Badfinger

Still pretty good! - Dan Parlin. She is worth an estimated £15 million (2003) and she owns luxury homes in Buckinghamshire, West London, Marbella and Barbados.
Joey Molland makes his home in the Minnetonka area of Minnesota, and performs frequently in the region as "Badfinger". One of them, Robert, succeeded his father as her manager.
. They had 3 sons.
. She was married to her manager Bobby Willis for over 30 years until his death in the late 1990s.

More recently, the City of Swansea planned a museum exhibit, commemorating the Welsh members of Badfinger. In 2003 she released a music career retrospective New Beginnings. In 1999, a new collection of posthumous Pete Ham recordings revealed his unfulfilled promise as a gifted rock musician. In 1993 she was awarded an OBE. The Cleveland Agora concert of 1974 reveals a band that capably straddled the 1960s melodic Beatles era and the power-pop of the 1970s. She remains an extremely popular personality in the UK. Molland now lives in America, where he has been writing a definitive band history. She hosted the popular television programme Blind Date (1985 - 2003), Surprise, Surprise (1984 - 1999) and Moment of Truth (1998 - 2001).

Since Tom Evans' death, Joey Molland and Mike Gibbins have alternated between recording projects and Badfinger live albums and compilations. Black continued recording and became a popular TV personality in the 1970s, hosting her own long-running variety series, and her TV work began to eclipse her musical fame. For all intents, Badfinger was over. Her last Top Ten hit was "Something Tells Me" in 1971. In 1983, Tom Evans hanged himself at his home, in an eerie replay of Pete Ham's 1975 death scene. After Epstein's death and a disastrous appearance in the flop film Work Is a Four-Letter Word, Black's pop career began to decline. They briefly operated rival bands, both using the name Badfinger. She branched into acting with 1964's Ferry Cross the Mersey, which also featured another member of Epstein's management stable, Gerry & The Pacemakers. Epstein remained her manager after dropping most of his other acts, but she decided to leave him in 1966 for Robert Stigwood; before she could, however, Epstein died of a drug overdose.

Ultimately, Tom Evans and Joey Molland split acrimoniously in 1979. Frequently using songs composed by close friend Paul McCartney -- including her 1968 hit Step Inside Love -- Cilla's chart success continued until the end of the Sixties. Tony Kaye later rejoined Yes. The other song most often associated with her is the Bacharach-David song Alfie, the theme from the Michael Caine film of the same name. Produced by the notoriously perfectionistic Burt Bacharach and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Cilla cited the Alfie recording session as one of the most demanding of her pop career. However, the poorly-recorded album fared poorly, and the band was reduced to playing small-time venues in the U.S and Britain. It is one of the best-remembered songs of her career and also gave Cilla her first major chart success in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Airwaves came out in 1978, with Peter Clarke (Stealers Wheel) on drums and Tony Kaye (Yes) on keyboards. Her next single and her second #1 hit, You're My World, was an English version of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mondo.

However, ego problems and lineup changes stalled the recording in 1977. It launched her on an extraordinarily successful pop career and she went on to score twenty consecutive Top 40 hits on the British single and EP charts, including eleven British Top Ten singles and two consecutive #1 singles in 1964. Together with American session musicians, he and Tom Evans revitalized the Badfinger lineup, without Mike Gibbins. It had already been a hit for Dionne Warwick but Cilla's 1964 version shot to #1 in Britain and became the biggest selling single by a female artist in the history of British popular music. However, Joey Molland had emerged as a songwriter during the band's recording career. Her second single was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart". With Pete Ham's suicide, Badfinger had lost their arguably most talented member. The single peaked at a modest #35, making it a failure, relatively speaking, compared to most of Epstein's other artists.

Ham also left behind a widow and a daughter, Petera. Epstein signed Cilla to Parlophone records and introduced her to George Martin, who produced her debut single, "Love of the Loved" (written for her by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she signed with Epstein. For years afterward, lawsuits and bankruptcies haunted Badfinger on both sides of the Atlantic. But after seeing her again at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein signed Cilla up as his only female client on September 6, 1963. His suicide letter blamed Stan Polley, "a soulless bastard," for the group's misfortunes, a tragic irony since Ham had been most supportive of Polley's management early on. The first audition was not successful, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who backed her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Cilla's voice. In March 1975, Pete Ham hanged himself in his garage studio in Surrey. Cilla was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon who persuaded him to audition her.

Unfortunately, this album would never see light of day. Although her first name was often shortened to "Cilla", her stage name came about by accident when local music paper Mersey Beat misprinted her name as Cilla Black, but she liked the sound and decided to use it professionally. He was replaced by Bob Jackson, who remained as keyboardist when Ham rejoined for the "Head First" sessions. She became close friends with the Beatles and after their breakthrough to international success in 1963, their manager Brian Epstein took over the management of a number of other musicians from Liverpool. Disgusted with Badfinger's infighting over money and songwriting credits, Peter Ham left the band to focus on his songwriting. During this period she also worked as waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she met her future husband and manager Bobby Willis. Large amounts of money disappeared from their account. Subsequently, the band lost their contract with Warner Brothers, who pulled "Wish You Were Here" from store shelves in early 1975. Ideally placed to promote herself to local musicians, she impressed The Beatles and others with her talent and began her stage career with impromptu performances at the Cavern.

tour, severe financial problems plagued the group. In the early 1960s, determined to break into show business, she got a job as a part-time as a cloakroom attendant at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles regularly played. After the 1974 U.S. A naturally gifted singer, as a child Cilla was encouraged to sing by her family. But American and British critics panned these albums as bland and disappointing. Cilla Black (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on May 27, 1943) is a British singer and entertainer, and was the second-biggest star to emerge from the Liverpool scene after the Beatles. These last two Badfinger albums had more in common with another Beatles-inspired rock band that had just emerged, namely Queen.

With the band's popularity in America at its peak, they recorded Wish You Were Here in late (1974). Ass was almost immediately followed by the first Warner Brothers release, Badfinger. Further problems recording Badfinger's fifth album led to Polley negotiating a multi-million dollar deal with Warner Brothers Records. Unlike its predecessors, Ass lacked hit singles, and fared poorly in the charts.

Their last Apple album was Ass (1973), with a satirical record cover of a donkey following a carrot on a stick -- a theme more recently purloined by American band Styx. Meanwhile, Stan Polley had been withholding income from the band members as they toured and recorded nonstop. Straight Up was not marketed effectively. Unfortunately, Apple Records' finances were in chaos.

The group also performed during the Concert for Bangladesh, raising their critical stock even further among the rock intelligentsia. Both George Harrison and Todd Rundgren took production credits on perhaps their most commercially successful record. 'Straight Up' was hailed as the most requested CD release in Goldmine magazine during the early 1990s. Badfinger's second album, Straight Up came out in 1971, including "Day After Day", "Baby Blue" and "Name of the Game", all popular singles on both sides of the pond.

Some music critics had made unfavorable comparisons, during the anti-Beatles backlash that ensued, following the Fab Four's breakup in 1970. The group toured in America, where their debut album had been well-received, but the group still saw no money and felt like they were living in the shadow of the Beatles. Badfinger subsequently found a new manager in Stan Polley, who would prove their downfall. One wonders at the potential songwriting talents of Pete Ham and Tom Evans, had their partnership survived the coming tragedies.

The riff-heavy "No Matter What" has endured well on classic rock stations, while "Without You", became a bigger hit when sung by Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey. In 1970, Badfinger released the album No Dice, the group's first true album. The band recorded many sessions for fellow Apple Records labelmates, notably George Harrison's All Things Must Pass," and John Lennon's Imagine.". The band's career began increasing exponentially in 1969. "Come and Get It", "Carry on Tomorrow" and "Rock of All Ages" were popular singles in the U.K.

Tom Evans became the bassist, while guitarist Joey Molland joined in time to tour in support of Magic Christian Music, the band's first major outing. After the departure of Griffiths, the band reorganized into their definitive lineup. Ron Griffiths soon quit the band to spend more time with his family. It was a hit throughout Europe and the United States, where it reached the Top Ten.

Paul McCartney wrote the band's breakthrough song, "Come and Get It", intended for part of the soundtrack to The Magic Christian. However, enough interest was generated to keep the band alive for another year. The single did well in the Netherlands and Germany, but not so well in England or the United States. Business and personal problems with Apple Records also contributed to the record's failure. Studio recording was difficult for Badfinger, with many failed attempts at a single occurring before the group finally offered "Maybe Tomorrow" in 1968.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Instead, The Iveys chose another Beatles-inspired moniker: "Badfinger." This was a reference to "Badfinger Boogie", an early working title of "With a Little Help from My Friends," from "Sgt. (Lennon later used the name for one of his comical songs on the White Album). John Lennon wanted to call the band "Glass Onion", but no one liked the name.

He proposed a change to his proteges, still known as the Iveys. This line-up signed with the Beatles label Apple Records in 1968 and Paul McCartney soon became enamored with the group's vocal sound, if not their unassuming name. In 1967, Dai Jenkins left and was replaced by Tom Evans. The following year, with manager Bill Collins, Badfinger worked in London, both for David Garrick, a local singer, and as a solo act.

By 1965, Mike Gibbins 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 trio formed a band called the Iveys, named after a street in Swansea, Wales. Members changed to resemble the first band line-up, with Ron Griffiths on bass guitar and Dai Jenkins on guitar. The band originated with guitarist/keyboardist Pete Ham (1947-75) and a group called The Panthers.

Once widely touted as the heir apparent to the Beatles, Badfinger is now seldom remembered outside their native land of Wales. Their meteoric rise and tragic demise became a cautionary tale for the rock music industry. Badfinger was a British band from the 1960s and 70s. ISBN 0965712214.

Dan Mantovini: Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger.