The Band That Invented Power-Pop
Badfinger: A Celebration & Ranking of Their Albums (Tragedy-Free!)
Placing the Focus Back on the Music
Badfinger is perhaps the most underrated band of the 1970s. They invented an entire genre of music, power-pop, with 1970’s “No Matter What,” paving the way for like-minded bands like Raspberries, Shoes, The Plimsouls, Big Star and later, The Jam, Rockpile and The Knack.
Yes, there were tragedies, and these unfortunately inform most of the narratives surrounding the band at the expense their most important contribution: their music. That should be their legacy, not the suicides.
So here are all the albums they released, ranked by my favorites.
1. Wish You Were Here (Warner Brothers, 1974)
This first place ranking will come as no surprise to fans who know Badfinger’s catalog well. The band really came into their own here, synthesizing power pop with other styles, including prog (“In the Meantime/Some Other Time”), a tougher rock sound featuring soaring guitar solos, courtesy of Pete Ham (“Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke”), orchestrations by Ann Odell, which reinforced the power of the harder rocking songs instead of meandering off, a criticism sometimes leveled against George Martin for his orchestrations on the original, rejected version of Straight Up. Wish You Were Here was hailed as a first rate album among their fans and garnered rave reviews from critics, including from those that had previously dismissed them as derivative Beatle wanna-be’s.
With the help of veteran producer Chris Thomas, who stated in Dan Matovina’s Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger (Frances Glover Books, 1997), “I thought it was the best album I’d made up to that point,” the production feels more concise, straight to-the-point and more powerful than its predecessors. It is, quite simply, an all-around classic, with Pete Ham offering arguably his best songs, any one of which could have been a hit single if Warners had bothered to put any out. Instead they pulled the album from the shelves only weeks after its release.
The title itself is shared with the more well-known Pink Floyd album; however, the Badfinger album was released on November 15, 1974 (US), while Pink Floyd’s was released on September 12, 1975 (UK), almost a full year later. Accusations from Floydians about Badfinger having “borrowed” this title are inaccurate.
2. Straight Up (Apple, 1971)
Their most well-known album, often ranked as their best, in part due to its inclusion of the top 5 US hit single “Day After Day” and the top 20 US hit “Baby Blue” (which wasn’t released in the UK as a single for some unfathomable reason). These brilliant songs, along with his other contributions, in particular, showcase Pete Ham’s gift for melody, vocals, harmony and songwriting. Straight Up also features Joey Molland’s best songwriting during his tenure, and Tom Evans shines on “It’s Over” and “Money.” Mike Gibbins’ drumming is powerful and always serves the songs, never overplaying.
Some rank this below Wish You Were Here because the production is their most Beatles-sounding to date. Specifically, it has a sound similar to Abbey Road, for better and worse. Of course The Beatles’ album is a classic, as is Straight Up, but the unfair accusations that Badfinger were too derivative, which appeared in almost every interview, album review and concert writeup rankled with the band members, as well as being an unfair assessment.
I have never understood why having a sound similar to, and level of songwriting equal to Abbey Road era Beatles would be considered be a bad thing. Most bands would give their collective right arm to be elevated to such heights. But, alas, reviews complained about the similarities and almost uniformly dismissed the album. The same magazines, including the highly influential Rolling Stone that had panned the album originally, gave it 5 stars years later, too late to make a difference in the album’s chart position or the band’s morale.
I remember finding Magic Christian Music, No Dice and Ass in the cut-out bins in the late 1970s, but never Straight Up. It went out of print just 4 years after being released, and it took nearly 20 years before Apple saw fit to reissue it.
3. No Dice (Apple, 1970)
This LP features their first self-penned single under the name Badfinger (as The Iveys they had some original singles, none of which made much of a dent in the charts), “No Matter What,” written by Pete Ham and produced by former Beatles assistant Mal Evans, credited only as “Mal.” It was a top 10 hit in the US and the UK.
Apart from that, the album’s biggest standout tracks were either authored or co-authored by Pete Ham including “We’re For the Dark” which could have been an outtake from Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water in the best possible way. Tom Evans’ “Believe Me” is a powerful and passionately sung declaration of independence from a relationship with a “mean, mean woman like you.”
“I Can’t Take It” is a wild pop rock romp with an unforgettably hook-y chorus. “Midnight Caller,” is a plaintive piano ballad with a vulnerable and heartfelt Pete Ham vocal. The now-evergreen “Without You,” was a #1 hit single for Harry Nilsson and a top 10 hit for Mariah Carey, and its powerful melody and message resulted in well over 100 cover versions. Badfinger’s version (written by Pete and Tom) is more bluesy and subdued than Nilsson’s histrionic interpretation, and every bit as good.
The contemporaneous reviews for the album were generally positive, although the music press often mentioned the band’s “potential” rather than evaluating the album on its own terms. Yet again, retrospective reviews from the same publications were nearly unanimously positive.
This is the first album the band recorded with Joey Molland, who co-wrote 2 exceptional songs (“I Don’t Mind” and “Better Days”), one OK-but-undistinguished track (“Watford John”), and a disposable one (“Love Me Do”), the title of which resulted in more unfortunate comparisons to The Beatles.
4. Magic Christian Music (Apple, 1970)
An excellent, underrated album that stands the test of time. This is really where the Badfinger story begins even though the more well-known lineup wasn’t quite in place yet. Magic Christian Music is a combination of 5 of the best songs from The Iveys’ Maybe Tomorrow, 3 songs recorded for the soundtrack of The Magic Christian and 4 new songs (all with the 4 member Iveys lineup).
Pete had originally wanted Ron Griffiths to sing lead on “Midnight Sun” but he got the chicken pox and was unable to attend that session. That’s the one track he didn’t perform on; most likely Tom played bass on that, copied from Ron’s playing on the demo. Thanks to Ron Griffiths for setting the record straight on that.
Despite being culled from disparate sources, it still sounds like an album (except for “Give It a Try” which sticks out like a sore thumb and was wisely held off the US release). Many of the post-Maybe Tomorrow songs feature the distorted, chunky guitar sound that would be further developed upon and enhanced on the following album (No Dice).
Further standout tracks include “Carry on Till Tomorrow,” “Walk Out in the Rain,” as well as improved remixes of the evocative “Dear Angie” and “Fisherman.” Pete Ham’s lead guitar on “Dear Angie” is truly impressive, and it proves that he was a fully formed and brilliant guitarist going back to at least 1969 when the song was originally recorded.
There is a different mix of “Rock of All Ages” on the B-side of the “Come and Get It” single. It also appears on The Magic Christian (Original Soundtrack) album. This mix has never officially been released on CD.
5. Ass (Apple, 1973)
This album is something of a mixed bag. It contains a dud (“Constitution”) and a fun throwaway (“Cowboy”), but apart from that, much of the songwriting maintains their high standards. It features a much heavier sound than the previous albums, and the songs are less commercial, not what the public was expecting or wanting from Badfinger in 1973. The songwriting representation is lopsided, with 5 Joey songs, and only 2 songs by Pete, 2 by Tom and 1 by Mike.
Highlights: “Apple of My Eye,” “Get Away,” “When I Say,” “I Can Love You.” The band held Pete’s “Timeless” in high esteem, choosing to perform it live on almost all dates of the 1974 touring schedule. For my money, it’s a good song that goes on too long, although I guess that’s kind of the point.
“I Can Love You” is the pinnacle of Joey Molland’s songwriting, a shimmering and beautifully assertive declaration of love framed with a swooping ARP synth, chiming acoustic guitars and bubbling electric guitars. A personal favorite.
6. Head First (Artisan, 2000, Originally recorded in 1974)
One of their lesser known albums, unfortunately, as it contains some top tier songs. It was their last album recorded with Pete Ham. By this point Joey had left the band and had been replaced with keyboardist and singer/songwriter Bob Jackson.
The main problem with the album wasn’t the quality of the material, but the amount of it: the total running time is only a little over 33 minutes. This isn’t surprising considering the conditions under which they had to write and record it, but it needs more songs to make it a more satisfying experience.
Many of Pete’s demos from around this time have been released, so we know that the band had more material at hand. However, since the album was rush-recorded it’s possible that they had intended to record more and just ran out of time.
Pete’s “Lay Me Down” is the clear winner for a power-pop single in their finest hook-laden tradition. Other highlights include “Keep Believing,” “Moonshine,” “Rock N Roll Contract,” and “Mr. Manager” (mis-titled on the CD as “Hey, Mr. Manager”). Note that the CD inexplicably changed the sequence of the songs away from their original order listed on the tape boxes of both the Apple and the Warner Brothers mixes.
There were 2 mixes done of the album: the “Apple mix” which is the one that appears on the Artisan CD and the “Warner Brothers mix” which hasn’t been released in its entirety, but some of the mixes appeared in 1990 on the Rhino compilation CD The Best Of Badfinger Volume II.
The WB mix has circulated on bootlegs for many years, and in my own a/b comparisons of the 2 , I find there isn’t a clear “winner,” each with positives and limitations that vary song-to-song. “Mr. Manager” contains probably the most mix differences, with instruments more separated and a cool guitar interplay on the WB mix that is more centered on the Apple mix.
Bob Jackson reports that a cover shoot was done for the album in a London studio, but when he tracked the photographer he was informed that the photos had been “binned” years prior. The cover for the Artisan CD is kind of generic/boring and has the look of a stock photo. Unfortunate that they didn’t just use the front of tape box for the cover. Thanks to Bob for the info!
7. Badfinger (Warner Brothers, 1974)
For the most part, sub-par songwriting, inexplicably clumsy and unsympathetic production from Chris Thomas, who had done a good job with Ass and would go on to do an incredible job with their next album.
2 songs reach the heights of brilliance we’ve come to expect from the band: the gorgeous ballad “Lonely You” and the dynamic “Give it Up.” There are some decent songs, such as “Shine On,” “Love Is Easy,” and “Why Don’t We Talk,” but the Badfinger magic is missing. A misstep, but they were to redeem themselves only months later with Wish You Were Here.
8. Maybe Tomorrow (The Iveys: Apple, 1969)
Sorta-kinda-but-not-really a Badfinger album, this was the incarnation that was originally signed to the Apple Records label. Personnel included Ron Griffiths, an excellent bass player, along with Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins and Pete Ham. Produced by Tony Visconti in one of his earliest efforts, he became later well-known for his work with David Bowie, T. Rex, Sparks, and many other influential artists. On original release, Maybe Tomorrow only came out in Japan, Germany and Italy.
A grab-bag of tunes with wildly different styles, mostly written by Pete or Tom, and displaying the band in its infancy. The Iveys had been together for several years at this point (with some prior personnel changes), and had been writing, recording and performing live for years.
Pleasant but not especially compelling, this is an album that shows the band’s potential rather than being a strong musical statement in its own right. Songs are somewhat derivative of The Hollies (“Yesterday Ain’t Coming Back”), music hall (“They’re Knocking Down Our Home”), The Everly Brothers (“Angelique”), and a lone attempt at psychedelia (“I’ve Been Waiting”).
Standout tracks include Ron Griffiths’ beautiful “Dear Angie.” Also excellent: “Fisherman,” and “Maybe Tomorrow.” Even though it was recorded in 1969, for the most part it sounds like an album made in the mid 1960s when rock music was still finding its footing. Certainly it was out of step with other rock that was being released in 1969 which may be why it wasn’t as commercially successful as it might have been.
9. Airwaves (Elektra, 1979)
The first of 2 post-Pete Ham Badfinger albums. Demos were reportedly much more Badfinger-y than the slick LA productions that ended up on the album. Unfortunately those demos have not surfaced (I would love to hear them), so we are left with this.
Highlights include “Come Down Hard,” “Airwaves/Look Out California,” “Lost Inside Your Love” and “Love Is Gonna Come at Last.” “Sail Away” is a decent song ruined by sappy production. The guitars could and should have been chunky, thick and distorted; instead they are wimpy, thin and sappy. The drums had a similarly weak, poppy (not power-pop) sound, nothing like Mike Gibbins’ superior playing (he was fired from the sessions by producer David Malloy and replaced with session stalwart Andy Newmark).
For the most part, a missed opportunity barring a few worthwhile tracks.
10. Say No More (Radio Records, 1981)
This album has its fans. I’m not one of them. One thing it has going for it is that it eschews syrupy ballads in favor of more straightforward rock. It does away with the slick LA production. The problem is that, with a couple of exceptions, the songs aren’t up-to-snuff, and the sound has been modernized. This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but to work, it would have needed to retain at least the spirit of their previous work.
Part of what makes Badfinger great, apart from first-rate vocals, is that they have a sound that endures, a stripped down, straight-ahead 2 guitars, drums and bass arrangement, along with harmony vocals which they perfected. While Say No More has a more stripped down sound than Airwaves, the songs don’t hit you in the face. With a couple of exceptions, the songs don’t make me feel…anything.
“Rock N Roll Contract” is an excellent song which originally appeared on Head First. Here, it is unfortunately re-recorded with a more poppy arrangement that loses much of the dark musical power that it had on Head First. “Crocadillo” is a fun rocker. “Too Hung Up on You” is a good song, if a little generic.
The highlight of this set is “No More,” one of Joey Molland’s finest tunes, and it has all the essential elements that go into a Badfinger classic. It was a real powerhouse live, as well.
If you’re a fan, it’s worth checking out to see what you think, but it’s not a good starting point.
Badfinger left a tremendous legacy of incredible music. I hope this inspires casual listeners to take a deeper dive into their rich and rewarding catalog.
