The life of a cutting-edge, 10-year-old Manhattan independent record label may be close to ending. Shimmy-Disc, which has released albums by such bands as Ween, the Boredoms, John Zorn's Naked City and King Missile, all of whom went on to record for major labels, and the label's owner, Kramer, were recently sued by one of their former artists for $4.5 million.
Among the federal lawsuit's 15 counts are fraud, breach of contract, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy. The plaintiff is none other than Ann Magnuson, who sang with Kramer in the band Bongwater but is better known for her acting, in the television sitcom "Anything But Love," several Off Broadway plays and the films "Clear and Present Danger" and "Making Mr. Right."The federal judge assigned to the case is Kimba Wood, whose nomination for the post of attorney general in Bill Clinton's Cabinet was derailed by Nannygate.
In a telephone conversation Wednesday, Kramer denied the charges, and said that he was planning to countersue for breach of contract, libel and slander. "I tried to give her rights to the Bongwater albums to settle the lawsuit, but she wouldn't accept it," Kramer said. "So I finally just borrowed money from a good friend and decided to fight it."
Several bands and musicians, including Too Much Joy, Dogbowl and Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller, have agreed to perform a benefit for Kramer at CBGB on Dec. 5 to defray legal costs.
But for Shimmy-Disc, it may already be too late. "To tell the truth, after this I'm going to run down the label," said Kramer, who's also a record producer. "I just don't have time for it on top of producing. Ten years ago when I started this, there was a need for Shimmy-Disc. Now there's a lot of other do-it-yourself labels out there."