Rockbites: Massive Attack planning legal retaliation against Tories

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Massive Attack planning legal retaliation against Tories
8 September 2000

On Tuesday in Birmingham, England Conservative Party (Tory) leader William Hague mounted the stage for a press conference accompanied by Massive Attack’s Man Next Door from their 1998 LP Mezzanine. He left the stage to the same song.
    The band—formerly a trio, now the duo of 3D (Robert Del Naja) and Daddy G (G Marshall)—had not given permission. They released a blistering statement: “We’re completely fucked off with the Tories. How dare they use our music to promote their bullshit. Massive Attack have not and will never support the Conservative Party or their policies. If our music has been used by the Tories it is without our knowledge or our permission. The misappropriation of our music by any organisation or broadcaster will be dealt with in the strongest way we can.”
    The band are not entirely averse to promotional use of their material. In April they licensed their track Angel to Emporio Armani for use in a Giorgio Armani perfume commercial. The arrangement held that all income from the licensing would go to charities. Apparently the British Conservative Party was not one of those selected.
    The band have not announced the specific legal recourse they intend to pursue, but are speaking with lawyers now.
    In terms of music, Massive Attack have been working with programmer Alex Swift and producer Neil Davidge for about a year. They’ve been culling an album’s worth of material from about 85 tracks set down in 1999. They have not announced a title or a release date. | NME story | | Massive Attack (UK site) | | Massive Attack (US site) | | bio | | discography | | sample from Mezzanine | | CD | | top of page |

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