1987 ~1993
Dynacord Disaster | Crash & Burn
I just didn’t see it coming… A letter arrived.
Dynacord had ‘gone quiet’ for some time. Then, in 1987, a letter arrived. It said that Dynacord had dropped The Jamma from their catalogue.
A blow to the chest with a cricket bat is the best way I can explain the shock.
I was breathless, shocked and felt completely lost and alone. I think that was the first time I experienced a panic attack. And they. Are terrifying. Naively, I'd not even considered this could happen. I was devastated, it threatened my whole life and my future.
It turns out that Dynacord - who previously had an interest in manufacturing electronic instruments - like electronic drums, (hence why they loved The Jamma) - were in a bit of financial trouble and were looking for a buyout.
They eventually got bought out by Electro-Voice - who had no interest in electronic instruments, and basically, they dropped ‘instruments’ from their catalog. That’s why The Jamma, and their own electronic drum kits, were unceremoniously dumped, despite the success of The Jamma and their electronic drumkits.
Doing my recent research and AI scrape for this V2 launch website, I have learned that I could have won a case against Electro-Voice for not honouring my licence deal with Dynacord…
Ah…
Upon reflection, that hurts. I thought, "If I'd just been more of a busnessman…" Then i thought "nah, fuck that, I’m a techie muso and proud of it". But I do now acknowledge that I need ‘business people around me.
The years that followed are still a bit of a blur. The band kinda disintegrated. I think they thought I was reveling in the glory and money I was ‘apparently’ receiving from my invention. One of them still won't speak to me decades later...
The truth was way different. I didn't know how to cope, I was being ripped off by my manager and I needed my mates. But they were pissed off and drifted away. I felt stranded, on my own and not knowing what to do with my life.
I took the advice of a lovely kind older man that I adored (not my father, he, didn't appear to give a shit about me). So then I tried to live in the IT business world - which I hated. I did OK but I used to wake up feeling sick, I felt my musical future just drifting away.