news-record.com

In 1971, John Lennon asked audiences to "Gimme Some Truth."

Almost four decades later, another performer — Bowzer of Sha Na Na fame — had a similar request for the legislature.

The Sha Na Na frontman, whose real name is Jon Bouman, has been leading a fight across the country to enact laws to prevent impostor groups from stealing the fame of established bands.

On Tuesday, North Carolina lawmakers gave Bouman his wish, passing the Truth in Music Advertising Act, which makes it a crime punishable by a fine of up to $15,000 for a group of musicians to falsely pass themselves off as an established band.

The bill, which now goes to Gov. Beverly Perdue for her signature, is designed to protect several groups from the oldies era whose band names continue to pop up on concert schedules even though the real band members are not on tour, not still performing together or, in some cases, not even alive.

''When you're talking to fans about it, they'll inevitably say 'this is impossible,'" Bouman said. "They'll say 'this is America, you can't do that.'"

But while oldies might be American classics, making money is also a time-honored tradition. And producers have been pushing imitation groups as the real thing for decades, often at the expense of the original groups.

Bouman, who serves as the chairman of the truth in music committee of The Vocal Group Hall of Fame, said audiences don't often realize the situation exists. But he said it has cost the original groups money and opportunities to perform.

The groups most often impersonated are '50s and '60s doo-wop groups, who rarely appeared on television or even on the cover of their own albums, so people aren't sure what they look like. Bouman said the problem also has occurred with well-known '80s groups, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

''These groups get on stage and say things like, 'back when this song hit number one,' or 'back when we were the first black group to tour the world,' and they weren't even born then!" said Bob Crosby, the Hall of Fame's president.

The law is not applicable to performers clearly identified as tribute bands or groups that evolve out of old ones, such as when only one member stays on. It is meant to target the imitators.

Crosby says the audience is the real victim.

''People believe they're seeing something," he said, "but it's not the truth."