Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 3, 1993 TAG: 9312070058
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
The brothers were partners when David, then 19, wrote "Spiders and Snakes," a No. 3 pop hit for Jim Stafford in 1973. That's when the call to California came.
Next thing they knew, the duo was working on Stafford's summer replacement variety show. Then came an international No. 1 hit, "Let Your Love Flow," in 1976.
They were stars and they were broke, the cost of being bad businessmen.
But how things have changed.
The Bellamy Brothers of today are no longer with a major label, despite scoring over 25 Top 10 country hits. As independent artists on their own Bellamy Brothers Records, they no longer get the No. 1 hits.
And they couldn't be happier.
"We've been around almost 20 years and there aren't many acts around now that can still get on the radio," David Bellamy, 43, said during an interview at the Nashville condo the brothers share. (Their main residence is a 2,500-acre working cattle ranch in Darby, Fla.)
Most everybody gets dumped by a label during their career, David Bellamy said. "We kind of saw this whole thing coming down before it came and made our move. I actually think we moved just in time."
That decision came on the heels of a youth movement and during the explosive success of Garth Brooks.
Nobody at major labels is "really that interested in selling 200,000-300,000 albums anymore," David Bellamy said. "And if [an artist] is not the next Garth, they're gone pretty soon."
When rights to redo their hits reverted to the brothers in 1991, they decided to start their own independent label - and make 100 percent of the profits from their records.
"In our situation," said Howard, 47, "we don't have to sell as many albums to make the same money we did because the profit margin is way bigger."
The Bellamy Brothers are known for their witty, gently suggestive songs such as "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me," "Lovers Live Longer," "Do You Love As Good As You Look" and "Lie to You for Your Love."
Their first two independent albums have combined remakes of old favorites with dance remixes and originals. The current "Rip Off the Knob" has new versions of "Lovers Live Longer," "Feelin' the Feelin' " and "The Andy Griffith Show." New songs include the title song, the Wayne and Garth-influenced "Not" and "Bubba."
The brothers say revisiting past glories was a good strategy for establishing the label - because retail stores were more likely to stock old hits.
"We've digitally redone everything, so I think they're not going to get as good a version as there is on the last couple albums," David Bellamy said.
Bellamy Brothers Records releases singles to 2,500 smaller U.S. stations, as well as the 200 or so reporting stations that determine chart position.
The Bellamy's say they still have many allies at radio, and do just fine making performance royalties from the stations who play their records but don't affect the charts.
"You run into trouble with the charts because that's where the politics come down," Howard Bellamy said.
"But still, when mechanical [royalties] come in, you still look pretty well 'cause you have all this air time. So there's different ways of doing it.
"You may not look like lead dog in the pack."
by CNB