It's not easy to be a pop band.For Badfinger it ended with suicide of the the It's not easy to be a pop band.For Badfinger it ended with suicide of the the two most central members of the group.A morning Pete Ham was found hanging from the garage roof by his wife.By his feet was a handwritten note, which concluded that he no longer would be able to love and trust the people he wanted. And the last sentence:"This is better"Tom Evans had one last and bitter row on the phone with one of the other group members. In the morning his wife found he wasn't in bed. He was hanging from a tree in their backyard.
Badfinger was in the early seventies the big pop-hope in England.Under the name The Iveys the Beatles discovered them in 1968. They were soon signed to the Beatles controlled record company Apple. After a brainstorm in the headquarters of Apple they were renamed Badfinger. Paul McCartney suggested Home, John Lennon had a bad day and could only come up with Prix.
The members in the young band was probably so overwhelmed by the fact that Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had noticed them, that would go along with anything.
The first Badfinger song to enter top ten both in America and England was the McCartney penned and produced Come And Get It. After the split of the Beatles,Badfinger was quickly named "The New Beatles".Badfinger played on Lennon's "Imagine" album, Harrison's "All things Must Pass", and sang on the Ringo single "It Don't Come Easy". By now the group was also composing great songs themselves.
The album No Dice recorded in 1970 at Abbey Road studios, is one of the greatest pop albums ever. It was from No Dice that Nilsson took "Without You" and recorded it in a fantastic version, that became a smash hit all over the world. In 1972 Nilssons version of "Without You" and Badfinger's own "Day After Day" was among the five most sold singles in USA.Then something dreadful happened.
An American businessman with contacts to the Mafia, took over the groups finances and promised them they would soon become millionaires.Instead all the money disappeared in a black hole where no one could get them. Apple was then in trouble. The groups two final recordings were done under great stress, but were both great albums.Now the manager was no longer answering the phone! All the money they earned was gone, and all band members were torn apart. The group split, and a new band called Sex Pistols took over for them.
Pete Ham couldn't cope, while the rest of the band continued to fight for their careers.It all ended in chaos,bitter fighting, and yet another tragic suicide.
The story behind Badfinger is told brilliantly and very detailed in the book "Without You-the Tragic Story Of Badfinger" by Dan Matovina. It's a moving story about the importance of looking after your money, and what happens if you don't.
A couple of years ago Mariah Carey once again made Without You a gigantic hit all over the world, and the money machine keeps on rolling.
Translated by Jesper VindbergThanks to Rick Kellogg