In 1983 Grandmaster Melle Mel released "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)", which used elements of "Cavern" from Liquid Liquid's "Optimo" EP. 99 sued Sugar Hill Records for the similarities between the two tracks. 99 employee Terry Tolkin and Liquid Liquid member Richard McGuire have both accused Sugar Hill of retaliating through scare tactics, including hiring someone to scare 99's customers with a machete. Tolkin stated that Bahlman refused to visit the store for a year and a half and alleged that Bahlman had received threats regularly. Franklyn has dismissed these accounts as "complete exaggeration". Sugar Hill was ordered to pay $660,000 but instead declared bankruptcy shortly after. Bahlman shut down 99, in part because of the case's legal costs. In early 1986, Bahlman sold off 99's inventory and went into seclusion.