Wachovia
Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total assets. Wachovia provided a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. At its height, it was one of the largest providers of financial services in the United States, operating financial centers in 21 states and Washington, D.C., with locations from Connecticut to Florida and west to California. Wachovia provided global services through more than 40 offices around the world.
Truth in Music Advertising
The legislation, co-authored by former Sha Na Na member Jon "Bowzer" Bauman and promoted by him and Mary Wilson of the Supremes, was not passed by the U.S. Congress, but has been enacted in 34 of the 50 states. The legislation has been tested in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
From 1977 to 1981, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman hosted other musicians on his television show "Sha Na Na". He talked with Carl Gardner of the Coasters and Charlie Thomas of the Drifters, discovering in the process that they were being victimized by "knock-off" groups of performers using the name of a famous group without having a member of that group. Ben E. King said he, Thomas and Bill Pinkney were losing out on potential gigs and income because there were "so many fake Drifters performing". Herb Reed of the Platters told Bauman that his group had experienced "about 30" court cases fighting against fake groups. Researching the laws, Bauman found that the original musicians had scant legal protection against their group name being used by promoters or other performers, so he determined to amend the existing laws to increase protection for the original musicians. He allied with the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (VGHF) to bring famous musicians together to help promote these new laws. VGHF President Bob Crosby said of the fake groups "It's a form of identity theft to the artists... Most importantly it is misleading the public for them to think they are seeing the artist who made the hits when they are not." Mary Wilson of the Supremes joined the effort, appearing with Bauman before the US Congress in March 1999. She said "We want these fake groups to say they are tribute groups or get their own name."