The Raleigh-based neo-country band that gained fame and critical acclaim for blending country twang and punk-rock styles is a textbook contract casualty. In the massive Universal-Polygram merger of 1998, many labels and bands were lost in the corporate shuffle. Outpost, the label with which Whiskeytown had worked with, was killed, and the band was left with a brand new album, Pneumonia, and no label to release it. The band split in the midst of all the strife and has not regrouped, even with the Universal's Lost Highway release of its 1998 LP this year.
Aimee Mann
After the shocking success of her single, "That's Just What You Are," Mann planned on releasing her second solo LP, but her record label, Imago, went bankrupt. Searching for a way to continue her work, Mann attempted to produce the album with her new label, Reprise. But Imago legally prevented her from releasing even a single song. After nearly a year of fighting throughout 1995, Mann finally separated herself from the Imago label and released her second LP, I'm With Stupid, with her new label, DGC. Mann had similar problems releasing 2000's Bachelor No.2.
Jump, Little Children
When Atlantic Records began their "spring cleaning," branch label Breaking Records was one of the labels that was cut. Jump, Little Children, who had been with the label since its entry into the major music industry, was one of the many bands left without a means of production. The band had planned to release its newest LP, Vertigo, in early May but was forced to postpone the release. After the independent production of The Early Years: Part One, the band founded its own label, E-Z Chef Records, and released the long-awaited Vertigo.
Sources: atlantic-records.com, rollingstone.com, allmusic.com
