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It's hardly on a par with the Sex Pistols being asked to leave EMI but Queen's departure from the label has made the news. Of course, Queen aren't in the business of making new records, thankfully, so they're taking their old ones with them to their new home. (Universal, which sounds like it could be the Last Record Label Left In The World.)Ìý I was once signed to EMI along with my Undertones chums. It was 1981 and we had , until then, a relatively successful contract with Sire records. We left Sire, with the rights to all our recorded output tucked under our arm, and signed what was then a big money deal with Electrical & Musical Industries, who were based in Manchester Square in London. It didn't work out, as they thought they were signing a band who would continue to provide them with upbeat jolly singalongs like My Perfect Cousin. We had other ideas. We were 'growing' musically which meant that we were more likely to come up with 'mature' compositions which, we were warned,Ìý may not sell as much as our previous work. They didn't. My main regret is that we didn't get our photo taken leaning over the stairwell in the EMI building, as the (and the Sex Pistols) did. A year or so after we broke up (EMI weren't too upset) I found myself back in their Manchester Square HQ delivering a parcel, in my new role as a bicycle courier. The building itself is now demolished, as is EMI's reputation in the harsh world of the music industry. Still, we'll always have the , which allows us to impersonate Johnny Rotten when we say those three magic letters. E.M.I. ......goodbye.