KEY POINTS:
One of New Zealand's favourite bands is heading for a court battle to regain the rights and royalties to some of the country's top rock hits.
Th' Dudes claim never to have received a cent from songs recorded during late-70s sessions at Stebbing Studios in Auckland.
Instead, band members say, owner Eldred Stebbing has for the past 30 years collected the profits from the recordings, which included the group's greatest hits, Be Mine Tonight, Walking In Light, and the boozer anthem Bliss.
Dave Dobbyn, Peter Urlich and Ian Morris were barely out of their teens when - with drummer Bruce Hambling and bass player Peter "Lez" White - they got permission from Stebbing to use his Herne Bay studio to record 20 songs.
The tracks were engineered by Morris, then a Stebbing employee, outside regular studio hours in 1978 and 1979.
The band claims that Stebbing commercially exploited the recordings through television, film, advertising and album deals without paying any royalties.
In papers filed with the High Court, the group is claiming copyright infringement, breach of contract and constructive trust against Stebbing and his company Stebbing Recording Centre.
Morris, now a recording engineer living in Napier, told the Weekend Herald it was time for the courts to decide who should get the money.
"Our recordings are among the most enduring and classic of NZ songs, yet in the 30 years they have been available we have never received one cent in royalties from the Stebbings."
Dudes' lawyer Chris Hocquard said the band had discussed the matter over the years, but a recent reunion tour had prompted the court action.
"They decided to re-form, and were talking to the record company about re-releasing the catalogue ... They then realised that 30 years later, they had no control.
"That's what really brought it to a head."
Though the band members - Dobbyn in particular - are now industry heavyweights, in the late 70s they were at the bottom of the musical heap and ignorant of music recording or contract law, Mr Hocquard said.
"The music industry works on power."
At the time, record companies controlled the means of production.
Th' Dudes were young men when the recordings were made, and wanted only to get their music recorded.
"We were just excited to be in the studio recording somewhere," Morris said.
The band own the publishing rights to the tracks, which cover lyrics and arrangements, but Stebbing holds the master tapes and retains the royalties from the album sales, including for compilation albums featuring Th' Dudes' songs.
The High Court action was a surprise to Stebbing Recording Centre general manager Vaughan Stebbing yesterday.
He had been hoping to sort the matter out in mediation, but had not been able to get a meeting with the band.
"The band has made about 50 times more out of it than we have ... they have collected all the performance royalties, they have collected all the music."
His father provided the means for Th' Dudes to get their music recorded, so they could command a crowd when playing live, Stebbing said.
"If it wasn't for Eldred, the band would never have started, or got going.
"They probably made millions out of it in terms of launching their careers."
Stebbing believed the royalties argument probably related to "a very small slice of the whole thing".
Music historian John Dix said the case would be closely watched by other New Zealand musicians.
The music industry had changed considerably since bands such as Th' Dudes and Hello Sailor went into the studio, and the record labels held all the cards, he said.
"There will be a few people watching this case with great interest."
The matter returns to the High Court at Auckland on April 1.
DUDES' DEMANDS
* An order requiring return of the master recordings
* A declaration that all money received from the recordings is held in trust for Th' Dudes
* An account or inquiry into royalties received by Stebbing Recordings
* Damages or an account of profits from Stebbings
* Interest and costs
KEEPING TRACK OF ROYALTIES
Lawyers for Th' Dudes are working to establish how much in royalties the band may be entitled to after 30 years.
Former vocalist and guitarist Ian Morris yesterday told the Weekend Herald that he and Dave Dobbyn, as owners of the publishing rights, had received royalty payments over the years.
He estimated the two albums produced from the Stebbing recording sessions - Right First Time and Where are the Boys? - each likely sold up to 7000 units.
At the time - 1978-1979 - an album needed to sell 7500 copies to go gold.
An early 1980s album - So you wanna be a rock and roll star - after its initial release was combined on CD with Hello Sailor album Last Chance to Dance and re-released "pretty much just (in) New Zealand".
Morris put sales figures for that album in "the tens of thousands".
But the real money will likely come from royalties for Th' Dudes' tracks used on compilation albums.
Arguably the band's two best-known songs, Be Mine Tonight and Bliss, have appeared on a total of six compilations, including Nature's Best Vol 1 and 2, The Best Beer Drinking Songs In The World ... Ever and 100 per cent Kiwi Rock. Singles Right First Time, Walking in Light and Tonight Again feature on another two compilations.
Nature's Best Vol 1 sold in excess of 100,000 copies.
But agreements between artist and record company vary, and where some might get 10 per cent for recording rights, others might only get five, former Australasian Performing Right Association head Mike Chunn said.
Split Enz is understood to have received 5 per cent for recording rights at the start of their career, though former member Chunn said making any estimates of Th' Dudes' possible earnings based on other artists would be virtually impossible.
Stebbing Recording Centre manager Vaughan Stebbing said profits from Th' Dudes' recordings had been "negligible", and the band's claims were unrealistic.
"I'd think if there's been 100 sales in the past two years we would be lucky."
He said the company was "happy to have it settled", but rejected the band's "ridiculous claims".
THE DISPUTED RECORDINGS
Be Mine Tonight
That Look in Your Eyes
Right First Time
Walking in Light
Hope
Bliss
Bad Boy Billy
Stop Crying
Can't Get Over You
You Don't Have to Go
On Sunday
There You Are
Spit Ball Speed
Modern Choice
Lonely Man
Until You Do
Take It Back
You Got Something
All My Lovers
You Can Make Me Dance
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
* Dave Dobbyn (guitar, vocals): Left Th' Dudes for DD Smash and went on to become one of New Zealand's most successful artists. Currently recording in London after winding up nationwide tour with Hayley Westenra.
* Peter Urlich (vocals): Went into nightclub management after leaving Th' Dudes. Now hosts a radio show on George FM. Currently competing on TVNZ's Dancing with the Stars.
* Ian Morris (guitar, vocals): After resurfacing as Tex Pistol in the 1980s and scoring a No 1 single with The Game of Love, Morris now lives in Napier with former When the Cat's Away singer Kim Willoughby. He owns a recording studio.
* Peter "Lez" White (bass): Has lived in Sydney for more than 20 years and works for a music magazine.
* Bruce Hambling (drums): Lives in Christchurch and works in property management.
* Eldred Stebbing: Eldred Stebbing is now 87 and retired. A member of the New Zealand Order of Merit and lifetime member of the Recording Industry Association, he visits the Jervois Rd studios daily .
