A Breath of Fresh Air May 23

Hailed as the new Beatles but “mismanaged and exploited beyond the bounds of human decency” Badfinger’s thankless career drove two members to take their own lives. Badfinger could have been huge. What’s more, the band’s connections with The Beatles once earned them the tag of ‘the new Fab Four’.

But instead, despite writing and recording some wonderfully memorable music, Badfinger went down in the annals of rock history for all the wrong reasons. Most people who remember the band today will probably point to the fact that two key members took their own lives.

The story of Badfinger is probably one of the most tragic in rock’n’roll. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong – twice – while their occasional triumphs over adversity never seemed to bring them their rightful reward.

When Harry Nilsson first heard Without You (his future worldwide No.1 hit single), written by Badfinger’s Pete Ham and Tom Evans, he assumed it was a Beatles song. It was an understandable mistake, given that Paul McCartney had taken the band under his wing, signed them to The Beatles’ Apple label, and even written a hit for them in Come And Get It. Badfinger also backed George Harrison on his Bangladesh concerts. But their connection with The Beatles would become a double-edged sword.

This week my special guest is Badfinger’s last surviving member, singer, songwriter and guitarist Joey Molland. Joey shares the story of Badfinger and lets us know how he’s doing today. He also details his latest album release that he’s produced with the help of some very famous friends.