{I Want My Name Back plays at the Northwest Film Forum on 7/18 and 7/19}

There are times where it's hard to believe that the old school recording industry wasn't designed for the sole purpose of keeping artists from the money they'd earned. We've all heard stories of musicians battling to claim royalties or taking their "managers" to court to break free of one-sided contracts. After a few of these tales, one wonders if a film about groundbreaking musicians with a life of woe can tread new ground. And then one watches I Want My Name Back, which hits one upside the head with the truism "it can always get worse."

I Want My Name Back follows the Job like travails of The Sugar Hill Gang from 1979 to the present in what has got to be one of the craziest stories I've ever heard of the business. As a documentary, there are some significant flaws. But at a video based WTF? there's a fair amount to take away from the film. And for that I think it's worth taking a look -- or at least researching the story on one's own.

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