Yesterday, Ears To The House ran an article regarding a story that developed over the weekend. It concerned singer Rowetta – known partially from Happy Mondays fame – and a track from Italian producer  Claudio Caccini.

Caccini claimed on social media that the vocals on the song, called “Reach Out”, were correctly licensed – Ears To The House did reach out to him for comment, but he never responded. Rowetta claimed this was not the case and filed several takedown requests in response.

At the time of publication, the song still remains online on some platforms – but is expected to be removed from more today. Rowetta’s grapple with the Italian producer, however, is far from the only one to happen in house music over the years – a genre which remains spectacularly poor at treating vocalists, despite the fact they can make or break a record.

Indeed, this subject was covered on breakfast television in the United States only last week. CeCe Peniston, Crystal Waters, Robin S, Martha Wash, and Thea Austin all sat down for a piece on Good Morning America – and although it only lasted four minutes with some cringeworthy presentation, it was an intriguing feature.

Robin S reveals that Martha Wash was “my inspiration” after she spoke about her struggles with Black Box – after the band used a model lip-syncing to Wash’s vocals on their track “Everybody Everybody”. Elsewhere, CeCe Peniston says that 1991 hit “Finally” was “a poem which became a song which became a career”.

Robin S concludes business in this all too brief feature by telling other singers that “if they won’t invite you to the table, make your own table” – words that have the Ears To The House office smiling with joy. And our editor is still surprised now to discover that Thea Austin sang on “Rhythm Is A Dancer”.

See it for yourself below…