04/08/03:
Ritchie Jones has a couple of Platters-related websites on the internet.
"An All-Star Platters Revue" can be found by going to www.celebritydirect.org/allstars
and the "Jones & Mathews Tribute to The Platters" can be found by going
to www.RitchieJonesPlatters.com
03/08/03:
The Platters Feauturing Monroe Powell will be appearing at The Riviera
in Las Vegas starting March 30, 2003.
02/11/03: We were notified today that Mr. Ghale
Hambrick, member of the Platters in 1974-75, has passed away. Services
will be held at the Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church; 3208 Wilbarger;
Fort Worth, Texas 76119, on Friday, Februay 14, 2003.
The Platters Settle Lawsuit
Thu Nov 14, 2002, 2:01 PM
ET
By The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
(AP) - The Platters have settled a lawsuit against a former lead singer
they said tried to use the venerable group's name with his new band.
Attorney Richard
Fannan, who represented defendant Monroe Powell, confirmed the out-of-court
settlement Wednesday but declined to disclose terms. Michael Machat, a
lawyer for the group, did not return a phone call.
Herb Reed founded
The Platters in 1953 and has gone to court several times over the years
to keep control of the name.
The group,
known for its soaring harmonies, has had such hits as "Smoke Gets in Your
Eyes," "Only You" and "The Great Pretender."
According to
court filings, the original members and their manager, Buck Ram, formed
Five Platters Inc. in 1956 and agreed the corporation would own the group's
trademarked name.
Powell, who
joined the group in 1970, signed a contract saying he wasn't entitled to
use the name or a Platters-related name upon termination of the contract,
the lawsuit said.
Powell left
the group in 1995 and began calling his new group The Platters, the lawsuit
said. He argued in a counter-complaint that The Platters had abandoned
the name and therefore forfeited the trademark.
In a similar
case, a federal appeals court ruled in 1999 that Reed could continue to
use the group's name and prevent the widow of original member Paul Robi
from its use for a touring group she'd assembled.
June 24, 2002
- Randy Jones, an early member of such Los Angeles doo-wop groups as the
Meadowlarks, the Penguins and the Flairs, passed away at an L.A. convalescent
home, thirteen months after having a stroke that left him in a near coma.
He was 66. Randy also appeared with the Buck Ram Platters and Monroe Powell's
Platters groups.
March, 2002 - Monroe Powell
does show once again as an Ink Spot in the NE United States.
Feb 8-17, 2002 - Monroe
Powell has completed a series of shows in the Phillipines with Eddie Daniels'
"Amazing Platters."
* - Darrell Reynolds, bass
singer for Leon Hughes' Coasters, and bass singer on Monroe Powell's 2001
Japan tour, has passed away.
2001 - Randy Jones, of many
notable groups including Buck Ram's Platters, Grady Chapman's Coasters,
Monroe Powell's Platters 2000 Japan tour, and Jacks/Cadets has suffered
a stroke in California. Awaiting news of his progress.
Aug 8, 2000 - Herb Reed
awarded the trademark "The Platters" by the USPTO |
