control the purse-strings...I don't know....we don't talk nowadays because he thinks he's too important and he doesn't respect his fan-base nor does he even interact with them which is completely wrong because it's the fans that keep this music alive and they give you the resources for you to live life the way you want to....if you can't respect the people you play for then why do it other than to take their money? I kept my mouth shut on some of this shit for too long because I didn't want to be like the other soap opera in NYHC but fans need to know what your heroes think of you so you don't waste your money on anyone that doesn't respect you
After 25 years to look back on it I feel I'm not as bitter as most when it comes to this label....they did contribute to our legacy by giving us a chance, but this was the first of many labels who showed little honesty and rarely provided answers or solutions....the owners were shifty and fulla shit, and Gary Pini, the head of A&R probably enjoyed being around the HC scene because when I worked at Tunnel and had all my boys around he was like a middle-aged Robert Plant around a bunch of groupies....only it was tattooed dudes that were half his age....pretty creepy
I could've been more graphic in ways here, but I'm trying to shake off the anger I've had the last several days since I became fed up with this current lying cunt I was coerced into dealing with along with all his fuckery, delay tactics, and outright lies regarding royalties and stock....I'm trying to give you a history...a Then/Now of how this system in the record industry is designed to keep the creative entity down like a slave, and today the artist or band can do better than some asshole who thinks he can co-opt and be a part of something he never was a part of....you can't buy your way into ANY SCENE...in due time EVERYONE will see what you're about....just because the paperwork says record label you still aren't a label if you can't provide the proper services and expect to be paid like a label and expect to collect a label's rate of up to 80%....that is plain bullshit
This is why I made the steps to start my own label....I not only have the TRUTHandRIGHTS album ready, but me and Matty Pasta decided to complete a LIVE ALBUM Project for LEEWAY NYC....an actual "Then and Now" release....with the support of my KickStarter page I can do the paperwork and be up and running immediately instead of waiting until the holidays or later to be able to finance this myself
I need help going DIY at this time, and I already have the band-mates behind me to do this and I already have a bigger staff than this thief hiding in Belgium thinking this issue is going away....I told him numerous times a particular story to give him an example of what I will not tolerate, and I guess it got lost in the translation because I don't speak Flemish, but he seems to have a fair vocabulary in english so I'm holding him accountable....this was a man-to-man agreement and handshake so he has to eventually address this man to man no matter how long that takes....he eventually will have to face me
My KickStarter link;
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elleewayrecords/help-eddie-start-his-own-record-label-and-g?ref=user_menu
Please help support me so I can now go DIY and take complete control of my career from this point on so I can give all my friends/fans more....I'm willing to share my steps towards this and also give my friends help with their music....you can be an honest label simply by being honest and letting them audit and see the books....it's simple, and with the passion of your own music you automatically will do a much better job...trust me...this isn't rocket science it just takes a little organisation
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