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Badfinger: one hit wonder or no?

Pine Barrens Mafia

By Pine Barrens Mafia
in Off the Wall Archives

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row_33 Hall of Famer

row_33

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Posted
16 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

 

Hmmm...is that the lead singer?  I can see how they would be a one hit wonder.

 

One of Macca's side finds for Apple

 

the band was nothing to get hung about...

 

 

snafu Veteran

snafu

Posted
Posted

Not a one hit wonder, but not coming back for a reunion anytime soon.  The lead singer hung himself in 1975 because he hired a crook as his manager.  I remember looking up "Day After Day" a few years ago to figure out why I (wrongly) always thought it was a Clapton tune.  I remembered the story.

 

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/history-of-pete-ham-badfinger/

 

Around the time they started work on No Dice, they hired Stan Polley, a New York-based businessman with some experience in the music industry, to look after their money. Their agreement gave him power to negotiate all contracts, and he kept the members on salary throughout this time, paying them out of the royalties he was collecting on their behalf.

By 1972, Apple was still in turmoil. With Badfinger owing the label one last record, Polley looked for a new company where he could get more favorable terms for his clients. He found one in Warner Bros., which signed the group to a $3 million deal for six albums in three years. It would start as soon as their contract with Apple expired.

... Meanwhile, Warner Bros. was beginning to wonder what Polley had done with the advances that had been placed in escrow. The band’s lack of money, coupled with sales declines, caused a great deal of tension in the studio. By late August, after the album had been completed, the situation came to a head. Ham, the only member of the group who still trusted Polley, walked away from the band and was replaced by keyboardist Bob Jackson, only to return a few weeks later.

... Over the next few months, Ham was driven deep into depression over his lack of money. On the night of April 23, 1975, he went out drinking with Evans, where they decided to fire Polley once and for all. Evans brought Ham home shortly after midnight when -- as recounted in Dan Matovina’s excellent biography of the band, Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger -- Ham told Evans, “Don’t worry. I know a way out.”

That morning, Ham’s girlfriend Anne, who was eight months pregnant with their child, woke up and went to their garage, where Ham often wrote. She found him hanging from an overhead beam. He was three days away from his 28th birthday. The note he left was addressed to her and her son. It read, “Anne, I love you. Blair, I love you. I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better. P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me.”

 

Rico Hall of Famer

Rico

Posted
Posted

They also wrote and recorded Without You, now a standard, which Nilsson took to #1. I do not care for their version at all though

Wacka All Pro

Wacka

Posted
Posted

Come and get it is in The Magic Christian with Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers.  Great scene of Sellers and Starr  throwing money in a swimming pool full of sewage  while businessmen jump in to grab it all while the song is playing.

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SinceThe70s Veteran

SinceThe70s

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, joesixpack said:

Inquiring minds want to know

 

 

Which inquiring minds? I was pretty young, remember the bad name, but not the songs so I googled. Remembered more than one, ergo not one hit wonders.

 

4 hours ago, RaoulDuke79 said:

Rather hear Badmotorfinger.

 

Or Badfish. Pretty sure it's thanks to you posting the Badfish video in another thread that I came across a live version that I like:

 

 

 

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Greybeard Veteran

Greybeard

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, snafu said:

Not a one hit wonder, but not coming back for a reunion anytime soon.  The lead singer hung himself in 1975 because he hired a crook as his manager.  I remember looking up "Day After Day" a few years ago to figure out why I (wrongly) always thought it was a Clapton tune.  I remembered the story.

 

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/history-of-pete-ham-badfinger/

 

Around the time they started work on No Dice, they hired Stan Polley, a New York-based businessman with some experience in the music industry, to look after their money. Their agreement gave him power to negotiate all contracts, and he kept the members on salary throughout this time, paying them out of the royalties he was collecting on their behalf.

By 1972, Apple was still in turmoil. With Badfinger owing the label one last record, Polley looked for a new company where he could get more favorable terms for his clients. He found one in Warner Bros., which signed the group to a $3 million deal for six albums in three years. It would start as soon as their contract with Apple expired.

... Meanwhile, Warner Bros. was beginning to wonder what Polley had done with the advances that had been placed in escrow. The band’s lack of money, coupled with sales declines, caused a great deal of tension in the studio. By late August, after the album had been completed, the situation came to a head. Ham, the only member of the group who still trusted Polley, walked away from the band and was replaced by keyboardist Bob Jackson, only to return a few weeks later.

... Over the next few months, Ham was driven deep into depression over his lack of money. On the night of April 23, 1975, he went out drinking with Evans, where they decided to fire Polley once and for all. Evans brought Ham home shortly after midnight when -- as recounted in Dan Matovina’s excellent biography of the band, Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger -- Ham told Evans, “Don’t worry. I know a way out.”

That morning, Ham’s girlfriend Anne, who was eight months pregnant with their child, woke up and went to their garage, where Ham often wrote. She found him hanging from an overhead beam. He was three days away from his 28th birthday. The note he left was addressed to her and her son. It read, “Anne, I love you. Blair, I love you. I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. This is better. P.S. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. I will take him with me.”

 

           The Band had a lot of potential, so it is a shame they were screwed by their manager.    I believe I read the above about 2 years ago when one of the band members who was still touring was going to play Seneca Niagara.

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