Ed Kowalczyk address Lawsuits and LIVE, Article 8/27/12 Options

[SJN1279]

http://www.flipsidepa.com/entertainment/ci...its-future-live

Ed Kowalczyk addresses lawsuits, future of Live
Posted: 08/27/2012 11:52:16 AM EDT


Ed Kowalczyk wants to get Live back together.

The former lead singer of the York-native rock band broke his silence about recent legal issues last week.

In an email statement sent through his lawyer John Rosenberg, Kowalczyk wrote: "Despite what has happened ... I remain willing to put it all behind us, and I would be excited to pursue a reunion with my bandmates, giving LIVE fans all over the world what they truly want."

In July, Action Front Unlimited, a corporation that owns trademarks for Live, filed a federal lawsuit against Kowalczyk. It alleges that Kowalczyk is misleading fans by branding himself "Ed Kowalczyk of Live."

The suit goes on to say that in late 2009, the three other band members Patrick Dahlheimer, Chad Gracey and Chad Taylor "elected to remove Kowalczyk from the band Live as a result of certain disagreements."

"I never left LIVE," Kowalczyk wrote in the email. "We all agreed to take a two year hiatus. But virtually immediately after we made that decision, lawyers representing Chad, Chad and Patrick began their legal attack on me."

In a separate lawsuit filed in May 2010 in New York, Dahlheimer, Gracey and Taylor allege Kowalczyk and the band's longtime manager, David Levin, violated terms of a contract. It also states Kowalczyk owes the other members of Live percentages of an advance and publishing income.

"As to the details of the legal proceedings, for now I will only say that both suits are baseless and
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totally without merit," Kowalczyk wrote via email.

In a text in July, Taylor wrote "the legal drama ... pales in comparison to the personal nature and disappointment of losing a childhood friend."

Dahlheimer, Gracey and Taylor formed Live with Kowalczyk in York during the late 1980s. The band went on to sell millions of albums and tour the globe.

In 2009, the band did announce a hiatus. But it soon looked permanent. Dahlheimer, Gracey and Taylor started a side project called The Gracious Few. In March, they took the stage as Live at York's Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center with a new lead singer - Chris Shinn.

Kowalczyk pursued his solo career. He returned to York to perform twice - once in 2009 and again in 2011. He is slated to play Penn State York's Pullo Family Performing Arts Center Nov. 9. The show is billed "Ed Kowalczyk of Live." Kowalczyk and Levin filed an answer to the 2010 lawsuit. It stated that the suit was "motivated by jealous and animus ... on the eve of the release of Kowalczyk's solo album and just as he was about to embark on a tour in support of that album."

The tone of Kowalczyk's recent email is different: "I didn't start this unnecessary fight and it seems to me that there is already more than enough of this kind of negativity in the world," he wrote. "Let's get LIVE back together. I'm ready."

Dahlheimer, Gracey and Taylor declined to comment about Kowalczyk's email.

Their business partner Bill Hynes replied in an email message: "(Kowalczyk) has no desire to get the band back," he wrote. "The guys won't comment because they are moving forward with the lawsuits because they have exhausted all efforts with Ed."

[OutToDry]

This was a self-serving, totally sadistic move on Ed's part and also very predictable. He is trying to get them to drop the lawsuit.

I wouldn't be surprised if he is calculatingly trying to ruin their relationship with Chris, leaving the door open for him and then him saying....Nah, it was a thought, but I'm really not interested in "working with those individuals" again.

Seems like a guy who's starting to panic for many reasons. Financially, when CCP win the lawsuit and he can't promote himself the way he's been that will be devistating to his shows. When people hear Chris and realize that he's awesome and people don't give a crap if Ed is there or not. When they start to tour and the shows rock (I've seen 2, I know this first-hand!) what will this do to Ed's ego?

It's all very scary for him because he always felt like he had the upper hand in his relationship with them and with them moving on without him he's is starting to feel the pressure.

It's actually textbook narcicism if you ask me. I am not at all surprised by this. It's like the husband that left the wife for a younger, pretter, sexier woman and when the wife gets a boyfriend he freaks out and wants to come home. Most smart woman kick that POS to the curb!

Hotchkiss identified what she called the seven deadly sins of narcissism:

1.Shamelessness: Shame is the feeling that lurks beneath all unhealthy narcissism, and the inability to process shame in healthy ways.

2.Magical thinking: Narcissists see themselves as perfect, using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. They also use projection to dump shame onto others.

3.Arrogance: A narcissist who is feeling deflated may reinflate by diminishing, debasing, or degrading somebody else.

4.Envy: A narcissist may secure a sense of superiority in the face of another person's ability by using contempt to minimize the other person.

5.Entitlement: Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person. Defiance of their will is a narcissistic injury that can trigger narcissistic rage.

6.Exploitation: Can take many forms but always involves the exploitation of others without regard for their feelings or interests. Often the other is in a subservient position where resistance would be difficult or even impossible. Sometimes the subservience is not so much real as assumed.

7.Bad boundaries: Narcissists do not recognize that they have boundaries and that others are separate and are not extensions of themselves. Others either exist to meet their needs or may as well not exist at all. Those who provide narcissistic supply to the narcissist are treated as if they are part of the narcissist and are expected to live up to those expectations. In the mind of a narcissist there is no boundary between self and other.

I hope and I think CCP have already seen that they don't NEED Ed to make music or be successful. I think KM showed them that and I can't wait to hear the new +Live+ record with Chris singing.

This is a good assessment but I dont want to drag into slinging about Ed. The article was sheer madness.