The Violent Femmes News

Bassist Brian Ritchie filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing singer Gordon Gano of cheating Ritchie out of royalties and song credit. 

The case, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, additionally claims Gano failed to properly account for the band's earnings and damaged the Femmes' reputation by allowing their biggest hit, "Blister in the Sun," to be used in a Wendy's ad campaign. 

"This action is the unfortunate culmination of an ongoing intraband dispute between Ritchie and Gano over Gano's misappropriation and misadministration of Ritchie's interests in the jointly owned songs and assets of the band, misappropriation of assets solely owned by Ritchie, improper accounting and nonpayment of royalties," the complaint reads.

The folk-punk icons—who developed a cult following in the early '80s with such college radio-friendly hits as "Blister," "Add It Up," "Gone Daddy Gone" and "Please Do Not Go"—haven't released new music since 2000's Freak Magnet. However, they still continue to tour the globe and play their old music, as they say, in the vein of "international troubadours."

For his part, Gano says that he was taken aback by the suit, especially after the Violent Femmes returned last week from a successful jaunt in South Africa and the two saw each other only two days ago.

"We just played a really, really good tour," the frontman told the Associated Press. "Since the early '80s, everything's really good. We're playing better than ever."

According to court papers, Ritchie claims he founded the band with drummer Victor DeLorenzo in Milwaukee in 1980 and Gano joined the roster a year later. Their careers took off with the release of their 1983 self-titled debut, which featured folky music with a punk sensibility. 

But, per the complaint, Ritchie found himself on the wrong end of a flawed business deal in 2001 that gave the band's whiny-voiced crooner control of the publishing rights to the quartet's catalog, which led to the current feuding. 

Ritchie says he was appalled when he learned that Gano had sold "Blister in the Sun" to Wendy's to be used in a burger commercial, a decision that alienated many longtime Violent Femmes fans. 

"My ears perked up. Then my jaw dropped. Then my heart sank," Ritchie says in the suit. 

In March, the fretman issued a scathing statement to Onmilwaukee.com's music blog blasting Gano.

"For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the Wendy's burger advertisement featuring 'Blister in the Sun,' Gordon Gano is the publisher of the song and Warners is the record company. When they agree to use it there's nothing the rest of the band can do about it, because we don't own the song or the recording. That's showbiz," he fumed.

"Therefore when you see dubious or in this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed, insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs demonstrates." 

After stating his disgust for the fast-food industry, Ritchie concluded: "I see my life's work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As disgusted as you are I am more so."

The Violent Femmes continue to play together, but that apparently doesn't mean they like each other. In a later interview with the site, Ritchie continued to vent.

"It's a common misconception that 'we' sold out and 'we' are doing idiotic things when it's really Gordon exclusively," he said. "The sad thing is he makes almost all the money on these things but 'we' share the blame and humiliation equally. Which sucks."

The bass player is seeking to recoup past royalties he contends is owed him as well as a fair share of all future payments. He's also demanding a proper audit of all royalties past and present, damages, and a ruling making him a co-owner of the band's catalog.