Ex-Supreme sings blues to Legislature over copycat acts.

To musical groups that are posing as some of the great soul and doo-wop acts of yesteryear, some Illinois legislators and a former member of The Supremes have a message:

Stop - in the name of trademark infringement.

Legislators joined Mary Wilson, who backed up Diana Ross in the classic '60s Motown trio, in calling Tuesday for Illinois to outlaw impostors from performing under classic bands' names.

Groups calling themselves The Drifters, The Supremes and others stage hundreds of concerts a year on cruise ships, at casinos and in fairs, but none is the original or even contains original members of those bands.

"They've crossed the line between imitation and flattery to becoming almost like identity theft," Wilson said. She told a House committee that some veteran performers such as she couldn't get gigs under their own famous names, because impostors perform for less.

That prompted Rep. George Scully, D-Chicago, to ask how the committee really knew she was Mary Wilson.

She drew applause by singing the refrain from "Stop, in the Name of Love," as proof. The members voted unanimously to recommend that the full House pass the impostor bill.

The legislation is intended to keep copycat acts that tour nationally from being booked in Illinois. Wilson said there were five faux-Supremes groups that toured in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Tribute bands and authorized versions of other groups - bands that license a famous group's name, and may include some of its members - could all continue performing under the proposal, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Maywood. If it is enacted, the state attorney general could fine violators up to $50,000 for performing under another group's name, or issue injunctions to halt concerts before they start.

Supporters want Illinois to be the next domino to fall in a national campaign against impostors led by the Vocal Group Hall of Fame of Sharon, Pa. South Carolina and North Dakota have similar rules, and the Pennsylvania House is expected to pass a version of the law this week. Bob Crosby, president of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, said 10 other state legislatures were considering similar proposals.

Many early soul and doo-wop groups entered the music business with draconian contracts that sometimes forbade them from collecting royalties or keeping the rights to their work, Crosby said. For example, the original Drifters got no money for their famous song "Under The Boardwalk."

Record labels would keep the groups' famous names and move in new members as old ones moved on, Crosby said, which eventually led to multiple versions of the same band all touring simultaneously: Though Wilson was an original member of The Supremes, the group had several different members in the years between 1961, when it was formed, and when it disbanded in 1977.

Crosby said it was easier for musicians to perform as older groups because few people were familiar with how their members looked. In the post-MTV era, with video so much a part of pop culture, it would be much harder to get away with posing as, say, The Backstreet Boys, he said.

Even if the Illinois anti-impostor law passes, the main target for the national campaign will be Nevada, where many groups perform in casinos. (No violations were cited in Illinois.)

Versions of The Coasters, The Platters and The Drifters can be seen every night at 7:30 at the Sahara Casino in Las Vegas.

Someday, some sweet day, Crosby and Wilson said, Nevada will be on their list.

The bill is HB4172.