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Adam VIII Adam VIII Limited was a record label founded by music publisher Morris Levy, and named after his son Adam. It operated in the late 1960s through the early 1980s.[1] Adam VIII specialised in mail order issues and reissues of popular music, including works originally appearing on Roulette Records, also owned by Morris Levy.[2] By 1976, they had sold up to a million units of disco hits and rock hits featuring Chubby Checker.[3] They also marketed and sold albums recorded by Billie Holiday.[4] LawsuitIn 1975 they released Roots, a version of John Lennon's album Rock 'n' Roll.[5] Lennon originally undertook the project as a way to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit, over his song "Come Together", which had borrowed noticeably from Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me" (published by Levy).[6] As part of the settlement, Lennon agreed to record three songs that were owned by Levy's publishing house, Big Seven Music.[7] A planned deal to market the album through Adam VIII turned sour, and Levy released an album pressed from the rough-mix tape Lennon had given him, weeks before the album was finished, then sued Lennon, Capitol Records (Lennon's American label), and EMI for breach of contract for $7 million dollars.[8] Levy claimed that Lennon had agreed to allow the album to be released on Levy's mail-order label, as further settlement to the "You Can't Catch Me" lawsuit.[7] The latter three countersued and won, receiving $144,700 for lost royalties and damaged reputation over the album, and an injunction was ordered for Levy to suspend the sales of the album.[6] Levy later opined that "I lost because the judge fell in love with John Lennon, and Yoko knitted all day long, as a pregnant lady in the first row of the court".[6] After Adam VIII suspended sales of the album, naturally, the copies that had already been purchased became a collectors item.[6][7][9] According to court documents, exactly 1,270 copies of Roots were sold.[7] See alsoReferences
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