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The original was posted on /r/hobbydrama by /u/cedarwoodboy on 2025-06-24 00:33:18+00:00.

The ink spots were an african american vocal group who got their start in 1934, when Jerry Daniels, Charlie Fuqua, Ivory “Deek” Watson, and Orville Hoppy jones formed a vocal quartet together. Watson, inspired by droplets from a fountain pen, named themselves “The Ink Spots” and they stuck with it. The ink spots gained international fame in 1939 with their number one hit “If I Didn’t Care”. Most band members credit their high tenor singer Bill Kenny who had replaced Jerry Daniels in 1936 for this success, and they would go on to release more hits such as “The gypsy” “i don’t want to set the world on fire” and even collaborate with Ella Fitzgerald. Behind the scenes, however, Ivory “Deek” Watson and Bill Kenny weren’t very fond of each other. Bill didn’t like Deek’s performances, Bill wanted the ink spots to have “class” whereas Deek wanted them to be humorous, like they were before they started making ballads. Then in 1945. Orville Jones (their bass singer) sadly died in October 1944 after collapsing on stage at the cafe Zanzibar in New York City, which only served to escalate tensions between Watson and Kenny. Due to personality clashes between Bill Kenny and Deek Watson after the death of Jones, as well as disagreements in terms of how each other wanted the band to be perceived, Bill decided to buy Deek Watson’s share of the group for $10,000 in 1944 thus giving Bill the power to kick Deek out of the group permanently. Deek Watson would then go on to form his own band, which was also called “the ink spots.” which was extremely similar in musical style to the Ink Spots. this would become the first ever “Imposter group,” Bill quickly sued him, and Deek backed off, and didn’t continue using the name. instead he went on to form something that was “something completely different” to the Ink Spots; he formed a band called “the brown dots,” which, again was extremely similar to the ink spots. Deek Watson’s fake ink spots group set the stage for an onslaught of imposter groups to come. later on, the group was experiencing financial issues, and Bill informed the members that he would unfortunately have to cut a portion of their pay. in retaliation, Charlie Fuqua left the group and started his own group, also called “the ink spots.” Bill Tried to sue him, however, he lost as Fuqua argued that since he was an original member of the ink spots he should be allowed to use the name. It was decided by a court ruling that Bill Kenny’s group would continue using the name “The Ink Spots” and Charlie Fuquas’s group would use the name “Charlie Fuquas Ink Spots.” Defying the court ruling, Charlie Fuqua would sometimes call his group “the original ink spots”. This court ruling would influence dozens of other groups led by original members to pop up, a few examples being Adriel Mcdonald’s Ink Spots, Billy Bowen’s Ink Spots, Bernie Mackey’s ink spots, Cliff Given’s ink spots, and many, many more. Furthermore, in 1967 US federal judge Emmet C. Choate ruled that since there were so many bands that used the name “the Ink Spots,” the name had become public domain, and anyone could use it. this ruling only worsened the situation. and Bill Kenny said in 1963 “Right now there are about 10 ink spots groups in the business. it’s the saddest thing in the world. it’s turned into a farce. in our heyday we were the highest paid quartet in the business. the way the name has been prostituted is disgusting. they all tried to impersonate me, and there is no such thing as impersonation. there’s the real thing and that’s it. i’m the real thing. many guys tried to do Kenny, but they’re still not me.” from then on it only became worse, and groups such as “Ray Richardson’s fabulous ink spots”, “Jimm Nabbie’s ink spots” and many more groups came along. many claiming to have an original member, when they didn’t even have one. here’s a video of Jimmie Nabbie claiming to have replaced Bill Kenny in 1945, even though Bill was with the spots until '54. these groups have produced thousands of records throughout the years, and tricked many people into actually believing they were the real ink spots. one of my many fears is that one day, these songs will be used in movies or videogame’s, and nobody will realize the mistake. i constantly see fake ink spots autographs by imposter groups sell for hundreds of dollars on Ebay. Vinyl collectors, stay safe, and see this post so you know how to avoid imposter groups. to this day there are still imposter groups, and the most famous picture of the ink spots isn’t even the ink spots. its ALSO an imposter group. so that’s the story of how one vocal group became one thousand vocal groups.