NewsFuture ‘Terence Trent D’Arby’ reissues to use Sananda Maitreya name
Green light for TTD reissues as agreement is brokered
Terence Trent D’Arby, who for almost 20 years has been known as Sananda Maitreya, has confirmed that he has given his blessing to Sony Music to plan a reissue campaign after an agreement was reached around the use of the Sananda name on his CBS/Columbia albums.
Speaking to John Earls in this month’s Record Collector magazine, Sananda Maitreya confirms a long-running impasse, saying: “I’ve turned down entreaties from Sony for over 20 years. My office was adamant that, unless they converted everything to the name Sananda Maitreya, I’m not interested”, adding rather more bluntly, “My message was: ‘I want fuck all to do with any of this, until you’re willing to acknowledge who I am. I’m not willing to work for you, unless you’re willing to work for me. I’m not a child anymore.’”
Given that his old name was woven into the fabric of all four records – it’s in all the album titles: Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby (1987), Terence Trent D’Arby’s Neither Fish Nor Flesh (1989), Terence Trent D’Arby’s Symphony Or Damn (1993) and Terence Trent D’Arby’s Vibrator (1995) – this was a bigger issue than it might, at first, appear. In recent years, newer versions of his debut have had “Now know as Sananda Maitreya” added in small print at the bottom (see main image above), but it seems that such a small nod is not going to cut the mustard for the musician, who is now based in Milan, Italy.
Some versions of the 2003 reissue of 2001’s WildCard were credited to ‘Terence Trent D’Arby’
Sananda’s first non-Sony album (2001’s Wildcard) was dual-monikered, credited to “Terence Trent D’Arby/Sananda Maitreya” and confusingly, some editions of the 2003 The Joker’s Edition reissue of the Wildcard album reverted to the TTD name alone. Regardless, all releases since have been by credited to just Sandanda Maitreya.
‘The Joker’s Edition’ had improved artwork and added two new tracks: ‘Testify’ and ‘Girl’. It omitted ‘Benediction: Sugar Ray’.
In the Record Collector interview, Sananda singles out praise for “Sony’s wonderful marketing head Claire Dougherty” who apparently “went to bat” for him, saying that she convinced the board that “the most important thing is for me to be happy: that having me as an asset would be a lot more valuable than treating me as a usurper”.
He says “the change to Sananda Maitreya is in the works” and Sony will presumably have the challenge of marketing reissues under TTD’s ‘new’ name. E.g. Introducing the Hardline According to Sananda Maitreya.
SDE awaits developments with interest. What do you think of this situation? Leave a comment!
Sananda Maitreya’s new album, Pandora’s Playhouse is out now and available on CD (with signed card) via his website.
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any news on this Paul? Such a shame that the ablums 2-4 are’t seeming to get a re-issue. Vibrator is probably my favourite album of his and i’d love a good vinyl copy.
So silly but it’s his life. Personally they should leave the album titles as is with the TTD intact and change the artist name, then people can still search his old name and find what they want.
His first album was amazing and I can see that HMV’s record store day had the red vinyl and his correct name on there. Would be great for SDE to try and get a Blu-ray audio of that album – great artist sadly mistreated in the past.
????????? Any updates?
Habe ALLES von TTD & Sananda – egal wie er sich nennt MUSIK gewinnt doch immer – @ Paul bitte um eine oder mehrere SDE Editions inklusive ALLER Mixe Remixe usw und 5.1 Versionen Atmos was auch immer – ICH BIN DABEI!!!!!
Sananda Maitreya formerly known as TTD.
Sony Music formerly known as CBS.
The irony…
Hopefully these albums will come to fruition…
So, no release date as of yet…I can’t wait to have Vibrator on vinyl. I go back and forth from ‘Symphony or Damn’ and ‘Vibrator’ as my favorite
He remains a vital artist imho. I believe the dilemma can be fixed with a few high profile ‘re-introduction’ appearances and a properly promoted documentary regarding his evolution. He is not the first artist to change course and it’s long time that labels have standard plans to treat such changes as opportunities to rejuvenate and reposition the artist. On the other side, Sananda must be willing to play ball with he label in this increasingly fragmented industry landscape.
Big fan here. I was sixteen when his debut was released and spent all my pocket money on the original releases.(singles, 10 inch, 12 inch, cd singles etc)
I also felt like the only one in the world who liked Neither Fish nor Flesh and also bought all the surrounding releases including The Birth of Maudie which was released under the pseudonym The Incredible E.G. O’Reilly. I love that single but it was commercial suicide even then. Too radically different for the general public to grasp. Only the artwork on the single sleeve made reference to the Neither Fish Nor Flesh album. But then the song wasn’t on it !
I have everything he released under TTD, I completed my collection in the early 2000’s with some rare promo’s that contained the alternate mix or different version. I even bought some Sananda records post Wild Card (which I still consider a TTD album and it’s excellent !)
I can’t say I’m really thrilled by his output post Wild Card. It’s in dire need of a producer, arranger or even sound engineer ! Too many songs and the large majority are underdeveloped. That’s remarkable because he produced the TTD-era records largely himself, bar the debut. So that’s really the music he wants to make these days. Or are there budget reasons ?
Saw him live here in Belgium in 2002 and 2007. Very small venues and not even half filled. And his TTD repertoire was completely ignored bar one song in both cases. And then when you hear Wishing Well played by his Italian band you have to imagine what it could sound like with real instruments.
It’s a shame he chooses to use his talent this way.
To those that have mentioned that maybe Sony are the problem and add in what happened with George Michael.
Hmm, I think the link is the other way around, difficult artists who have some deep-seated personality issue would seem nearer the mark for me.
Yes, he can call himself whatever he likes, in the year 2021 it is pointless to argue for anything else. Wanna change your name / sex / species it all seems a-ok.
It’s too political to even think about expressing a genuine opinion.
Good luck to him, but as far as I can see the decision is dumber than a bucket of frogs.
Sony do/did seem to have more ‘problematic’ artists than most and you wonder if sins in their a past life are coming back to haunt them. Alison Moyet, Sade, George Michael, TTD, Eurythmics all have/had tricky relationships and most were quite against the idea of reissues. Moyet’s only happened when BMG took over her catalogue
Micheal Jackson, too. Poor Epic/Sony, haha.
Also the silly pricing for the latest Depeche Mode album. I caved in the end and purchased it it doesn’t break the bank but the principle of vastly over charging sets precedent. If it had been a bit ropey it wouldn’t have been so bad and I’d have resisted but the album is rather good if you’re a fan of the band. Still first world problems I guess…
I’m sorry but this is totally crazy! The albums are under TTD’s name and for the audience this is forever. Who will search for Sign your name sung by Sananda Maitreya? When Prince changed his name he made it for the new cds and not for the old ones (Purpel Raing sung by The Symbol?). Clever guy!
I was hired by Sananda as his UK publicist for the Wild Card album and associated live shows. I wasn’t allowed to talk about ‘Terence Trent D’Arby’ to the press, only Sananda, and all interviews, etc. had to be under the Sananda name.
Very tricky.
So imagine my surprise when I turn up at London’s Forum for the live show, and there’s a banner across the stage proclaiming ‘TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY’!
(As an aside, I was delighted and honoured to be invited to Sananda’s wedding in Milan – after all, we had become pretty good friends over the campaign…until his manager explained it was on the condition that I took high-level journalists with me. Thanks, but no thanks…)
Interesting! I went to that live show at The Forum… it was the last time he played in the UK (was it 2004 or 2005?) I recall feeling a bit depressed on his behalf as it was far from a full house, but I did have a little chat with him afterwards when he came out to say hello to some fans. WildCard is a great record which really deserved more success…
Sananda should be happy they want to give him the reissue treatment, esp anything beyond the superb Hardline. I’m surprised they agreed to the name change. They must have some good market research on this.
After I read this article yesterday I checked iTunes Store and apparently TTD disappeared in every form as an artist. Pretty sure it wasn’t so before.
“Sananda” replaced every artist name under his albums, so it seems this is retroactive, not only for reissues… also the original issues are rebranded. At least, titles of songs and albums are still there so we’re not going to get “SM’s symphony or damn” in place of TTD’s for example.
Terrible. One must really hate himself to do this
What’s in a name? I don’t get this sorry. I guess I am narrow minded. If I would be an artist, I would be honored if Sony would reissue my albums.
How about The Hardline According to The Artist Formerly Known as Terence Trent D’arby instead? Ticks both boxes!
If you go onto his US website he’s selling the TTD CD’s without the ‘Now known as’ tag on them. If he’d wanted to do a ‘Prince’ he’s not exactly completely distance himself by still selling under the TTD ‘brand’ name.
Perhaps SONY (they seem to be the ones who are a nightmare to work for… George Michael etc) should have let him design a cardboard slip sleeve for the outer with whatever name/design he chooses to use, and keep the original artwork for the CD jewel case?
Then fans can decide and he can happily sign the outer without compromising his ‘artist integrity’ or ‘ego’
Well Mr Dylan has been with Sony,,,a long long,time! Seems happy enough?
ooh wait breaking news just in,,,Bob Dylan is now insisting that a small a,k,a
Robert Zimmerman sticker is now placed on every album he ever made,,,,apart from his short spell away from CBS in the 70s,,good luck Terence call yourself whatever you want mate! If you’re music is good enough it will find a buyer!
Whilst understanding the point, using Bob as an example is slightly out of context, as he changed his name, legally, to Bob Dylan in August 1962. The only album ‘Robert Zimmerman’ made, as it were, is, ironically, the ‘Bob Dylan’ album. One supposes he could decide to retrospect himself as Blind Boy Grunt again, I am not sure it will pay the rent though. Incidentally, Bob’s relationship with CBS/Sony has been quite fractious at times. He tried to leave for MGM in 1966, but his sales figures were leaked by the company and the deal fell through [which hurt Albert Grossman more, as he would have taken the lion’s share of the signing fee]; Bob got somewhat hissy with Clive Davis in 1969 when the latter released ‘Lay Lady Lay’ as a single against Bob’s wishes; the 1973 split is well-documented, with the ‘Dylan’ album coming out as a semi-spite [Bob did still owe an album]; in 1980 the company buried ‘Saved’, refusing to promote it or basically acknowledge its existence; they then refused the live album Bob recorded from the ‘Gospel’ tours; in 1989 Bob complained in many an interview that the company were telling him that ‘Oh Mercy’ did not sell much because of the title [this may have been diplomacy on their part, rather than point out to him that it did not sell much because it did not open with ‘Series Of Dream’ and contained ‘Where Teardrops Fall’ where ‘Dignity’ should have been]; and Bob was dropped/not-renewed after the contract-filling early 90’s acoustic albums. But, it all came good in the end, as John Lennon once said.
Sony must be super desperate to reissue Hardline to agree to this nonsense. Everyone who buys it will tell friends that they’ve just bought the reissue of Terence Trent D’Arby’s first album surely?! Otherwise it’ll be “Whooooo?”
BTW don’t forget that his new album came out last week. This announcement is obviously pure coincidence.
In case it wasn’t clear, what I mean and think (which obviously is just my opinion) is that he became famous with that name and his records were released under that name, whether it was his real name or not.
It should not be automatic that “he can do whatever he wants”. He quotes legal issues with the label so I can imagine he is not the sole rights holder of those records. If he were, then it’s his call, but if he has such issues with his name that he wants to wipe it off the face of the earth then the music associated with that name should not also be, well, considered for wipe-off? Fruit of of the same poisoned tree.
Right, let me put on some Dionne Warwicke records now.
WHAT TTDA SAYS ABOUT his masterpiece : Neither Fish nor Flesh
“The last record before the ‘Disney Generation’ was given possession of the music. Raw, vivid, uncompromising, riveting. One of the initiating influences on what later became ‘Alternative Radio’, as well as a seminal influence on what would later be recognised as ‘Grunge’, not to mention, ‘Nuevo Soul’. ‘An envelope pusher’. Landed in 1989.”
Your name is your identity and if TTD has changed his name it is up to him what name new issues of previous material is released under. If it is a marketing disaster then at least he has kept his integrity which is more important than selling the next album to him. Deluxe editions are aimed at long term fans so I think it will make little difference to sales. Personally, he can change his name to whatever he like and I would never buy his material. On the other hand if Roy Harper changed his name and released super deluxe box sets under his new name I would buy them without hesitation.
It seems as though a lot of people don’t know of his new name so perhaps the reissues will generate interest in the albums after TTD?
I hope the four albums are released in one big box set – remastered with one extra disc of b sides, two of remixes and one live album. He was awesome live at his peak. I saw him under the pseudonym Terefa Trent & the Tricky Dicks at the Marquee. Queued all day & found out half way through that there were 250 guests with a capacity of 400! Managed to get in & the place had loads of celebs – Geldof, Paula Yates. He only played cover versions with loads of guest musicians – think Ronnie Wood was one of them. Fantastic night.
If you can’t wait for the reissues, there is a 2cd of his greatest hits which has a lot of the b sides and remixes.
p.s. what am I going to do with my autographed (by TTD) NFNF cd if it is reissued?!?
Hi Paul,
Listening to Neither Fish Nor Flash on vinyl right now. There are some really great and timeless songs on it. I really like it more now than I did some 30 years ago when I bought the new cd.
I’m glad he’s still making music and I’ll check out his later work (on Spotify) as I’m curious how he’s developed himself. He even named a song after my musical hero Prince on his latest record!
And the name change….. Who cares! As long he is happy with it :-)
I really don’t mind if he changes his name in the reissues. Only thing I care is about the content and quality of the reissues.
He should stop all of this nonsense and just reform Milli Vanilli.
I feel compelled to stick up for Neither Fish Nor Flesh as it is such a massively underrated album, I loved it back in the day and I love it even more now. Pretentious? Egotistical? Sure. But for me NFNF was a case of the talent matching the ego. Perhaps leading off with This Side of Love was too much of a change after the Hardline… songs. Billy Don’t Fall or I’ll Be Alright might have been better choices.
As far as the name change, so be it, I don’t have any particular issue with it. I hope Sony can make it work.
I agree. I’m a big fan of the album. Enough to own the seven-inch of Billy Don’t Fall which contains a remixed version unavailable anywhere else!
Huge fan of the album too – I really liked the original vinyl packaging as well (matt cover, minimal type, inner sleeve and lyric booklet – Sony really pushed the boat out).
I’ve never heard the remix of Billy Don’t Fall… I’ll have to see if I can find a copy.
It’s a fairly subtle difference to be fair, but it’s a pretty cool rarity.
I’m glad to see the reappraisal of NFNF in recent years. For a long while it was the go-to example of creative self-destruction in the music press and think that was unfair.
The album was certainly a departure at the time and not nearly as ‘commercial’ as ‘Introducing…’ but I enjoyed it hugely and have probably listened to it more than his debut over the years.
I imagine there might be some interesting unreleased material from this period so am looking forward to these SONY rereleases if they go the full deluxe route.
No artist has done more to sabotage their own promising career. He had one huge album and immediately thought he was Prince or Michael Jackson, and his rare interviews over the past few years are worth reading as an example of an artist who is still totally deluded.
I knew and worked with people at CBS in the 80’s, and he was basically unworkable with. Pretentious, difficult, rude and with a dreadful attitude. No other label could have done any better with him.
The best that can be said about him is that at least he is consistent and it wasn’t just an act.
It is a real shame as he had real talent.
Yes, he’s right to want to be known by what his name has been for the last 20 years. If it was right for Ali and Yusef and Love Symbol….well, maybe not Love Symbol….then it should be right for Sananda. Perhaps a sticker on the front of initial pressings that says “the artist formerly known as…”, just until people have been clued up.
You’re missing the point. If he changed his name in 2001 then of course any new material from 2001 should have the new name. Going back to change the name on TTD albums is however is rewriting history.
I don’t see Tea for the Tillerman being reissued under the name of Yusuf Islam.
Likewise Prince never insisted his 80s albums be renamed.
As we say in America, this is ‘Cancel Culture’!!!
Always remember what/who brought you to the party.
Even Cat Stevens (oops Yusef) is wise enough not to rebrand his glorious albums under Yusef.
Mic dropped!
Hardly ‘Cancel Culture’ and that term is not an american one
Don’t think you can refer to that unless you consider him cancelling himself
I think it’s just his big ego, he’s always had it and perhaps puts extreme importance on a persons name. I do think he’s quite talented, I love the third album, especially the song T.I.T.S/F&J. I never tire of it.
This article prompted me to listen to an old TTD playlist compiled many moons ago…wow, he wrote a lot of great songs over those first four albums… Wishing Well, Sign Your Name, Delicate, Let Her Down Easy, She Kissed Me, Billy Don’t Fall, Do You Love Me Like You Say?, To Know Someone Deeply, I Still Love You, If You Go Before Me, We Don’t Have That Much Time Together, Seasons… and the wonderful Penelope Please, to name but, er… 13. Well worth a revisit whatever name they’re released under.
This is very welcome news indeed. Every album is unique and a testament to a very talented artist. Let’s hope Sony will do a worthy job for the reissue campaign. SDE of each album, please. I’d prefer the TTD name to remain as it’s part of each title and I’m very happy for the SM name to be incorporated. Hopefully a clever typographer will have a good graphic solution.
I rather like the acknowledgment SM makes of TTD in the CD booklet of Wild Card!
“Bless you, your eternal friend Sananda Maitreya and his faithful shadow Terence Trent D’Arby”
In my record collection, Yusuf is filed under Cat Stevens, and Sananda Maitreya will be filed under Terence Trent D’Arby. But, I haven’t heard a thing from him since ‘Holding On to You’ (Symphony or Damn I thought was his best, from the albums I own) so I give him little chance of adding another title to my collection under any name.
One of the most valuable things any band or artist owns is their name. Ask Roger Waters! Look at the court battles waged over such things, whether it’s Bucks Fizz or New Order. It’s their trademark. Whatever reason Tel/Sananda has for ditching his valuable ‘brand’ he is clearly committed to it in spite of the fact it will hit him financially. He’s prepared to accept smaller recognition for his newer music, less demand for live shows and ultimately this reissue campaign might pass some people by who might otherwise be in the market for a new Vinyl or remastered CD of ‘Hardline’. For similar reasons he won’t be seen dead belting out ‘Wishing Well’ at an 80s Rewind festival between Heaven 17 and Kim Wilde either. He clearly means it! Good luck to him.
The big question of course is, which section do you rack it out in HMV? T or M?!
The first album is perfect and, for me, a true classic from the 80s.
Needs a new remaster with all extended versions from the singles and i don’t care if it will be release with his old name or with the new one.
I love his song: HOLDING ON TO YOU from VIBRATOR, one of the best songs made!
The trouble is, Sananda Maitreya didn’t write those songs and albums, TTD did. He should put the new music out under the new name, I can see why Sony resisted the cost involved in trying to market a name no one knows.
It’s astonishing that people even care. I’m happy with the name change and if he conceives himself to be Sananda then that’s good for me. It’s not too difficult to accept that there are obviously issues he needed to address.
What I can’t accept is the revisionism of Morrissey taking scissors to past albums and tinkering with the artwork and the running order. I’m inclined to believe that a record should be finished when released. I hate the updated versions of Morrissey’s oeuvre and think he cheapened his legacy.
So, for me, name changes if requested by the artist, why not? Reeditions with missing tracks or different running orders? Unless in the context of a SDE, no.
For those who have not listened to anything post name change, you should, you should now. A lot of songs on those albums are stellar and his voice is as beautiful as it ever was. Start with wildcard and work your way up through the rest, give it time as there is a lot and all on Spotify. He lost none of his talent, just does things at his own pace and the way he likes it…totally free and independant. Musicians like Sananda and Bilal Oliver may not be household names but they do things their way and I for one am greatful.
His “new” name is not as well known as TTD.
Marketing will be a mess.
If he wants to sell his first 4 name under his “new” name, he needs to tack on a sticker on each release saying who he was and the old album’s name.
When Cat Steven changed his name, you didn’t see him change his albums’ name and text to his new name [unsure if any sticker was added].
Stevens changed his name for religious reasons. SM/TTD? Looks like he got tired of his name.
Even Kanye West who went through those marketing schemes/scams still kept his actual name.
Reading his words is a bit annoying. Nobody has the right to rewrite history. His name and what made him famous was TTD. So he changed his name after that? You cannot just demand that you are allowed to rewrite history. Why is it that so many people think that it’s a given you can?
He agreed to record under that name and that’s how he’s famous. Not even Prince asked for his previous records to be rebranded, it would have been utter nonsense.
His name is not now, nor ever was “TTD”. Aren’t YOU changing his name?
The CD of Vibrator has “TTD’s Vibrator” on it, so…
Ludicrous nonsense. Re-writing history. But then, much of the last twelve months have been about re-writing history anyway.
He created some stylistically memorable music, but it always drove me nuts that his vocal intonation was sharp.
I don’t care either way what name SM wants to be known under. If that is what it takes to get a deluxe edition of Hardline issued, then so be it.
From a marketing perspective TTD would have better name recognition though. I guess I’ll get a notification here once it gets released, because when I search for it I always use TTD.
If he wants his earlier releases to be credited to Sananda Maitreya, then it makes no difference to me… He still made some incredible music and I’ll be looking forward to a super deluxe version of The Hardline According To… Sooner rather than later please!
This is nonsense from D’Arby – nobody will know his “now” name and will therefore be unaware of the reissues – a Sony marketing nightmare. Lets hope he doesn’t decide to change his name back to D’Arby later on!
Well to be clear is not the name of the artist or band what made them buy albums, is the music that those containn what counts and i like him whatever want to be called. So those incoming reissues sure will be very welcomed to me since i only own the first 2 lp on vinyil.
Jusr hope that the Vibrator one includes all tracks since on tape was a extra track only included on this format. And also wondering if by any chance (althought on a different label) will be a new edition of his previous work with The Touch, a nice record that own on second hand cd and is previous to his careeer all alone, but well, to wish is free…
I really enjoyed his debut album but couldn’t get into his second or third album. I’ve always found him to be one of those pretentious “I don’t wanna be famous” types. I don’t care what name he wishes to use. Maybe I should revisit those post debut albums.
Wonder what the reaction would be if Neil & Tim Finn insisted on the Split Enz albums being rebranded as Crowded House because the majority of the former played at some point with the latter?
A slightly silly comparison but it makes about as much sense as this one in my opinion. As others have pointed out, the first album is indelibly associated with TTD, and there’s a good chance any reissues under the new name will pass many by when they are released.
What will matter is the content of these reissues. Give me a Hardline with all the mixes by Pettibone, Lee Scratch Perry, Kervorkian etc, the long form documentary transferred to DVD, the b-sides, the Fatback Band, Stones and Sam Cooke covers and i’ll buy it regardless of what name is on the cover. However, if he ‘nickel & dimes’ us then his name won’t really matter anyway.
Remember Johnny Cougar. They went back and changed his to John Mellancamp with John cougar mellencamp in between. I just searched Terence on Apple Music and when you follow the search it takes you SM. All the CDs still have the same title eg introducing the hardline according to Terence Trent d’arby but all under the name of SM
Well 20 years on, I had no idea he was still making music. I thought he wanted to distance himself from his popular stuff. Odd man, odd choices. Though I am sure this has more to do with cross identification through streaming services, rather than physical releases. I think his last real shot at the big time was singing for INXS and that unfortunately didn’t work out.
Neither Flesh Nor Fish has some terrific songs on it. “Billy Don’t Fall” sounds like a should’ve been hit. “I Have Faith in These Desolate Times” is touching, as are the songs that follow. I have to assume that most people trashing that album didn’t give it a chance and were immediately biased against it because it wasn’t Hardline II.
When he first appeared he was such a breath of fresh air within the charts. I was 13 and blown away – and bought the Hardline on LP. As with most people, it didn’t last that long, as Neither Fish Nor Flesh has always been painful to listen to, and yes, I tried! I remember Delicate and She Kissed Me from MTV, and I saw him opening for Duran Duran in Dallas in August 1993, which was great. Bought his Greatest Hits from 2002, but was never inspired enough to buy his other albums. That might change now. Properly done re-editions can be a good opportunity to (re-)discover gems from the past.
Needing to have his current name on his old albums seems idio… err, childi… err, strange to me. He was not Sananda when those songs were made. Or maybe he was, only no one knew. Either you accept what was or you abandon everything you did before you became your new/better self. That’s what I’d think. But I know it’s probably much more complicated (and I must admit I have not even tried to understand his reasons), so I will just stop nagging and concentrate on the music. As long as he’s not wanting to rerecord everything I can enjoy listening no matter whose hardline, flesh, symphony or vibrator it once was and now is. Though I doubt that I will ever enjoy listening to Neither Fish Nor Flesh, but you never know …
I have to be honest in that I had no idea that TTD had legally changed his name or that he had released albums under his new name. I had to read wiki to find out more.
The only album that I ever bought of his was his debut which had some great singles. I didn’t follow his career after that. I’m happy to buy a reissue of his debut and now that I have more money to burn, may even invest in the follow up albums.
It doesn’t bother me that the albums will have a different name on the front, we all know who it is and the songs haven’t changed. It’s a personal choice and we’re all individuals. If Yusuf Islam is happy with Cat Stevens releases that’s his choice so be it. If the Sananda Maitreya wants his TTD era albums under his new name so be it who am I to argue with that.
It isn’t changing history to me, I still have the original CD with Terrence Trent D’arby on the front bought in the 90’s. Buying a reissue with Sananda Maitreya on the front, this is just bringing the past up to date for me.
I would prefer TTD, but he can call himself Pickle Juice Tree Hole Knot for all I care as long as the remastering is excellent and all the mixes and B-sides show up.
Maybe we could title him AFKATTD
You could say “Sign your name”.,..but WHAT name!? ka- ching!
btw one of my all time faves – remember first time I ever heard it was at a party in a country cottage. We all got drunk and it was an album and someone left the lever off the turntable (remember them?!) so it just kept repeating and repeating as we were all trying to get some shut eye by then but noone could be bothered getting up to stop it! Oh! and next morning there was an actual cow in the kitchen! And that my friends is the power of music!
@Gary Tilford:
If Sony is allowed to use the original artworks for the re-issues and only has to change his name therein then i think that at least the main target audience (the people who listened to his work when it was first released) will know that it’s him.
And i don’t think he’s shooting himself in the foot with the name change but his record company because i don’t have the impression that he is really keen about re-releasing his old stuff, it’s more a thing of Sony liking to make some easy money.
Well, not as easy as they thought it seems…
I absolutely don’t care if these recordings are put out as “zog” – if it means that after all these years, Hardline et al get remastered and expanded with the remixes/b-sides then i’ll buy them.
I was, i think like most people who at the time had such great expectations for the follow-up that that they were just hugely disappointed, but when the re-issues will be out there for people to re-discover them, I think that many will be surprised that they sound so much better now than how people “remember” them.
I have really enjoyed the later releases, but I hope that all those that escaped under the radar will be reappraised. I do urge people to at least give them a go, they were/are great.
Now I have Wishing Well going round and round in my head and I couldn’t be happier.
Intriguing and very creative artist. After his succesful début, he was on path to become as big as Prince or George Michael. OK. Maybe not as big but still a superstar artist. At least as big as Lenny Kravitz who released his debut album Let Love Rule two years after TTDA’s Intrducing The Hard Line.
Lenny even said at the time “we’re only 3 : Prince, Terence Trent d’Arby and me”.
Terence Trent d’Arby took a u-turn with his sophomore album and folks at CBS were angry at him for sabotaging his career.
I kinda admire him for his integrity and creativity.
A comprehensive career box set would be nice.
Very talented individual – I saw him at a Sony showcase at the time of The Hardline… and he was a fantastic performer.
Personally I prefer ‘Neither Flesh…’ to ‘The Hardline…’ and I also really liked ‘Symphony or Damn’ (although I dont play it much these days).
I’d certainly be interested in decent reissues of all of them, whatever name they are released under. There were some great ‘b-sides’ around the time of ‘Symphony or Damn’ in particular.
I don’t think Jessica Hynes ever tried to insist that all episodes of Spaced and The Royle Family should be retitled. I believe she said, “That was my name when I made those programmes” – and this strikes me as eminently sensible, with no attempt to rewrite history.
His name change is not an issue for me. I really like his debut (the only one I have). I bought the vinyl, 12” maxi singles and some cd-singles second hand a few years ago because I was convinced there was little chance there would be deluxe reissue. But if there would be one I will buy it (with hopefully a surround mix).
My idol … His new album is excellent … An underestimated genius
He can release them under whatever he wishes. He’s not after the dough otherwise he would have not so abruptly stepped away from the limelight as he did. These re-releases will be aimed at the fans, being those who stuck with him post Fish to then appreciate the full extent of his talent on those final two albums. Those below deeming him a 3 hit wonder or whatever are simply showing their ignorance.
I remember Terrence said something complimentary about George getting ownership of his music at the time, and I put it George’s official fan site. I later got a thankyou from Terence’s assistant as he was contacted to contribute to a documentary George was doing at the time (Yeah, which one!). Kind of a cool anecdote.
Anyway, Terence was the smart one who stepped away from the limelight and appears to be living a very fruitful life. Can’t unfortunately say the same about many of his contemporaries of that time.
He can call himself whatever he wants, but he can’t go back & rewrite history. No one upon no one will call them what he wants them now called because they associate those albums with Terence Trent D’Arby. That’s who he was at the time. The end.
I did buy “Neither Fish nor flesh” & it was neither good nor in my record collection for very long. ‘Nuff said.
Neither Fish Nor Flesh is one of the worst albums ever recorded. Period.
For me, this album is a masterpiece!
Those of us who have followed the man and his career find it now difficult referring him as TTD, a name he legally changed decades ago. Those who might confuse an album cover/song titles for someone other than the guy previously known as Sananda obviously don’t know the man and his music so are unlikely to be the target market for these reissues.
If Star Trek has taught us anything (and it has) then “a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet” *
* rough translation from the original klingon.
Did Shakespeare write Star Wars?
(Neither klingon nor translation)
George Lucas wrote Star Wars. I don’t know what planet he is from.
Some klingon geezer or geezers wrote what we humans refer to as “shakespeare”.
Funnily enough, “sah ‘ nan’ dam i -tra-yah” in klingon can be translated into English as “get outta your rocking chair grandma, I am going to disembowel you!”
Darn I meant Star Trek…….
Anyway, in the intervening moments and after reading some comments I’ve listened to some of symphony or damn.
Damn, it is good.
Happy to know we’ll get reissues at some point. Brilliant artist, lots of up and downs after the debut.
On the name issue, it always seemed wrong to me pretending to rewrite history and auto destroy yourself, but I guess we fans will have to accept it.
Honestly?? I’m all in SM’s corner here…that is his current name, permanent, he does not identify with TTD and wants nothing to do with it…he has every right to demand the old name be erased from his Sony catalogue & future reissues…I’ve been waiting YEARS for SDEs of those 4 albums, now I know they are coming…my faves are the 3rd, Symphony or Damn & Neither Fish Nor Flesh…but the debut is a fave too, do like Vibrator as well…but he’s in the right as Sony did not copyright the old name, like Warners did with Prince…my take is that his name Sananda is more important than people’s memories & marketing, it’s his true true representation…it’s like David Byrne reforming Talking Heads against his own wishes just to serve people’s memories & nostalgia…or any band reforming for a tour & a paycheck when they hate each other…screw that, I’m all for Sananda, even if his pocket suffers…he could sleep better at night…let’s just hope, after all that trouble, he decides that he punked everyone & goes back to the old name…that would be worse!!
The hardline was a great album of pop genius and lyrical intelligence. The young man in TTD came over as fragile and cocky yet he clearly signalled himself as an artist with important things to say.
“If you let me stay” is one of the defining songs of the era.
“As yet untitled”, from the same album allowed TTD to introduce to a wide audience the invisible robberies that white men in power did to black slaves. the little discussed area of black former slaves being not only stolen from their first land, but then evicted from their second land (the Deep South) upon being freed. Twice, their roots denied them, my reading of his lyric is that the road north to Chicago taken by many former slaves can be seen as much a trail of sorrow as it was a road of opportunity.)
I lost TTD after neither fish nor flesh and I’m glad to hear that he is ok. That said, I’m surprised to hear of his output under his new name. I may check it out, I may not.
His previous name/names may well bring him pain, and he thus may want rid of them as names. That is a personal decision that he can make.
Yet for others, TTD’s name brings memories he taught me stuff, he gave me stuff to enjoy and stuff to think about, without TTD on the cover of any future release, those memories may not be kindled for some buyers. In other words it will not sell nearly as well without the full original title.
And that will be a shame, because it’s just possible that lyrics and tracks like “as yet untitled” deserve to be heard and considered by as wide an audience as possible in these current times.
Only had 3 hits that anyone knew. Could have put it all on one EP.
He had 9 top 20 hit singles, so no he couldn’t.
The real question is…will he also want new “faces” on his records a la Phil Collins?? I wonder if the agreement also prevents Sony from even mentioning his name in press releases? Or in stickers on top of the plastic? We’ll see…
Like me, I am sure a lot of his fans back in the day, when he was big in the charts, and those who have never heard of him, will be saying “WHO?” To be honest, I would prefer the albums to be released with the name he used at the time, but if they are deluxe editions with much added, I will just have to put up with it. I cannot imagine albums selling as well with regard Elton John if he gave them his real name of Reginald Dwight, as he too would not be known as that by younger music lovers, and they too would say “WHO?”
An exceptionally talented individual who didn’t want to play the game after his debut and basically killed his own career. Real shame.
I remember the Q review for ‘Symphony or Damn’ that said something like “Terence has been proclaiming himself a genius from his arrival. he’s just gone and proved it”. What a masterpiece that album was. Of course he should have played it safer with the second album, but just like ABC, too soon a radical turn that killed what would have been a very successful career. Love ‘Vibrator’ too. ‘Holding on to you’ is such an amazing soul song and should have been a huge hit. Puts Sam Smith is his place or what.
Plenty of BSides to makes us all happy. ‘Symphony or Dam’ was originally 2 vinyl & a 7 inch
No one can deny the fellow the right to change his name, for whatever the reason might be, and to make music under that name. Retro-fitting that name to work that was made under another one (and that, in this case, was work made possible by a business arrangement with a third party – Sony – who would have invested significantly in building the artist’s fanbase and ‘name recognition’) seems to me a hubristic desire.
Musical history is full of people who have altered the names either fully or partially, for either professional or religious reasons. In the former camp (professional reasons) are the likes of Shane Fenton/Alvin Stardust and Paul Gadd/Gary G*****r – 60s also-rans who used the name change to create new careers in the 70s – and David Johansson/Buster Poindexter, doing something similar in the 70s/80s. In the latter camp (religious) are mostly jazz artists: ‘Mahavishnu’ John McLaughlin (he used the name on records between 1970-75, not thereafter), ‘Rahsaan’ Roland Kirk (he used the name from 1970 onwards), ‘Narada’ Michael Walden (he took the name in 1975 and has used it theeafter), ‘Devadip’ Carlos Santana, etc. Larry Young became Khalid Yasin, but was relaxed about how this was presented on record sleeves (sometimes in brackets). Dollar Brand became Abdullah Ibrahim – and that change affected his record sleeves etc., but only going forward, not rebranding (excuse the pun) in retrospect. Cat Stevens/Yusuf is the big example from the pop world, I suppose – and as others have said, he hasn’t attempted, as far as we are aware, to have Universal alter the attribution of his record works as Cat Stevens. I would imagine that he is wise enough to accept that those works were made ‘by’ the person who was Cat Stevens (itself a nom de plume) and not the person he became through accepting Islam / becoming Yusuf. I imagine that must be a positive thing in itself for the artist – to compartmentalise past work as the work of ‘that person’: oneself but also distinct from oneself now. Terence just comes across as a berk in not accepting that – and in disrespecting the (I daresay huge) investment that Sony made in creating his success, based to a significant degree on name recognition, back in the day. The reason he is playing ‘low key shows’ today is not unrelated to his preference for the name change.
Whatever he’s called i definitely would buy a bonus track bolstered version of his debut…what a promising start that soon crashed down.
He only ‘crashed’ commercially. The next three Sony albums are all really interesting and creative… especially Neither Fish Nor Flesh and Symphony or Damn.
I do not mean to be flippant but really, apart from the artist and record company, who cares? Sure, it is a potentially silly distraction and this artist continuing the historical tendencies that they were known for back in the day but……meh.
At the end of the day the people who are going to buy these re-issues will probably be aware of the change already through posts like this article. Great job btw Paul as always. If the mature listener is interested in any potentially added new super deluxe content, then they will buy it regardless of moniker on the cover. That is if the price is right of course, and the release isn’t mixed format.
However, it will probably limit any appeal for the record company with new listeners, but they must know that already. As great as that first album is, I doubt it’s going to start a renaissance for this artist where every post-millennial is going to add it to their Spotify/Tidal playlist.
This might add a little value to the albums I have on CD and vinyl already.
I’ve followed and enjoyed immensely Sananda’s music through the years. As a fan of the music, the name is irrelevant to me. Even the “D’Arby” part of his name was a stage name and knowing that did not diminish my enjoyment of his songs.
If I met the man in person, I would call him Sananda.
So for me, the excitement is in possible expanded reissues and whatever revelations they may hold.
Ego or not, his music stands. Actually, he is very productive as Sananda and he also sounds free. I am glad he pulled this off with Sony. The latter is probably going to mess up any reissue of the TTd’A period, or not? Anyhow, those 4 albums each deserve a good remaster and a SDE!
Hard to fathom how a long forgotten fringe artist can financially afford to throw his rattle about a name change.
Fringe artist… gimme a break! His debut is thought to have sold a million copies worldwide in 3 days. He was massive. Admittedly his spell in the spotlight was brief, but George Michael thought ‘Let Her Down Easy’ was worthy of covering for Symphonica album/tour.
To be fair to Atanac, a few minor hits aside, he’s been a fringe artist since his second album flopped. He was massive in 1987-88. I first saw him performing If You Let Me Stay on The Tube and bought the single the following week. I saw him later that year supporting Bowie at Maine Road a couple of days after the release of his debut album.
He’s a fringe artist apart from when he wasn’t, you mean? :)
Yes, exactly.
Nice Millenial discussion and opinions. I don’t care much about what the artist wants to do with his name (I ignore if it is related to a gender change). I only care about his first album, which was explosive and it is still one of the most played albums on my CD player. Not a bad song. I still have the Japanese CD of remixes and CD singles too. Any treatment will be appreciated. Unfortunately, I could not connect with the following albums, although I have them. Maybe a reissue campaign will give them a new opportunity.
Can’t see the issue. As a rough analogy, Wendy Carlos’s recordings that were released under her old name have been reissued and credited to Wendy Carlos.
No reason why Sananda Maitreya (spelled it right first time!) shouldn’t have the same thing happen.
He can call himself whatever he wants, but I guess it’s a more difficult marketing sell when 99.9% of the public have no idea who Sananda Maitreya is & if the deal means that as well as removing his old name from the albums you’re not allowed to use it in any of the marketing to help sell the albums then that’s doubly difficult for a record company whose job is to sell records. At least when Prince changed his name to (symbol) he didn’t retrospectively insist it was applied to his entire back catalogue.
Wishful thinking that Warners would have let him change his name on their catalogue, I’m afraid…
I understand and respect that he has a new look on life and that his name change is of great importance to him. However, outright refusing any reissues of material without having the name that helped make this material popular attached to it, seems kind of like a childish move. Is Spotify going to have to rename everything? Are online vendors going to have to rename everything? Will the original artist name need to be completely erased from existence? Come on. That hardly seems doable. I hope the person at the label in charge of this massive headache will get a nice raise or bonus. Wouldn’t want to be them.
All the albums now show up on Spotify under Sananda Maitreya’s profile https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RGxLsQUoGk5PLyMVwb3yE?si=ekUESQH2Qy27YFAXUBKydQ and a search for TTD leads to Sananda Maitreya only
It was bad enough with Cat Stevens, then Prince, Suede, The Dixie Chicks, now TTD. What’s next?
I have no issue with a name change going forward, but changing the past somewhat rewrites a time and a place and that spoils the memory. Well, perhaps a bit.
I guess with Sananda we should be pleased we will get the reissues, although not for me.
Terry we all respect your wishes and best of luck going foward with your releases but I’m not sure changing your name on your biggest selling albums is the right thing to do personally but if it gets a SDE of “ Introducing “ I’m all in :)
This years David Sylvian award for disappearing up their own arse award goes to…
I thought David was still in with a good chance this year, what with the refusal to help in any way with Quiet Life and stopping the use of anything unreleased or as a demo.
You’ve gotta go some to out-David David. Still love his music though.
Shades of Rain Tree Crow in all this. Record company and the rest of the band thought it should have been released in the name of (if not with reference to) Japan but Big Dave stuck to his guns!
Surely it will affect sales in a negative way. The first album is the only one most casual fans would seek out and they wouldn’t have a clue what his new name is. I knew he had changed ages ago, as is his right, but wouldn’t have known what his new name was.
Cat Stevens doesn’t demand similar treatment.
I guess for a reissue campain his fans will buy them anyway, regardless the name. A compromise might be a TTdA sticker. For the streaming world they have to find an equivalent.
Depends on whether the contract allows his old name to be used in the marketing – if not then even a sticker wouldn’t wash.
If I was in charge at Sony (and I’m not) I’d say put a flipping big sticker over the TTD name on the album cover with the name Sananda Matreiya (same font, colour , background etc) so it looks like the original album cover, just with the new name.
Those fans that are happy with the name change leave the sticker in place, while those observant of the artist’s wishes peel the sticker off to reveal the original name/cover beneath.
Win – win.
Personally, I’d be peeling, although to be honest I’m more interested in whether any SDEs of these albums will come with the music in hi-res 5.1 :)
SM doesn’t want the TTD name anywhere.
I’m all for this, primarily for the sake of getting these 4 albums reissued in hopefully some form of deluxe editions with appropriate vaulted material for each album. I predict what Sony might do is update the name on the exterior packaging and interior credits where necessary, but also show the original album covers somewhere on the booklets as the ‘original version’. Seems to me an easy way to cover the bases visually, and for those of us with original copies of the 4 Sony albums, who knows they may get a small bit of value bump, certainly an attention bump. Paul, thanks for this notification, for the most part I’ve stuck with Sananda throughout his career and hoped someday he’d come back to the US for a proper tour, maybe a reissue campaign will be the catalyst!
His choice – I still like my idea better, though :)
On a related note, can’t help wishing we’d got an album out of his brief tenure with INXS.
But, what of E.G. O’Reilly?
Good point. He probably stays as is :)
Once a self-saboteur, always a self-saboteur… but Sony must have quite decent expectations to go to all this trouble for what is effectively a one-album wonder (though I quite like Vibrator, to be honest…)
If that’s the man’s name, and he has enough pull to force Sony to do it, then more power to him. It’s his legacy – he should have the right to do with it what he wants.
i wonder how much of this is a marketing ploy. if they were just rereleased under the original names would they have as much column inches or whatever online than they would have with a story, like like this article, about the name change
personally i’d have stuff reissued under the original name unless you are talking about an early releases from a known act who is reissuing them under the known name. ie. if radiohead or queen reissued little known stuff under the name queen or radiohead
when the original name is well known, moreso perhaps in this case, it doesn’t make the same sense, unless you want to get people talking about it
in the days of pre online shopping, things would be different again, for example i have no idea how you pronounce his new name and would probably say it wrong, so asking someone in hmv over the counter you would just ask for the new terence trent d’arby album, and hope they know. online you can cut and paste and google
hopefully the reissues of the early stuff will be SDE’s with bonus stuff, outtakes, alternate versions. i was actually wondering just yesterday that it was a shame there wasn’t an official live video of a show for his first album, so something like that would be good
I’ll tell you how much is a marketing ploy – zero! Sony have been desperate to reissue The Hardline… for years.
Its totally irrelevant what anybody thinks except the artist. The name you identify with is what everyone should respect. Well done to Sony for understanding this, and everyone needs to take a step back and realise that this shouldn’t really be a story.
Not sure it’s quite that simple…
I think it kind of is pretty simple. It’s really no one’s business if he wants to go by another name, and every employer should respect that
You make it sound like he works in HR in a large retail organisation. He’s a musician whose music has had an impact on millions – it’s bound to be of interest to his fans. To say it’s none of our business is a bit silly if we are expected to then buy the product on which Sony/TTD are changing the ‘branding’ – for WHATEVER reason. Part of the reason this has clearly been a painful process is because Sony are well aware of how negatively it might play out. If no one cared or gave a shit they would have capitulated DECADES ago and put these out with the Sananda name.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one. There are quite a few comments on the site where people are quite happy to suggest that someone’s self identity doesn’t matter, becuase Sony won’t sell reissued albums. Not comfortable with that
Putting that to one side, we should all be able to disagree, debate and argue – keep up the good work on the site Paul!
No problem :)
Worth noting that the name change is already in effect on Spotify.
I read the comments before the article and didn’t see the issue with it. Having now read the article I’m more in Richard’s camp rather than some of the others. It seems he’d have preferred to withhold his music from his fans over what is, in some ways, an inner conflict. It reminds me a bit of the scene in the film Man On The Moon where Andy Kaufman is falling out with the ABC network over the content of his TV Special and is eventually placated by the slightly sycophantic executive Maynard Smith (played by the brilliant Vincent Schiavelli). Sounds like Claire Dougherty might have played the Maynard Smith role in this case
Re-introducing the Hardline According to Sananda Maitreya
Sananda Maitreya’s Neither Fish Nor Flesh Or Terence Trent D’Arby
First world problems. everyone has the right to do whatever he wants with himself. He choose to change his name/religion/ country etc. But its disrespectful to his legacy to change the name of the albums from the original editions.what if madonna asks warner to reissue her albums with her cabala name, sam smith who has now no gender ask to rename his first album sam/samantha smith ? He does not respect his past in my opinion. It was his name,his albums ,you can change your future , not your past.
I’m with Sananda on this one although I see both sides. He changed his name nearly 20 years ago and has released massive amounts of music under it. In his mind, and in minds of fans who have followed him through the years, he is Sananda…no asterisk needed. If Sony wants his involvement then I see no reason to not recognize who he has become…except a possible lack of sales due to the confusion. I’m just happy these are going to see the light of day. There is a lot of great music on these discs, especially the overlooked Vibrtor abum.
I feel like he’s the one best placed to be comfortable with his own name, image and identity. Fair enough. The work remains.
Yes he had a few good songs, but his ego and attitude FAR outweighed his artistry. He can go by whatever name he wants, but I stopped being a fan DECADES ago.
Fully agree. What the hell has crossed his mind? Did he want to do as the late Prince (hard core fan of)? Something went wrong. I like the albums till Vibrator (maybe Neither Fish Nor Flesh) after I’m out.
Hoping that we will get a SDE. Glad that promo videos can B purchased through Itunes.
I can truly see the record company’s point here, in that “Terence Trent D’Arby ” is still a known name and one that will sell records, especially reissues, while far fewer know the name “Sananda Maitreya”. I must admit I had no idea of the name change until reading this article. Granted, I am in no way a huge fan, but I know of him and his music so if I saw a reissue of Sananda Maitreya, I would pass on by, but if Terrance, would stop and check it out, purely name recognition going on.
Really see both sides of the issue here. He wants to be recognized for who he sees himself as now (no idea what is behind the name change, but not my problem as it does not affect me, is his choice alone), but the record company IS a company and wants to make money, which will be more likely on re-issues using his original name.
As another pointed out, Yusaf Islam’s re-issue campaign still uses Cat Stevens and all the amazing Jethro Tull reissues list David Palmer, not Dee, in the credits. They both had pretty massive reasonings for their name changes, and yet both happily still have their original names listed.
Cat Stevens was a stage name to begin with, though. His birth name was Steven Demetre Georgiou.
The worst thing about the modern pop era is that it lacks talented nutcases.
I think it’s kind of a George Lucas thing, where you go back and change the original. Mind you, the original music won’t be changed hopefully (not even the line “Send TTD the bill” in one of the songs on the brilliant Vibrator album — it’s been too long so I can’t remember which one at the moment), but naming all your albums with artist’s name in the title means changing the original name. You don’t see for instance a-ha changing the album name to Hinting High and Low for a reissue…
Another self reference name mention in this lyric from Do You Love Me Like You Say You Do……
‘I believe your daddy didn’t treat you right. So it seems now TTD must pay’
As a person with a choosen name. I can fully understand where Sananda is coming from. Identity is important , to be able to declare who you are, in your private & public life is a person’s right.
It doesn’t alter my experience of their music at all & if it does in anyway, then it enhances it. Knowing that Sananda is at peace with their identity & how they wish to acknowledged is great. For me, it sends a clear message, you may own a person’s work. But you do not own them. Yes it is ultimately about the music. Whether you’re a fan or not of a person’s work, respecting their identity costs us nothing, and can mean everything to them.
Simon Thornhill
Wasn’t Hardline reissued just a couple of years ago by Sony Music Europe?
I don’t know how it is in the UK or Europe, but in the US his only significant chart success was with that first album. Most people aren’t going to recognize the name Sananda Maitreya—I know that if I hadn’t been reminded by this post I would not have associated it with him. It’s quite possible that a reissue of Introducing the Hardline According to Sananda Maitreya will be mistaken by some as a covers/tribute album.
I applaud this decision. Respecting the rights of artists to be called what they want to be called shouldn’t ever be up for debate. Yes, it requires the marketing teams to figure out, in collaboration with the artist, how best to communicate that the work hasn’t changed, just the name. The fact is, the music is still the same as it was originally released. Whether you know the original artist name or not won’t matter when you are playing a song in an ad or showing a picture of the album cover. People will identify with that.
Great news. Anything that will reissue this incredible artists work with super deluxe editions (hopefully) is an absolute plus. All brilliant albums. Can’t wait.
“Anything that will reissue this incredible artists work with super deluxe editions (hopefully) is an absolute plus.”
Right on.
I don’t care if they list the records as being by Bugs Bunny. TTD (sorry, I’ll get over that) had a monster run through Vibrator, and most of it was ignored at the time. If there was any justice on this earth, and hot records were currency he would have been a billionaire. But since there obviously isn’t (and they ain’t), he might as well change his name every week for all the difference it will make. The important thing for the slugs out there that still dig him is what is done with the recordings when re-presented. Take one listen to “Do You Love Like You Say You Do?” and imagine what a master remixer could do with that, especially in surround.
hopefully Neil Young won’t change his name !!!
You’re talking about “The Artist Formerly Known As An Appendix To Crosby, Stills And Nash”? ;-)
Wot a voice!
>Wot a voice!
Who?:)
Not a fan of even slightly rewriting history.
However good for him and being happy within/as yourself is far more important than some middle aged pop fans being peeved by a name change on a record cover.
Now under these circumstances, any reissues using his more recent name in the title would probably also warrant a newer photo on the cover. Similar to the Phil Collins reissue campaign, but for a better reason perhaps.
Sounds like still a petulant little child to me despite his claims otherwise, accept your past as it was, nothing worse than artists trying to re write their musical legacy.
There is no commercial benefit to changing the name on those releases and am amazed Sony have gone for it frankly!
You don’t see Cat Stevens insisting all his old releases go by Yusuf Islam.
It’s an interesting marketing challenge for Sony, but if Prince can insist on using a symbol, I see no reason why this artist can’t make a similar demand.
I’m just happy that Introducing the Hardline… will get a reissue, hopefully as an SDE. I’ve been waiting for this for years.
The main difference there is Prince didn’t demand all his previous albums be re-issued with “Prince” removed and replaced by the symbol. It was still “Prince 1999” and on and on.
Prince had talent. This guy….eh.
TTD was / is brilliant. Not being as good as Prince applies to virtually everyone, anyway!
“TTD was / is brilliant. Not being as good as Prince applies to virtually everyone, anyway!”
Great comment.
I’ve got all Sananda’s albums except the new one which i’ll get soon. A great songwriter.
His best album is Symphony or Damn. That rarely left my walkman in 1993.
“Not being as good as Prince applies to virtually everyone” I want that on a T-shirt!
Prince didn’t go back and demand Purple Rain was now sold under the Squiggle moniker though, only going forward with new releases did he expect it, this is different, he’s trying to fundamentally change his past releases.
Oh, come on Richard.
I don’t think that it is a fundamental change to his past releases if the records stay sonically as they were and only the name on the cover is “updated”.
I have more issues with artists who actually change their work when re-issuing it e.g. Kate Bush changing the narrator in that song on Aerial (Yes, i know why she did it and as it’s her personal work she’s absolutely entitled to do so) but it still doesn’t seems right to me.
It is the music we are interested in. And the artist who makes the music, is, in my humble opinion, also part of the music. As far as I have read the Terence Trent D’Arby thing comes from the record company, he fights to be recognized as who he is, and I respect that. And I thinks he is right to stand his ground until he is acknowledged for who he is.
Will it make those album better? I don’t know, but it will allow us to access our beloved “super deluxe” part of them..
Let’s have the music win in the end!
Yes I have to agree but I think it will be very difficult for Sony to market these reissues with a name that very few people recognize. I understand his stance on this but he may be shooting himself in the foot so to speak. I would love an SDE of Hard line, it is an incredible album.
Saw him on Italian television a while ago
He obviously really believes in the name change
and when to lengths to distance himself from TTD .
He plays mostly low key club gigs in Italy (or did) but although the voice is still intact the man is not the same performer as was . Don’t know if this will fly though old fans might be baffled new ones indifferent and are the four albums worthy of the fuss , or of the time ? For me it’s passed, he’s a nice enough man but considering the name came in a dream why the fuss really ?