Ron Isley Makes Bankruptcy Deal
Courts To Make Decision Wednesday
LOS ANGELES, Updated 5:11 p.m. EST February 23, 2000 -- A bankruptcy judge will consider Wednesday a $6.5 million deal in which an investment group would bail Ronald Isley out of debt and allow him to retain rights to songs he wrote with the Isley Brothers.
Under the proposed deal, the Pullman investment group would issue up to 20-year bonds to cover debts accrued by Isley, news wires report. Isley formed the band the Isley Brothers in Cincinnati with his brothers Rudolph and Kelly in the early 1950s.
The band's debut single was "Shout," written in the call-and-response gospel style. The band went on to popularize "Twist and Shout," later covered by the Beatles and, in 1969, had an original hit with "It's Your Thing," for which the band won a Grammy for best R&B vocals.
The proposed deal between Pullman, EMI music company, Isley and the bankruptcy trustee would allow Isley or his heirs to reap profits from the copyrights after the bonds are paid off, wire services said.
Also under the deal, EMI, which had bid for Isley's portion of the group's catalog, would get a "validation" of its portion to the rights to some of Isley's songs.
And the music company would get $350,000 for part of its interest in a $5.4 million copyright infringement judgment Isley won against singer Michael Bolton. A court found that Bolton's "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" was based on the Isley Brothers' song of the same name.
Bolton is appealing the judgment, which, with interest, now totals more than $6 million.
In a surprise move at a hearing last month, attorneys for Bolton, who initially bid slightly more than $1 million for Isley's catalog, said he may be able to come up with his own group to outbid the other investors.
Isley filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because he owes the Internal Revenue Service nearly $5 million.
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