Badfinger

Badfinger

Badfinger was a rock band formed in Swansea, Wales in the early 1960s who became one of the earliest representatives of the post-60s power pop genre. During the early 1970s the band was at times tagged as the heir apparent to The Beatles, partly because of their close working relationship with them and partly because of their similar sound. The band had four consecutive worldwide hit songs and contributed "Without You," a No. 1 Billboard hit for Harry Nilsson which was covered by hundreds of artists. Badfinger's two principally-known singers and songwriters, Pete Ham and Tom Evans committed suicide in 1975 and 1983, respectively.

After their initial hit song on the The Beatles record label, Apple - "Come and Get It" - the band members entrusted their financial affairs to an American businessman Stan Polley. Internal squabbling, artistic differences, and allegations of financial mismanagement ensued which eventually led to a freeze on the band's activities and income. Founding member Pete Ham committed suicide after leaving a damning note about Stan Polley and the band folded. Subsequent attempts to reform Badfinger at various times over the following decade floundered. Band member Tom Evans, who saw his friend's body hanging, never got over Pete Ham's death and he committed suicide on November 19, 1983. Evans was quoted by many as saying in darker moments, "I wanna be where he is." The band's story has been referred to as "the classic rags-to-riches story with a tragic Shakespearean ending."

History

The Iveys

Badfinger originated in 1961 as a band out of Swansea, South Wales called The Panthers. The Panthers' lineup contained Pete Ham (lead guitar) (born Peter William Ham, 27 April 1947, in Townhill, Swansea, South Wales died 23 April 1975), Ron Griffiths (bass guitar) (born Ronald Llewellyn Griffiths, 2 October 1946, in Swansea, South Wales), Roy Anderson (drums), and David 'Dai' Jenkins (guitar) (born David Owen Jenkins, 30 October 1945, in Swansea, South Wales). After a handful of moniker changes, by 1964 they settled on The Iveys, named after a street in Swansea called Ivey Place.

In March 1965, Mike Gibbins (born Michael George Gibbons, 12 March 1949, in Swansea, South Wales died 4 October 2005) joined as the drummer and the band graduated by also playing gigs around Swansea area opening for UK prominent groups such as the Spencer Davis Group, The Who, The Moody Blues and The Yardbirds. By June 1966, they had been taken on by a manager named Bill Collins, who was renting a home at 7 Park Avenue, Golders Green, London, where the whole band moved in with another UK act called The Mojos. The group performed a few gigs as a backing band for David Garrick ("Dear Mrs. Applebee") (born Philip Darrell Core, 12 September 1944, in Oswestry, Shropshire, England) and continued to perform as themselves across the UK throughout the rest of the decade. In 1967, Jenkins was asked to leave the group because of a lack of seriousness. He was replaced by a Liverpudlian guitarist Tom Evans of Them Calderstones (born Thomas Evans Jr, 5 June 1947, in Liverpool, Lancashire, England died 19 November 1983).

As a well-received stage act on the London circuit, The Iveys performed a wide range of cover tunes from Motown, blues, soul to Top 40, psychedelic pop, and Beatles. They consistently garnered interest from record labels. Ray Davies of The Kinks auditioned to produce them by recording three of their songs at a demo studio in London, as Pye Records had encouraged him to do so. However, it was not until Mal Evans (the longtime "roadie" for The Beatles and an employee of their Apple Records label) took up their cause that they were finally signed on 23 July 1968, as the first non-Beatle recording artists for the Apple record company. Initially, Mal Evans had pushed several demo tape reels of the group to each of the individual Beatles and he received approval to sign them up from all four: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. Lennon was said to have found it difficult to believe they were recorded using a mono "sound-on-sound" tape recorder (two individual tracks bouncing each overdub on top of the last). Each of The Iveys members were also signed to Apple Corps' an Apple Publishing contract.

The Iveys first single was released worldwide, "Maybe Tomorrow" (a Tom Evans song), late in 1968. It reached the Top Ten in a number of European countries (No. 1 in Holland) and Japan, but had only climbed to No. 67 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and failed to chart in the U.K. Another Evans composition, "Storm in a Teacup", was included in an Apple EP produced to promote Walls Ice Cream, with songs by other Apple artists such as James Taylor, Mary Hopkin and Jackie Lomax.

Because of the chart success of "Maybe Tomorrow" in Europe and Japan, a follow-up Iveys single was released in those territories in July 1969, "Dear Angie" (a Griffiths song). An Iveys LP, entitled Maybe Tomorrow, was issued only in Italy, Germany and Japan at that same time. Any plans to release the LP in the UK and U.S. were halted for reasons never made entirely clear. The most prominent rumour is that Apple Corps president Allen Klein stopped its release because of his desire to re-organize the label at the time, besides the fact the overall quality was being seriously questioned behind the scenes.

McCartney gave The Iveys a needed boost when he offered them the chance to record and release "Come And Get It", a song he had written for the soundtrack of the film The Magic Christian. McCartney went on to produce the song, as well as the group's original compositions of "Carry On Till Tomorrow" (commissioned as the main title theme) and "Rock Of All Ages." These three tracks would appear both in the movie and soundtrack album. Ron Griffiths became ill midway during these sessions, and Tom Evans had to play bass on "Rock Of All Ages."

Griffiths left the group shortly in October 1969. He was the only married occupant of the communal band home, now raising a new child, and this responsibility created some friction, mainly between Griffiths's new wife, Tom Evans and manager Collins. After he first quit and came back, the band soon agreed to force Griffiths out. He was out of the picture by November 1969.

Badfinger: The Apple years

In October 1969, while the release of "Come and Get It" was pending, the band and Apple Records agreed that a name change was now critical. "The Iveys" were still sometimes confused with "The Ivy League", and the name was considered too trite for the current music scene. After much debate, the group changed their name to Badfinger. Other suggestions had included: "The Glass Onion," "The Prix", and "The Cagneys" from John Lennon, and "Home" by Paul McCartney. The name Badfinger had been suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinall as a reference to "Bad Finger Boogie", an early working title of Lennon/McCartney's "With a Little Help from My Friends", the idea alleged by Neil Aspinall that Lennon had composed the melody on a piano using only one finger, after having hurt his forefinger. Later quotes from Paul McCartney suggest it was he who composed the song's chords and melody.

For over a month the group unsuccessfully auditioned band members to replace Ron Griffiths, chiefly bass players. With the release date of "Come and Get It" fast approaching, Badfinger finally hired Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland (previously with Gary Walker & The Rain, The Masterminds, and The Fruit-Eating Bears) (born Joseph Charles Molland, 21 June 1947, in Edge Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, England), which required Evans shift to bass guitar.

"Come and Get It" was released in December 1969 in the U.K. and January 1970 in the U.S. It reached Top 10 throughout the world, including No. 3 in the U.S. Billboard chart. The track was also featured in The Magic Christian film. For the group's initial LP release, their three songs on the soundtrack LP were remixed and combined with some older Iveys tracks (including seven songs from the rare Maybe Tomorrow album). This was released as Badfinger's first album Magic Christian Music. The album peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard album chart in the U.S.

New Badfinger recording sessions commenced in March 1970 with Mal Evans producing. Two songs were completed and submitted for the next single, including "No Matter What." The song was rejected by Apple staff as a potential single. Geoff Emerick then took over as their producer and they completed the album by late July 1970. The No Dice LP was released in the U.S. in late 1970. It peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard charts. A newly re-mixed "No Matter What" was released as the single and it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 while achieving across-the-board Top Ten worldwide. Another track from No Dice, "Without You", as covered by Harry Nilsson became an international hit in early 1972, reaching the Billboard No. 1 slot. The composition was eventually covered by hundreds of artists and has since become an all-time ballad "standard."

While in America in April 1970 scouting prospects for a tour, manager Bill Collins was introduced to New York businessman Stan Polley. Polley eventually signed the group to a business management contract in November 1970. Although Polley's professional reputation was touted at the time, his dubious financial practices would only later become known to the group and helped lead to their downfall.

Badfinger toured America for three months in late 1970 and were generally received well, although the group complained of constant comparison to The Beatles. For example, in his rave review of No Dice in 1970, Mike Saunders, a critic for Rolling Stone opined that "it's as if John, Paul, George, and Ringo had been reincarnated as Joey, Pete, Tom, and Mike of Badfinger." Media comparisons between Badfinger and The Beatles would continue throughout Badfinger's career.

During this time, various members of Badfinger also recorded on sessions for fellow Apple Records labelmates, most notably playing acoustic guitars on tracks from George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and providing backing vocals on Ringo Starr's single "It Don't Come Easy". Evans and Molland performed on John Lennon's album Imagine, and all four members of the band appeared as backup musicians throughout George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, with Ham duetting with George Harrison on "Here Comes the Sun".

Badfinger finished recording its third album with Geoff Emerick as producer; however the album was rejected by Apple. George Harrison then took over as producer in spring of 1971. Harrison later pulled out of the project because of his Bangladesh commitments and the album was then completed by Todd Rundgren. Straight Up was released in the U.S. in December 1971 and spawned two successful singles: "Day After Day" (Billboard No. 4) and "Baby Blue" (No. 14). The album reached No. 31. It included some uncredited special guest appearances from George Harrison, Leon Russell and Klaus Voormann.

By 1972, the group was under contract to release only one more album with Apple Records. Despite Badfinger's success, Apple was facing troubled times overall and its operations were dwindling down. Label president Allen Klein informed Badfinger's management that the label would not be as generous regarding a new contract. Although, by this time, business manager Stan Polley was openly regarded by other clients of his, such as Lou Christie and music arranger Charlie Calello, with strong suspicion for mis-management of finances (one series of allegations published in the New York Times even represented him as a one-time "bagman" for the Mafia), the Badfinger members and Collins continued to follow Polley's lead. There was never a clear indication by Collins nor any of the band members that they knew much of the scandals surrounding Polley at that time.

Badfinger's fourth and last album for Apple, Ass, had begun as far back as early 1972 and would continue at five recording studios over the next year. Rundgren, who was originally hired to produce, quit in a financial dispute during the first week; the band then produced itself, but Apple rejected that version of the album. Finally, Badfinger hired Chris Thomas to co-produce and complete the album. During the recording of Ass, Polley negotiated a deal with Warner Brothers Records that required an album from the group every six months over a three year period. The group signed the deal, despite a highly suspicious Evans, and the Ass front cover featured his idea, a jackass observing a huge carrot being dangled (a metaphor of the band being enticed by the big money Warner Brothers contract). The Ass release was held up further by Apple because of legal wrangling, as Polley had used the leverage of Molland's unsigned song publishing as a negotiating ploy. Apple listed the writers on the LP as "Badfinger" to try and cover up discrepancies and get the LP to the market. But both Ass and its accompanying single, "Apple of My Eye", failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100.

Badfinger: the Warner Brothers years

Six weeks after the Ass sessions were completed, Badfinger entered the studio to begin recording material for their first Warner Brothers release titled Badfinger (the intended title, For Love Or Money, was excluded from the album pressings). Ass and Badfinger were released almost simultaneously and the accompanying singles from Badfinger, "Love Is Easy" (UK) and "I Miss You" (U.S.), were unsuccessful. Badfinger did manage to retain some U.S. fan support as a result of several American tours. One concert at the Cleveland Agora on March 4, 1974 was recorded on 16-track tape for a possible live album release, although the performance was deemed unsatisfactory at the time.

Following the American tours, Badfinger recorded Wish You Were Here at the Caribou Ranch recording studio in Colorado and AIR Studios in London. The album was extremely well-received by Rolling Stone and other periodicals upon its release in October 1974.

However, internal friction centering on band management, money and group leadership had been growing within Badfinger. Joey Molland's wife, Kathie, had been taking a more assertive role in the band's politics, which did not endear her to the rest of the group, particularly Ham. Just before the band began rehearsals for an October 1974 United Kingdom tour, Ham suddenly quit the band during a management meeting, stating that he didn't want to belong to a band managed by Kathie Molland. He was replaced by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Jackson. During Ham's three-week hiatus from the group, Polley began shopping Ham as a solo act. However, just before the tour began, Ham rejoined the group after he was pressured by Warner Brothers' position that it would have little to no interest in promoting Badfinger if Ham was gone. Jackson remained as full-time keyboardist, making the band a quintet. After the United Kingdom tour, the friction within the group continued. After some unsuccessful power plays by Molland to keep Ham out of the band, Molland quit of his own accord to pursue a solo career.

Over the previous year, Warner Brothers' publishing arm had become increasingly troubled by a lack of communication from Stan Polley regarding the status of an escrow account of advance funds. Per their contract, Polley was to put in safe-keeping $100,000 in a mutually accessible account that both Warner Publishing and the group could potentially access. But Polley had not revealed the account's whereabouts to Warners Publishing, and he reportedly ignored warnings about this. Unbeknownst to the band, threats of litigation had been going on behind the scenes.

With Molland gone and an increasingly unstable situation overall, Polley's next ploy was to press the band to go back into Apple Recording Studios to record its third album under the Warner contract, instead of a U.S. support tour. Within two weeks, tracks were cut for an album entitled Head First, and rough mixes were distributed to the musicians and Warner Brothers Records in America. Before the album was formally accepted by Warners Records, Warners Publishing had already filed a lawsuit against Stan Polley and Badfinger on December 10, 1974 in L.A. Superior Court. Polley had hoped submitting the Head First tapes would secure at least one more album advance before the litigation, but Warner Brothers refused to accept the tapes and never paid for the sessions. The legal action led to Warners Records stopping the promotion of Wish You Were Here and they stopped distribution of Wish You Were Here worldwide, thus completely halting Badfinger's career.

A suicide, a reunion, and another suicide

Badfinger spent the early months of 1975 trying to figure out how to proceed with the unclear legal situation at hand, including the one withdrawn album and the one rejected album. Years earlier, Polley had established Badfinger Enterprises, Inc., which signed the members to various contracts that dictated that receipts of touring, recording, publishing and even songwriter performance royalties would go into holding companies controlled by Polley. This led to a salary arrangement for the group, which various members had at times complained was inadequate compared to their gross earnings. But by April 1975, salaries were no longer arriving and panic set in, especially for Pete Ham, who had recently acquired a house and whose girlfriend was expecting a child that May.

According to their newest member, Bob Jackson, booking agents and prospective managers routinely turned the band away because of their restrictive contracts with Polley and impending legal actions. Ham tried many times to contact Polley by telephone during the early months of 1975 but was never able to reach him.

On 24 April 1975, Ham hanged himself in his garage studio in Surrey. His suicide note, addressed to his girlfriend and her son, seemed to blame Polley for much of his internal despair and he cited his lost ability to cope with his disappointments in life. The note read: "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 had shown a growing mental illness over the past months as he burned cigarettes out on his hands and arms. Ham's daughter Petera was born a month after his death.

After Ham's death, Badfinger dissolved. Late in 1975, Evans and Jackson helped establish a group called The Dodgers. The group released three UK 45's on Island Records in 1976. "Don't Let Me Be Wrong" was the only U.S. release, but it failed to chart. Subsequently, the management of the band fired Evans for insubordination and ordered all his performances deleted from the group's album recordings that later was released as Love On The Rebound. Molland had started a band in 1975 with Mark Clarke (Colosseum) and Jerry Shirley (Humble Pie) called Natural Gas. The group performed a few gigs as an opening act for Peter Frampton in 1976. They released a self-titled album and three singles, but none managed to chart. Gibbins performed session drumming for various Welsh acts, including Bonnie Tyler on her international hit "It's A Heartache," which reached No. 3 on the U.S. chart.

By 1977, both Molland and Evans were out of the music business; Molland occasionally laid carpet while Evans briefly worked insulating pipes. Molland describes his dire economic circumstances as follows: "Thank God I had guitars and I was able to sell some of that stuff. We were flat broke, and that's happened to me three times, where my wife and I have had to sell off everything and go and stay with her parents or do whatever. I installed carpeting for a while in Los Angeles and stuff like that. You do what you've got to do to survive."

Later in 1977, U.S.-based drummer Kenny Harck and guitarist Joe Tansin recruited Molland to start a new band. When they needed a bass player, Molland suggested Evans, who joined after a visit to California in 1978. Suggestions from record companies led to the decision to rename the new band as Badfinger. Their “comeback” album Airwaves was released in 1979. Harck was fired from the band during the sessions and Tansin left the band immediately after the album was completed.

To tour promoting the album, Molland and Evans recruited Tony Kaye (Yes) on keyboards and Peter Clarke (Stealers Wheel) on drums. The single "Love is Gonna Come At Last" from Airwaves reached No. 69 on the Billboard chart. The new Badfinger then recorded and released a second album, Say No More in 1981, with Glenn Sherba added on second guitar and Richard Bryans (Aviary) replacing Clarke on drums. This LP was distributed by Atlantic on the Radio Records label. The initial single, "Hold On," reached No. 56 on the Billboard charts. Ultimately, Evans and Molland split acrimoniously in 1981.

During 1982 and 1983, Molland and Evans then operated what turned out to be rival touring bands, both using the name Badfinger, which caused serious conflict in their relationship. In the summer of 1982, Evans teamed with pre-1975 Badfinger members Bob Jackson and Mike Gibbins and guitarist Adam Allen. In the fall of 1982, Evans, Jackson and Gibbins were joined by guitarists Reed Kailing (The Grass Roots) and Donnie Dacus (Chicago). In 1983 it was Evans & Jackson joined by post-1975 Badfinger members Tony Kaye, guitarist Glenn Sherba and drummer Lenny Campanaro. Earlier that year for his Badfinger band gigs, Molland had teamed with post-1975 member Joe Tansin.

In 1982, Evans and Jackson signed a management contract with a Milwaukee businessman John Cass, which led to a disastrous tour. Both were later sued (Evans for U.S. $5 million) when they denied any responsibilities of the contract, because of their stance that management obligations had not been performed. Early in 1983, Evans and Jackson, with assistance from new member Al Wodtke (Kyx, Crow, Apostles), completed four demos in Minneapolis, Minnesota under the name of "Badfinger" with David Bowie/Stevie Wonder manager Don Powell. These demos included Jackson's "I Won't Forget You," a tribute to deceased band member Pete Ham. These were briefly shopped but failed to generate strong interest.

On November 19, 1983, Evans and Molland had an extensive heated argument on the telephone regarding past Badfinger income still in escrow from the Apple era, and the "Without You" songwriting royalties Evans was now receiving, which Molland, former manager Bill Collins and Gibbins all wanted a share in. Following this argument, Evans hanged himself in the garden at his home.

In 1984, Molland, Gibbins and Jackson reunited as Badfinger, along with Al Wodtke and Randy Anderson(Jesse Brady) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and played thirty-one dates as part of a 20th Anniversary of British Invasion acts, which included Gerry & The Pacemakers, The Troggs, Billy J. Kramer and Hermans Hermits.

In 1986, Molland and Gibbins resumed touring as Badfinger playing sporadic dates, until Gibbins left for good in August 1989(see Badfinger lineups below).

Subsequent Iveys and Badfinger releases and activities

The first CD collection of Badfinger, entitled Shine On and covering the two Warner Brothers albums, was released in the UK in 1989. In 1990, Rhino Records released another Warner Brothers-era compilation, entitled The Best of Badfinger, Vol. 2, which also included material from both Airwaves and the previously unreleased Head First.

A greatest hits collection covering Badfinger's four albums on Apple, entitled Come And Get It: The Best Of Badfinger, was released in 1995 by EMI/Apple/Capitol. This release notably was the first since 1973's Ass to have assigned to it a standard Apple catalogue number, SAPCOR 28. A more comprehensive collection, which included tracks from Apple and Warner Brothers, called The Very Best Of Badfinger, was released in 2000.

In 1990 a CD was released by Rykodisc called Day After Day: Live. It was billed as a Badfinger live recording performed from 1974 and received mixed critical reactions. The CD had very substantial re-recording and a rearranged track order by the album's producer Joey Molland. The CD eventually sparked a lawsuit filed by Molland, after the band's accounting firm collecting for the 1985 court-order settlement had re-adjusted against Molland's Apple royalty income by deducting away the percentage amounts of that court order, and then reimbursing those amounts to the other Badfinger parties. As it was, Molland had failed to execute in the Rykodisc contract for them to receive any artist royalties contractually, as per the court order, which he maneuvered by advising Rykodisc he would take care of that distribution himself under another company name. Molland subsequently sued the other members and their estates to re-acquire back his expenses and a producer's royalty. He was awarded some money, as the judge stated the facts against Molland were not explored well enough by the opposition lawyers in court to justify a level of severe penalty. He also cited that because both parties claimed the tapes were of a poor quality, Molland had salvaged them to a commercial level, and that justified some reimbursement.

In 1988, Straight Up had ranked as the most-requested CD release among out-of-print albums in a readers poll for Goldmine magazine; it finally made it to CD in 1993. A re-mastered CD version of the album regularly sells for over $100 as does an original sealed vinyl copy.

In 1995, Molland was paid to re-record ten Badfinger songs, including their hits. The recordings have subsequently been distributed with varying packaging, often displaying the original 1970s version of the group with little or no disclaiming information, although Molland is the only member of Badfinger from that time who appears on the recordings.

In 1997, a detailed biography on Badfinger written by Dan Matovina came out entitled Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger. It is highly acclaimed for its thoroughness by reviewers and its accuracy by its contributors. A revised edition of the book came out in 2000 with a CD of rare material and interviews.

In 2000, the "rough mix" version of Head First (that had been prepared by Apple engineer Phil McDonald in December 1974) was released on CD, after Warner Brothers refused to make the original master tapes available for remixing, despite their never paying for the original sessions.

In 2002, Mike Gibbins released a two-disk set of an October 19, 1982 Badfinger performance in Indiana made on a consumer cassette recorder, initially inaccurately entitled Live 83 — DBA-BFR. The band at that time consisted of Evans, Gibbins, Jackson, Reed Kailing and Donnie Dacus.

In 2003 and 2006, two separate CDs of related Apple Publishing music, entitled 94 Baker Street and An Apple A Day, were released. These CDs contain nine songs by pre-Badfinger band, The Iveys.

In 2008, another CD of Apple Publishing related songs, Treacle Toffee, was released which included two more Iveys demos.

Post-Badfinger solo activities

Since 1990, Joey Molland has occasionally performed in the United States as "Badfinger" or "Badfinger featuring Joey Molland". He has released three solo albums, After The Pearl (1985), The Pilgrim (1992) and This Way Up (2001). He also released a CD collection of demos called Basil (1998) on his own label Independent Artists.

In 1995, Bob Jackson joined The Fortunes, an English group most successful in the 1960s. Jackson sings lead as they perform three Badfinger songs consistently in the set.

In both 1997 and 1999, posthumous collections of Pete Ham home recordings were released 7 Park Avenue and Golders Green. In 1995, a posthumous Tom Evans CD was released, Over You: The Final Tracks, which was produced by friend and post-Badfinger songwriting partner, Rod Roach.

In 1996, Mike Gibbins contributed two songs to the compilation CD Young Savage Florida. On October 4, 2005, Gibbins died in his sleep at his home in Florida from natural causes.

In June 2006, A Badfinger convention took place in Swansea, Wales featuring a performance by Bob Jackson. it brought together Jackson, Griffiths, and surviving members of the Ham, Evans and Gibbins families. On 1 January 2008, the BBC Wales radio station broadcast an hour-long documentary about Badfinger.

Personnel

Membership of The Iveys/Badfinger underwent numerous personnel changes and, at the end, none of the original members of The Iveys were still in Badfinger. Members of Badfinger before 1975 are in bold.

The Iveys 1965 - 1967	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Ron Griffiths - vocals, bass David "Dai" Jenkins - vocals, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion
The Iveys 1967 - 1969	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tom Evans - vocals, guitar, bass Ron Griffiths - vocals, bass Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion
Badfinger 1969	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
Badfinger 1969 - 1974	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
Badfinger Oct./Nov. 1974	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Bob Jackson - vocals, keyboards Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
Badfinger Nov. 1974 - April 1975	Pete Ham - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Bob Jackson - vocals, keyboards, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
May 1975 - 1978	Disbanded
Badfinger 1978	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Joe Tansin - vocals, guitar Kenny Harck - drums
Badfinger 1978	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards Joe Tansin - vocals, guitar
Badfinger 1979	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tony Kaye - keyboards Bob Schell - guitar Peter Clarke - drums
Badfinger 1979	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tony Kaye - keyboards Peter Clarke - drums
Badfinger 1979 - 1980	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Tony Kaye - keyboards Ian Wallace - drums
Badfinger 1980	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Rod Roach - guitar Tony Kaye - keyboards Richard Bryans - drums
Badfinger 1980 - 1981	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, piano Glen Sherba - guitar Tony Kaye - keyboards Richard Bryans - drums
Joey's Badfinger 1981	Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Joe Tansin - vocals, guitar Larry Lee - vocals, bass Bobby Wickland - drums
Joey's Badfinger 1982	Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Ted Turner - vocals, guitar Craig Howlett - bass Bobby Wickland - drums
Tom & Mike's Badfinger 1982	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums Bob Evans - vocals, keyboards, guitar Jimmy McCullogh - guitar Steve Johns - keyboards
Tom & Mike's Badfinger 1982	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Bob Jackson - vocals, keyboards, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards Adam Allen - guitar, backing vocals
Tom & Mike's Badfinger 1982	Tom Evans - vocals, bass, guitar Bob Jackson - vocals, keyboards, guitar Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards Reed Kailing - vocals, guitar Donnie Dacus - vocals, guitar
Joey's Badfinger 1983	Joey Molland - vocals, guitar, keyboards Dave Simpson - vocals, guitar Skip Coverdale - bass Andrew Russell - keyboards Steve Craiter - drums Bob Evans - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Tom's Badfinger 1983	Tom Evans - vocals, bass Bob Jackson - vocals, guitar, keyboards Glen Sherba - guitar Tony Kaye - keyboards Lenny Campanero - drums
Badfinger 1984	Joey Molland - vocals, guitar Bob Jackson - vocals, guitar, keyboards Mike Gibbins - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards Al Wodtke - vocals, bass Randy Anderson - vocals, guitar

Discography

Original albums

Year of Release	Title and Billboard position	Singles	Billboard position	Cashbox position	Melody Maker position	Boss Radio position
1969	Maybe Tomorrow ("The Iveys") "Maybe Tomorrow" Lp unreleased in US until Apple Records CD release in 1992 (Apple/Capitol CDP 7 98692 2).	"Maybe Tomorrow"	67
1970	Magic Christian Music #55	"Come and Get It"	7	6	4	15
	No Dice #28	"No Matter What"	8	3	5	4
1971	Straight Up #31	"Day After Day"	4	3	10	3
		"Baby Blue"	14	10		16
1973	Ass #122	"Apple of My Eye"	102
1974	Badfinger #161	"Love Is Easy" "I Miss You"
	Wish You Were Here #148
1979	Airwaves #125	"Lost Inside Your Love"
		"Love Is Gonna Come At Last"	69
1981	Say No More #155	"Hold On"	56
1990	Day After Day: Live
1997	BBC In Concert 1972-1973
2000	Head First
2002	Live 83 — DBA-BFR

Compilations

Year of Release	Title
1989	Shine On (UK only)
1990	The Best of Badfinger, Vol. 2
1995	The Best Of Badfinger
2000	The Very Best Of Badfinger

References

• Dan Matovina: *Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger. ISBN 0-9657122-2-2

External links

• Badfinger Library
• Badfinger-Iveys
• Biography and audio clips on BBC Wales
• Badfinger Biography Book
• Badfingerlinks.com