Here's an interesting news story about proposed legislation that would demand "truth in labelling" for musical groups. There are many bands playing around the U.S. now which claim to be The Drifters or The Platters or The Supremes but actually have no one participating who was a part of the original group that became famous under that name. Under this law, an act couldn't call itself The Coasters unless at least one performer on stage had been a part of the original Coasters.
In principle, this sounds fair and logical, and I assume it would stop a lot of phony advertising. On the other hand, some of the groups around that do still have one original member are engaging in a bit of a sham to act like they're the original group. Suppose you paid good money to see an act that billed itself as The Beatles and out came three new guys with guitars plus Ringo on the drums. Or suppose it was Pete Best on drums (he was an original member of The Beatles, albeit briefly) plus three new guys. Wouldn't there be some amount of fraud being perpetrated there?
Several years ago, I spent an hour with a gent who was booking "oldies" acts for a casino showroom. During our conversation, he was interrupted by a call from an agent offering him a group that had been very hot in the sixties. I don't recall the name of the group but let's say it was The Electric Lemon. The agent said he could deliver them to play all their hits…and the talent booker said, "But I had The Electric Lemon here playing all their hits, two months ago."
I heard the agent on the speakerphone reply, "No, let me tell you what you had. That was one of several drummers who played with the original Electric Lemon, plus three impostors. He didn't even sing on their records. The Electric Lemon I represent has a guy who played the guitar and actually sang on all their records…plus three impostors."