Badfinger originated with guitarist/keyboardist Pete Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) and a group called The Panthers. Ham, Ron Griffiths (bass guitar) (b. October 2, 1946) 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 (March 12, 1949 - October 4, 2005) 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 (June 5, 1947 - November 19, 1983). The Iveys recorded and released a single, "Maybe Tomorrow" (1968) which reached the lower levels of Billboard Hot 100. An album of the same name was issued in some European countries, and Japan, in 1969 (See Maybe Tomorrow), although plans to release the LP in the U.K. and U.S. were halted.
Ron Griffiths, Mike Gibbins, Pete Ham and Tom Evans (who appeared on the cover of their first album, Maybe Tomorrow, released in 1969) signed with The Beatles' label Apple Records in 1968. Paul McCartney gave the group a boost in 1969 when he offered them their breakthrough song "Come And Get It," intended for the soundtrack to the film The Magic Christian. The single 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 also recorded. These three tracks, produced by McCartney, appeared in the film and soundtrack album. Badfinger's own album, Magic Christian Music, was released several months after the film's premiere.
Before "Come And Get It" was released, the group decided a style and name change were both needed. Discarding The Iveys' '60s pop sound in favor of a rockier edge, the group changed their name to Badfinger (passing on McCartney's suggested 'Home' and John Lennon's suggestion of 'Prix'). The name "Badfinger" was suggested by Apple's Neil Aspinall. 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). Griffiths left the band in the fall of 1969, shortly after the McCartney sessions were completed. The band reorganized, with Evans moving to bass and adding Liverpudlian guitarist Joey Molland in December of 1969.
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 track from No Dice, "Without You", became a bigger hit when recorded by Harry Nilsson in 1971 (where it reached the Billboard #1 slot) and Mariah Carey in 1993.
In preparation for their first American tour in 1970, Badfinger enlisted a New York business manager named Stan Polley. Although Polley's reputation was well presented to Badfinger at the time, his alleged connections to organized crime and dubious financial arrangements would only become known to the group in the coming years. Badfinger toured in America and were generally well received, but the group complained they were living in the shadow of The Beatles because of their close connection to the band. Many music critics of the time unfavorably compared Badfinger and The Beatles, which haunted the group for years to come.
The band's popularity began increasing exponentially. The band recorded many sessions for fellow Apple Records labelmates, notably playing acoustic guitar 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.
Badfinger's second album, Straight Up, was released in 1971, and 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 and Ham trading slide guitar solos on "Day After Day". ' Decades later, Straight Up ranked as the most-requested CD release among out-of-print albums in a readers poll for Goldmine magazine.
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, Polley had been misrepresenting and exploiting artists he had contracts with, according to several of his clients (including Lou Christie and Al Kooper).
Ass by Badfinger. The sessions for what would be Badfinger's fourth 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 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.
Six weeks after the Ass sessions were completed, Badfinger entered the studio to begin recording material for their first Warner Brothers release, Badfinger (the intended Warner title, For Love Or Money, was accidentally excluded). Neither Ass nor Badfinger were well-received by music critics. 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 maintain U.S. fan support as a result of several American tours. A performance at the Cleveland Agora in March 1974 was released on CD in 1990, although it became a subject of controversy because of Molland's later studio overdubbing.
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 centering on band management and money had been growing within Badfinger for a couple years. By 1974, 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 an October 1974 UK tour, Ham suddenly quit the band during a management meeting. 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 over a lack of consensus on their management situation.
With Polley's urging, Ham, Evans, Jackson and Gibbins reconvened to record a quick follow-up to Wish You Were Here shortly after it was released. The album, Head First, was recorded in two weeks at Apple Studios in December 1974. Warner Brothers' publishing division refused to accept the Head First tapes because it was preparing to launch a lawsuit against Badfinger Enterprises, Inc. (the group's management company) and Stan Polley. The Head First album became lost in the litigation and was never issued by Warner Brothers. Bob Jackson retained a copy of a 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.
The lawsuit launched by Warner Brothers' publishing division against Badfinger Enterprises, Inc. in December 1974 would work its way through California courts until 1979. At issue was the disappearance of several thousand dollars of publishing escrow money which Polley had access to. When Warner Brothers repeatedly asked about the money's whereabouts, Polley reportedly did not respond. As a result of this legal fray, Wish You Were Here and all other Badfinger releases by Warner Brothers were stopped and shelved in early 1975. Coupled with the termination of Badfinger's Apple contracts, there soon was no Badfinger product available on record store shelves anywhere.
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.
Badfinger disbanded after Ham's death, and for years afterward, lawsuits and bankruptcies haunted the members on both sides of the Atlantic. Evans and Molland were both unsuccessful in separate new band projects, and by 1977 they were both out of the music business; Molland was laying carpet while Evans worked as a plumber. That year guitarist Joe Tansin recruited Molland for a new band he was putting together, and when they needed a bass player Molland suggested Evans. Pressure from their management led to the decision in 1978 to call themselves Badfinger, and together they recorded their "comeback" album Airwaves which was released in 1979. Tansin left the band immediately after the album was recorded.
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 its single. "Hold On" reached #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, Evans and Molland argued on the telephone, reportedly about the publishing royalty division of the song "Without You." Following the argument, 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 and has released three solo albums. In 1997 and 1999, posthumous collections of Ham home recordings were released on separate CDs, 7 Park Avenue and Golders Green. A detailed biography on Badfinger came out in 1997 entitled Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger.
Mike Gibbins died in his sleep at his home in Oviedo, Florida on October 4, 2005. He was 56. He is survived by his wife, as well as three sons, who perform together in the Orlando based rock band the Seven Sisters. The City of Swansea planned a museum exhibit commemorating the Welsh members of Badfinger. A Badfinger convention in Swansea in June 2006 brought together Jackson, Griffiths, and several surviving family members of Ham, Evans and Gibbins.
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 1978 hit single "It's A Heartache."
Jackson has kept the Badfinger legacy alive in the UK with various projects and benefits and successfully managed to release the last Badfinger album HEAD FIRST (recorded in 1974 with Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins & Bob Jackson) In 2000. In 2015 "Badfinger feat. Bob Jackson" toured the UK with another planned for 2016.
Molland's wife, Kathy, passed away unexpectedly in the Spring of 2009 after a short illness. He currently lives in the Minnetonka area of Minnesota and performs frequently in the United States as "Joey Molland's Badfinger."
Day After Day
Badfinger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
Looking out of my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you.
The lyrics of Badfinger's song, "Day After Day," are about someone who is consumed with thoughts of another person. The singer is clearly in love with this person and can't stop thinking about them. They describe feeling lonely and trapped in their room, but even from this isolated place, their thoughts are all around the person they love.
The line "bring it home, baby, make it soon" suggests that the singer is eagerly waiting for their loved one to return to them, indicating that they may be separated or in a long-distance relationship. The singer's desire for their loved one is intensified by their memories of being close with them, illustrated by the line "I remember holding you while you sleep" and the description of feeling the tears that the loved one weeps.
The repeated line "I give my love to you" underscores the intensity of the singer's feelings, expressing their desire to give themselves over completely to the other person.
Overall, the lyrics of "Day After Day" are a poignant explication of the experience of being in love and consumed by thoughts of another person.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember finding out about you
I recall discovering your existence
Every day, my mind is all around you
Every single day, I find myself thinking exclusively about you
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Continuously staring out of my empty room, day in and day out
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
Please bring yourself back to me, my dear, as soon as possible
I give my love to you
I offer all of my love to you
I remember holding you while you sleep
I recall cradling you peacefully while you slept
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Each day, I sense the sadness and tears that you cry
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Continuously staring out of my dark, isolated state, day in and day out
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
Please come back to me soon, my dear
I give my love to you
I offer all of my love to you
Looking out of my lonely room, day after day
Continuously staring out of my empty room, day in and day out
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
Please come back to me soon, my dear
I give my love to you
I offer all of my love to you
I remember finding out about you
I recall discovering your existence
Every day, my mind is all around you
Every single day, I find myself thinking exclusively about you
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Continuously staring out of my dark, isolated state, day in and day out
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
Please come back to me soon, my dear
I give my love to you
I offer all of my love to you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Peter William Ham
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-ww7ec2ot4n
Lyrics:
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
[ slide guitar solo by Pete Ham and George Harrison ]
Looking out of my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
@markco61
It's sad but it's uplifting at the same time, it hints at despair but reminds you of the wonder and magic behind it all.. Amazing song.
@groovefunkel
Truly one of the greatest songs ever written.
@roberthendry614
Arguably Badfinger's best song. Slide guitar from Beatle George, piano from Leon Russell, what sounds like an orchestral choir.
@Ladyofthepond
Damn…. I remember hearing this song in the early morning before having to get to school in the early 70’s….. made me sad but also motivated me to get going despite my depression….. Good Lord I miss this band 50 years later
@dirkbag22
Damn is right. It's such a timeless, beautiful, heart wrenching song.
@saturnnet1627
Great but meloncholy song
@user-ww7ec2ot4n
Lyrics:
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
[ slide guitar solo by Pete Ham and George Harrison ]
Looking out of my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
@stubbsd
Classic, classic music that is ALL about the musicianship. Brilliant mastering… thank you for giving this gem a breath of fresh life.
@larrycoker8093
Their best song among many great ones, IMO.
@javiervillalabrada7699
Listen when I say or Name of the Game