Badfinger

Badfinger began life in Wales in 1964 as The Iveys.

After honing their approach as a support act for groups including The Who, The Spencer Davis Group and The Yardbirds, in late 1966 The Iveys cut their first demo with producer Ray Davies.

The group then headed towards The Beatles Apple offices in the hope of being signed as both writers and performers and their dream came true when they became one of the first acts outside of The Beatles to be signed to the label.

Their first record, Maybe Tomorrow was released in November 1968 but it failed to make the charts leading to a discussion as to what went wrong.

One conclusion was their name so many suggestions were thrown into the pot with Neil Aspinall’s choice of Badfinger being the one they finally chose.

Paul McCartney penned their first hit, Come And Get It, which was featured (along with a couple of their other songs) in the movie The Magic Christian (1969) and on their debut album, Magic Christian Music in 1970.

With their follow-up, No Dice, Badfinger’s image as poor man’s Beatles began to evaporate, due to the new sophistication found in the writing skills of all the band members.

George Harrison and Todd Rundgren took turns producing their third album, Straight Up, which contained two more international hits, Baby Blue and Day After Day. Poised to take advantage of this great success, Badfinger lost momentum as Apple Records began to crumble under mismanagement and confusion.

In fact, rarely has a recording group had so much apparent opportunity and so much bad luck.

In November 1973, the band released Ass – a good album but one that was a little rough around the edges – only months later, Badfinger released their self-titled debut album for Warner’s. The album was an improvement over Ass, but it still suffered from the hasty release.

Determined to get it right, Badfinger went into the studio with Chris Thomas and produced some of their very best music in Wish You Were Here.

Upon discovering a questionable disappearance of money from Badfinger’s publishing account, Warner’s pulled the record weeks after its release, in spite of glowing reviews.

Undaunted but terribly upset by the situation, the band cut another album, Head First, which Warner’s also barred from release.

Depressed by personal and professional problems, Pete Ham hanged himself in his garage on 23 April 1975.

After a five-year break, Tom Evans and Joey Molland regrouped and released the patchy Airwaves on Elektra. The subsequent Say No More was even weaker.

In 1983, frustrated over not receiving proper royalties and endless other band business problems, Evans took his own life.

Molland sporadically continued with Badfinger during the rest of the 80s and 90s, hiring different sidemen for each tour, while also pursuing a solo career.

Joey Molland died from complications of diabetes at a hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on 1 March 2025. He was 77.