Badfinger

Badfinger was a British rock band.

Band History

Under called The Iveys the group in 1966 by Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins, Pete Ham and Ron Griffiths was founded. They appeared first as backing band of David Garrick, until they sent demo tapes to Apple Records and were taken by Paul McCartney as Ivey's under contract. In 1968, the first single Maybe Tomorrow, which aroused no great stir. Soon after, Griffiths got out. He was replaced by Joey Molland. In 1969, the band the first time as Badfinger. In 1970, the McCartney song Come and get it up to # 4 in the British charts.

They were wrongly called caricatures of the Beatles, have experienced many successes, especially in the United States. In 1971, the hit single No Matter What on the market. Badfinger were heard on records by George Harrison and John Lennon, and also at the concert for Bangladesh they were represented. The following Single Day after Day was also very successful, Baby Blue already less. Their song Without You was in the cover of Harry Nilsson an international success, and later for Mariah Carey.

In 1973, Badfinger to Warner Brothers. Apple torpedoed their first album for Warner Brothers, published by Ace in December 1973. Both Badfinger and Wish You Were Here (both 1974) were unable to match his earlier successes. A short time later Molland left the band. On April 23, 1975, Pete Ham hanged himself after he had briefly left Badfinger, in his garage. The band had fought for years in vain to have more influence with their managers and record companies - but has only been systematically exploited (including the album Badfinger had been taken off the market after financial irregularities in the settlement). Sensitive Ham chose to commit suicide. His last work with Badfinger was the album Head First. It remained unpublished and could be made accessible to the fans until 2000.

For a reunion Badfingers dedicated Molland and Evans 1978 Peter Clarke and Tony Kaye ( ex- Yes). The album Airwaves 1979 but reaped little success. In 1981 the last album Say No More Badfingers. On November 19, 1983 Tom Evans followed the example of Ham and hanged himself. He had long fought unsuccessfully in court about the revenue from his songs - to be involved - in particular of ' Without You ', which he had co-written by Pete Ham. The money was lost somewhere in the Moloch of the participating record companies and managers.

Mike Gibbins died at age 56 on the morning of October 4, 2005 in his sleep at his home in Florida.

Discography

• Magic Christian Music (1970; Apple)
• No Dice (1970, Apple)
• Straight Up ( 1971, Apple)
• Ass ( 1973 Apple)
• Badfinger (1974, Warner Bros. )
• Wish You Were Here (1974, Warner Bros. )
• Airwaves ( 1979, Elektra )
• Say No More ( 1981, radio)
• Day After Day: Live ( 1990, Rykodisc )
• BBC in Concert 1972-3 ( 1997, Strange Fruit )
• Head First (2000, Snapper ), was added in 1974

Book

• Dan Matovina: Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger