THIS PAGE IS NOT AFFILIATED TO BADFINGER AT ALL. JUST A WEE AMATEUR EFFORT, AND NOT CONNECTED TO THE BOYS, THEIR ESTATES OR APPLE.The Panthers & The Iveys
Badfinger originated with guitarist/keyboardist Pete Ham and a group called The Panthers. Ham, Ron Griffiths (bass guitar) and David "Dai" Jenkins (guitar) went on to form The Iveys, named after a street in Swansea, Wales (and a pun on influential British Invasion group, The Hollies). By 1965, Mike Gibbins had joined as the drummer, and the band began playing locally with such groups as the Spencer Davis Group, the Who, the Moody Blues and the Yardbirds. The following year, The Iveys moved their base to London, performing both for David Garrick, a local singer, and as a solo act. In 1967, David "Dai" Jenkins left and was replaced by Liverpudlian guitarist Tom Evans.
This line-up signed with The Beatles label Apple Records in 1968. The Iveys recorded and released a single, "Maybe Tommorow", in 1968, and in 1969 an album of the same name was issued in some European countries and Japan. (see Maybe Tomorrow).
Griffiths left the band in the summer of 1969. After his departure the band reorganized, with Evans moving to the bass-guitar position and adding Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland.
Deciding a style and name change were both needed, The Iveys changed from the '60s pop sound to that of a rock band and changed their band name to Badfinger, passing on McCartney's suggested "Home" and Lennon's suggestion of "Prix". Instead, The Iveys chose another Beatles-inspired moniker, "Badfinger", as suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinal. This was a reference to "Bad Finger Boogie", an early working title of "With a Little Help from My Friends," from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
The Apple Years
Paul McCartney wrote the band's breakthrough song, "Come And Get It", intended for the soundtrack to The Magic Christian. It was a hit throughout Europe and the United States, where it reached the Billboard Top 10. During the recording session for "Come and Get It", original compositions of "Rock of All Ages" and "Carry On Till Tomorrow" were recorded. These three songs appeared in the film and soundtrack album. Badfinger's own album, "Magic Christian Music," was released several months after the film premiere.
In late 1970, Badfinger released the album No Dice. It was accompanied by the single "No Matter What," which also reached the Billboard Top 10. More notably, another No Dice track, "Without You", became a bigger hit when recorded by Harry Nilsson in 1971 (where it reached the Billboard ..1 slot) and Mariah Carey in 1995.
Badfinger subsequently enlisted a New York business manager named Stan Polley. Although Polley's reputation was well presented to Badfinger at the time, his connections to organized crime and dubious financial arrangements would only become clear to the group in later years. Badfinger toured in America, where their debut album had been well-received, but the group still saw relatively little money and felt like they were living in the shadow of the Beatles. Many music critics of the time unfavorably compared Badfinger and the Beatles, which haunted the group for years to come.
The band's career began increasing exponentially. The band recorded many sessions for fellow Apple Records labelmates, notably George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and Ringo Starr's single "It Don't Come Easy", while Evans and Molland performed on John Lennon's Imagine. Pete Ham also performed alongside George Harrison during the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, raising Badfinger's critical stock even further among the rock intelligentsia. The cordial relationship struck between Harrison and Ham, however, caused some internal tension between Ham and Molland.
Badfinger's second album, Straight Up was released in 1972, and it spawned two successful singles, "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue." George Harrison and Todd Rundgren took production credits on the LP, Badfinger's most commercially successful record, with Harrison playing the slide guitar solo on "Day After Day". Decades later, "Straight Up" ranked as the most-requested CD release among out-of-print albums in a Goldmine Magazine readers poll.
Unfortunately, "Straight Up" was apparently poorly marketed in the UK with radio airplay hampered by poor singles distribution. Apple Records' finances in the post-Beatles era were also in chaos and Polley reportedly did not negotiate well with Apple President Allen Klein. Even more egregious for the band's fortunes, Stan Polley had been exploiting artists he had contracts with, including misrepresenting his management of client Al Kooper.
The sessions for what would be Badfinger's third and last album for Apple, Ass, began in September 1972 at Apple's basement studios at 3, Savile Row and would continue at five recording studios over the next nine months. During the recording of "Ass", Polley autonomously negotiated a multi-million dollar deal with Warner Brothers Records. The album's release would be held up until February 1974 by legal proceedings which followed Badfinger's departure from Apple. "Ass" featured a satirical record cover of a donkey (the band) following a carrot on a stick (Polley's promises to the band) - a theme more recently purloined by the American band Styx. "Ass" and its accompanying single, "Apple Of My Eye," failed to reach the Billboard Top 100.
Warner Brothers
Merely six weeks after the Ass sessions were completed, Badfinger entered the studio to begin recording the material for their first Warner Brothers release, Badfinger. Neither Ass nor Badfinger were well-received by music critics, but owing to Badfinger's overwork, their lackluster quality can perhaps be understood in context. Badfinger and its two accompanying singles, "Love Is Easy" (UK) and "I Miss You" (US), also did not reach chart positions. Badfinger did manage to consolidate some U.S. fan support in 1974, and reception of the band's performances on tour were generally favorable. Their live Cleveland Agora performance from March 1974, although a subject of controversy due to Molland's later studio overdubbing, is representative of the band's onstage energy at that time.
Following the group's last American tour, Badfinger recorded Wish You Were Here at the Caribou Ranch recording studio in Colorado. Unlike their previous two albums, Badfinger's Wish You Were Here was well received by Rolling Stone Magazine and other periodicals upon its release in 1974.
Internal friction continued to mount within Badfinger. Molland's wife began taking a more assertive role in the band's politics, advocating a complete break with Polley. This advocacy did not endear her to Molland's bandmates, particularly Ham. Just before the band began rehearsals for their October 1974 U.K. tour supporting British group Man, Ham left Badfinger to focus on his songwriting. Publicly, he expressed disgust over in-fighting and money disputes. Ham was temporarily replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Jackson. However, just before the 1974 tour began, Ham rejoined the group. Jackson remained as full-time keyboardist, making the band a short-lived quintet. After the tour, Molland quit the band due to disagreements about how to handle the management situation.
With Polley's urging, Badfinger reconvened to record a quick follow-up to Wish You Were Here, shortly after the album was released. Head First was assembled during two tense weeks of recording sessions in early December 1974 at Apple Studios. Badfinger's line-up now consisted of Ham, Evans, Jackson and Gibbins. Warner Brothers, which was now inquiring about missing escrow money and was becoming suspicious of Polley, rejected the album and simultaneously initiated legal proceedings against Badfinger Enterprises, Inc., which was run by Polley. As a result of this legal fray, Wish You Were Here was removed from store shelves shortly after its release despite strong sales.
Head First became lost in more than a figurative sense, since Warner Brothers never returned the 16-track masters to the band. However, Bob Jackson had retained a copy of the rough mix completed by engineer Phil McDonald on 15 December 1974. This tape is the basis of the 2000 Snapper release of Head First. In reference, biographer Dan Matovina wrote in detail about the events surrounding Head First.
Death & Decline
On 24 April 1975, Pete Ham, financially broken and despairing, hanged himself in his garage studio in Surrey. His suicide note, addressed to his girlfriend and her son, blamed Stan Polley for his misfortunes: Anne, I love you. Blair, I love you. I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better. Pete. P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me." Ham's daughter was born one month after his death.
For years afterward, lawsuits and bankruptcies haunted Badfinger on both sides of the Atlantic. And coupled with Ham's suicide, Badfinger had lost their most marketable member. However, Molland had emerged as a songwriter during the band's later recording career. Together with American session musicians, he and Evans reformed Badfinger, minus Gibbins. Personality conflicts and lineup changes stalled the recording in 1978.
To promote the album, Molland and Evans recruited Peter Clarke (Stealers Wheel) on drums and Tony Kaye (Yes) on keyboards. The single "Love is Gonna Come At Last" reached ..69 in the US. They recorded and released a second album, Say No More in 1981, with that year's touring line-up. This LP was distributed on a much smaller independent record label with it's single. "Hold On" reaching ..56 in the US.
Ultimately, Evans and Molland split acrimoniously in 1981. During 1982 and 1983, they briefly operated rival bands, both using the name Badfinger. On 19 November 1983, following an argument with Molland on the phone, Evans hanged himself in the garden at his home in an eerie replay of Pete Ham's 1975 death scene.
In August 1984, Molland, Gibbins and Jackson played a small number of U.S. dates as part of a 20th Anniversary of the British Invasion in America package tour. In 1986, Molland and Gibbins reformed Badfinger again as a touring band until Gibbins left for good in 1990. Molland continues to tour as Joey Molland's Badfinger while recording several solo albums.
In 1997 and 1999, two posthumous collections of Ham home recordings were released, which enjoyed a wide approval from music critics. The City of Swansea planned a museum exhibit commemorating the Welsh members of Badfinger.
Mike Gibbins died in his sleep at his home in Orlando, Florida on October 4, 2005. He was 56.
Post-Badfinger
Evans and Jackson formed The Dodgers after Ham's death in 1975. Molland formed Natural Gas with former Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley in 1976, and Mike Gibbins went into session work, appearing on Bonnie Tyler's 1977 hit single "It's A Heartache."
In 1995, Jackson joined The Fortunes, a 1960s English group still playing on the nostalgia circuit.
Molland currently lives in the Minnetonka area of Minnesota and performs frequently in the United States as "Joey Molland's Badfinger."
