Greatest "F.U.s" from an artist to a record label?

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Permalink Reply by Stan Schwieger on July 21, 2011 at 6:59pm

Thanks for leaving this one on the tee to drive down the fairway:

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Permalink Reply by Bill Davidson on August 1, 2011 at 10:44am

I love the way it becomes "Roadrunner" at the end.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Savage on July 22, 2011 at 11:30am

Less known - "Stuck On An Island" by the Coal Porters - their nasty take on being a member of the Island Records stable and not liking it one bit.

Slightly off theme (but not too much) - "Don't Take No For An Answer" - Tom Robinson's poke at how he was treated by Ray Davies.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Savage on July 22, 2011 at 1:25pm

and how about John Fogerty going after his former business manager in the original Zanz Kant Danz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAEd_U7TEEM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAEd_U7TEEM

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Permalink Reply by Vic Paric on July 22, 2011 at 3:41pm

Tom Petty reportedly wrote "Century City" in reference to his well-publicized battle with EMI in the 70's.

Then, of course, there was Marvin Gaye, whose contractual obligation was not to his record company, but his ex-wife. Ordered by the divorce settlement to turn over the proceeds from his next album, he recorded "Here, My Dear", and told the world exactly what he thought about it, over two discs, no less. But I guess that's for another thread ...

 

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Permalink Reply by Eric Savage on July 22, 2011 at 3:43pm

I seem to recall that the title of Petty's album "You're Going to Get It" came from a mock threatening he note he left for a company exec when the label wanted to charge an unusually high list price for that album, and Petty objected because it would hurt his fans in the wallet.

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Permalink Reply by Will Withem on July 23, 2011 at 7:08am

My favorite is Cracker's- It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself off of Country Sides.  It's about their release from Virgin Records.  It's brilliant and funny. Check it out.

http://youtu.be/kd-2Mj7mh3Q

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Permalink Reply by Tom Nash on July 24, 2011 at 12:09am

More of this story is explained in his live recordings circa '77-78 and the "Baby Snakes" film.

 

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Permalink Reply by Richard Rossi on July 24, 2011 at 5:34pm

This might be just sightly off topic, but Sugar's "Needle Hits E" is a great F-U to MTV. But if we're talking about record lables only, my vote goes to Graham Parker's Mercury Poisoning ( although The Sex Pistol's EMI was certainly great).

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Permalink Reply by Richard Rossi on July 24, 2011 at 5:35pm

Almost forgot....Prince had a great F-U to the entire music industry on his Diamonds and Pearls album.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Davidson on August 1, 2011 at 12:46pm

I think you mean Emancipation.  It celebrates, in part, the end of his contract with Warner Bros.  Songs like "Face Down," "White Mansion," "Slave," and the title track let him express his feelings about his newfound creative freedom.  Arguably, the so-called "Love Symbol Album" was the first shot fired by Prince.  His unpronounceable name change must have wreaked havoc for the label's promotional efforts.

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Permalink Reply by Barry Eisenberg on July 27, 2011 at 2:28pm

Was gonna suggest GP's "Mercury Poisoning" - excellent on the vitrol and a quality song to boot.  (Whole other topic would be songs that condemn the music industry -- there are many great ones!)

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