All about the band Badfinger: history of creation, success and downfall

Every British band has its own long and storied history historyfull of both failures and successes. However, some bands, after great popularity, go to the nothingness because of various problems that the participants can no longer cope with.

Several years of successful work have led Badfinger to break up, and for two of the musicians, the band's decline in popularity and financial problems became a true tragedy. How the history of the team began, the hits and the rapid disintegration of the band will be discussed in the article.

The beginning of the journey

From the early 60's Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths, David Jenkins and Roy Anderson performed under various names until by 1964 they found a name The IveysA year later, Mike Gibbins joined the band, and after that the band met Bill Collins, who later worked with them. A year later, Mike Gibbins joined the band, and after that the band met Bill Collins, who was subsequently involved with their producing.

The first months the band performed covers of The Beatles, with whom they would be compared in the following years, blues and soul compositions. At the same time, the musicians recorded the first demos tracks written by Ham, and in 1977 another future songwriter took the place of the previous guitarist. Vol. Evans.

A contract with Apple Records and a string of hits

Mel Evans, the Beatles' roadie, and Peter Asher, head of the Apple Records label, first spotted the young band at a gig in London's Marquee Club. After the first meeting with the band, the team's demos were handed to each of The Beatles so that the musicians could appreciate The Iveys' work. Having received endorsementMel signed a contract with the new band and produced their early sessions.

From that point on, the team was waiting success: their debut single "Maybe Tomorrow", released in the late autumn of 1968, was a breakthrough in Japan and several other countries, but did not reach number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. In spite of this, the record company's manager achieved promotions a song on the radio and reviews in newspapers. A year later, the band announced the next single, "Dear Angie."which became part of single The Iveys album before they changed their name to Badfinger.

The label released a record called "Maybe Tomorrow" limited only in Italy, Japan and Germany to clear up the confusion within the corporation, and for the time being the young band forgotten. Griffiths mentioned in an interview that Apple Corps was not satisfied with the new material for the second album and that the band had lost all hope. Then the musicians came to the rescue Paul McCartney.

Paul McCartney's endorsement and... a sharp decline

McCartney became the band's guide to a successful musical journey. After the musician read the interview, he offered the team a song he had written for the film The Magic Christian "Come And Get It"The Beatle needed two more songs for the film, and a good opportunity to promote The Iveys was to include them in the film. "The Beatle needed two more songs for the film, and a good opportunity to promote The Iveys was their inclusion in the film. original songs as soundtracks.

In addition, even before the official release of "Come And Get It," the label offered the band a change name to a more decisive one, and here it was not without the help of "bugs". Badfinger came from the working name of the track "With a Little Help from My Friends" - "Bad Finger Boogie" - when Lennon broke his finger while writing the song.

In 1969, just after the name change, bassist Ron Griffiths left the band, and guitarist Ron Griffiths took his place. Joey Molland. With a revamped line-up, the band gets its first large success: "Come And Get It" becomes a hit and hits the top ten tracks in the world music charts. In 1970 Badfinger's album "Magic Christian Music" was released, and by the summer, under the direction of Jeff Emerick, the band had already released second No Dice", the first single of which, "No Matter What", also gained popularity. That success continued with the song "Without You"re-recorded by musician Harry Neilson In 1972.

After releasing a couple more strong hits, Badfinger, who by then had worked with the Stan Polley and occasionally appeared on session recordings of Beatles' solo work, wanted to give up working with Apple Corps, as the label was in decline. That's when the first troublesThe new manager of the band was accused of financial fraud, but the band continued to work with him. Thus, their album "Ass."which was the last recorded with Apple, had trouble getting out because of Polley's actions.

Troubled times and attempts to revive the project

The band's decline came at the time of their contract with the Warner Bros.with whom they were signed by Stan Polley. The first release on the new label, "Badfinger", and the two singles released with it suffered failureAfter the American tour, the musicians started to work on new material. The next record was released, but after the recording the label immediately declined to accept a fresh album because of unfulfilled conditions on Polly's part.

In addition to financial and creative turmoil, another incandescent The introduction of Molland's wife into the band's affairs became an event, which the members were not happy about. In 1974, after another showdown from Badfinger. gone Ham, and was replaced by keyboardist and guitarist Bob Jackson, who would later remain with the band on a permanent basis. A short break forced Pete back into the band, as without him the progression of the team was at risk. Immediately after the UK tour already Joey Molland severed ties with the Badfingers and started a solo career.

https://youtu.be/PPco24LS31A

The lawsuit against Polley had no effect on the situation, and it wasn't long before the label ceased to promote an already released album and rejected a new one. Stan still hadn't contacted the band, and Ham, who had been trying to contact his manager all this time, couldn't stand the strain and committed suicide in April 1975. Some time after his death, Warner Bros. cancelled a contract with the band.

Molland and Evans, after working in various groups, recreate Badfinger released two albums between 1979 and 1981, but the singles from them did not reach high positions in the charts. The last disc "Say No More" separated the former colleagues in different Badfinger formations, and all this time the musicians competed with each other. The last straw for Tom was a dispute with Joey over money for the band's legacy, and after a while it became known about Evans' death. He, like Ham, could not withstand the decline of the band and the loss of success, voluntarily leaving the world.

Subsequently, several members of Badfinger, including Molland, got together for a large touring by 1984, and started touring again a couple of years later. In the 90s, most of the albums recorded on Apple Corp were reissuedand subsequent compilations were formed and published best songs and live performances.

Joey Molland today.

The musician's solo career began in 1983, when he started performing as a Joey Molland's Badfinger.. The musician also took part in the release of the band's live album, which received a ambiguous an assessment from the critics.

Along with this, Molland has successfully recorded around 6 records from the early 80's until 2021. In addition, the guitarist revisited Badfinger's greatest hits and did new arrangements for them; he also guested on three of his colleagues' albums. In 2019, Joey took part in a tour dedicated to the jubilee The Beatles' "White Album."