Maybe Tomorrow

Badfinger(Iveys): Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins, Ron Griffiths

Producers: Tony Visconti, Mal Evans, The Iveys

Released: 1969

Rec.company: Apple

Tracks: See Saw Granpa, Beatiful And Blue, Dear Angie, Think About The Good Times, Yesterday Ain't Coming Back, Fisherman, Maybe Tomorrow, Sali Bloo, Angelique, I'm in love, They're Knocking Down Our Home, I've Been Waiting.

Bonus on reissue: No Escaping Your Love, Mrs. Jones, And Her Daddy's A Millionaire, Looking For My Baby.

Recorded as The Iveys.The album misses a clear direction, and shows a group who has not found its own style yet. Most of the Evans-songs are very soft, and rather colourless. Pete Ham is more in for the ordinary rock tunes, but absolutely nothing special. The highlights are "Beautiful And Blue", "Maybe Tomorrow", and the funny "They're Knocking Down Our Home" (beautiful melody, well sung by Pete). The bonus songs on the reissue are rather lightweight and not worth a lot of talking.

Mayby Tomorrow gets : * *

Magic Christian Music

Producers: Tony Visconti, Mal Evans,Paul McCartney, Badfinger

Released: 1970

Rec.company: Apple

Tracks: Come And Get It,Crimson Ship,Midnight Sun, Rock Of All Ages, Carry On Til Tomorrow, Walk Out In The Rain, Beatiful And Blue, Dear Angie, Fisherman, Maybe Tomorrow, Give It A Try, Angelique, I'm in love, They're Knocking Down Our Home, Maybe Tomorrow.

Bonus on reissue: Storm In A Teacup, Arthur. It's obvious that Badfinger have not found their style on "Magic Christian Music" either. The real Badfinger sound is still missing. But they are getting closer to it with great songs like "Midnight Sun", "Crimson Ship", and the McCartney penned "Come And Get It". "Walk Out In The Rain" is also a fantastic song, Pete is doing some of his best vocal work on it. BUT, it's not really songs like "Walk Out in The Rain", and "Carry On Till Tomorrow" you come to think of when you hear the name Badfinger, is it? Some of the songs from Maybe Tomorrow have been used once more on "Magic Christian Music". The bonus-tracks would have fitted "Maybe Tomorrow" much better.

Magic Christian Music gets: * * *

No Dice

Badfinger: Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins, Joey Molland.

Producers: George Emerick, Mal Evans.

Released: 1970

Rec. company: Apple

Tracks: I Can't Take It, I Don't Mind, Love Me Do, Midnight Caller, No Matter What,Without You, Bloodwyn, Better Days, It Had To Be You, Watford John, Believe Me, We're For The Dark.

Bonus on reissue: Get Down, Friends Are Hard To Find, Mean Mean Jemima, Loving You, I'll Be The One.

The third Badfinger album contains several of Pete Ham' s best song,like "No Matter What", "The Midnight Caller" and "Were For The Dark". Also the classic "Without You" , written by Ham/Evans can be found on No Dice. "Without You" was a big hit for Harry Nilsson in 1972 , and in the beginning of the 90Õs for Mariah Carey(that led to that Ham/Evans got an ASCAP award, as the writers of the song). On the reissue, there are five strong bonus tracks. The highlight is "I'll Be The One", a song in a Lindisfarne-style, but Badfinger when they're best. The producer is Geoff Emerick, known for his work with The Beatles.

No Dice gets : * * * * *

Straight Up

Producers: George Harrison, Todd Rundgren.

Released: 1971

Rec.Company: Apple

Tracks : Take It All, Baby Blue,Money, Flying, I'd Die Baby, Name Of The Game, Suitcase, Sweet Tuesday Morning, , Sometimes, Day After Day Perfection, It's Over.

Bonus on reissue: Money (original version),Flying (original version), Name Of The Game (original version), Suitcase (original version), Perfection (original version), Baby Blue (Single Mix).

The 4th LP is even more than No Dice filled with real Badfinger classics. Most of them written by Pete Ham. With songs like: "Baby Blue", "Take It All", "Name Of The Game" and "Day After Day" he marks himself as the main songwriter in Badfinger. Half of the LP is produced by George Harrison, who unfortunately had to leave the studio mid-way through the album, to make the Bangla Desh album. In the begining of "Day After Day" you can hear George's classic slide-guitar, played by himself, and Pete Ham. Todd Rundgren replaced Harrison, and remixed most of the finished Harrison-work. A lot of the tracks were re-recorded plus a couple of new songs were added. Most of the tracks that were left behind can be heard on the reissue of "No Dice". The original Harrison-mixed tracks can be heard on the reissue of "Straight Up".

Straight Up gets : * * * * * *

ASS

Producers: Chris Thomas, Todd Rundgren, Badfinger.

Released: 1973

Rec.Company: Apple

Tracks:Apple Of My Eye, Get Away, Icicles, The Winner, Blind Owl, Constitution, When I Say, Cowboy, I Can Love You, Timeless

Bonus on Reissue: Do You Mind

The last LP release at Apple. More of a heavy blues-rock LP. How come Pete Ham, who has written all the hits so far only gets two tracks on this LP? "Apple Of My Eye" and "Timeless" (both by Pete) are the highlights along with the two Evans tracks "When I Say" and "Blind Owl".Molland has also done his best songwriting so far, with "Icicles" and "I Can Love You". But I must say that tracks like "The Winner" ,"Constitution" and "Get Away" is not my favorite Badfinger songs! I think one or two Pete Ham ballads would have made a great contribution to a LP which contains too much colourless Joey-rock!!!!! The Mike Gibbins composed "Cowboy" must be a joke! I can't understand why "Do You Mind" was left of the LP back then. It's an absolute classic!Fortunately It now can be found on the reissue of Ass(as the only bonus track!Too bad!).

Ass gets : * * * *

Badfinger

Producers: Chris Thomas

Released: 1973.

Rec. Company: Warner Rec.

Tracks: I Miss You,Shine On,Love Is Easy, Song For A Lost Friend, Why Dont We Talk, Island, Matted Spam, Where Do You Go From Here, My Heart Goes Out, Lonely You, Give It Up, Andy Norris.

First LP release on WB. Failed to make Badfinger a commercial succes once more. After the failure "Ass",(mainly because of bad promotion, and the long wait to get the album released) the group needed a single-hit. But strangely enough "Love Is Easy" was chosen as the first single, and though it got good promotion it failed! Why wasn't a real hit-song chosen instead? "Lonely You" or perhaps "Shine On", they are both fantastic songs, and think "Lonely You" could have been a big hit! As the second single "I Miss You" was selected, a nice tune, but not a hit! But apart from all the single mistakes the group is back to No Dice-standards. Pete Ham is back in the role as the main songwriter and apart from "Matted Spam" all his tunes are classics. Joey's best contributions are the great "Give It Up" and the real-rockin' "Island"(my favorite Joey-rocker). Gibbins has also done a nice job with "My Heart Goes Out". Tommy shows another direction than the others in his writing, with the some rather strange, but great songs like "Where Do You Go From Here", and the Lennon-inspired "Why Don't We Talk".

Badfinger gets : * * * * *

Wish You Were Here

Producers: Chris Thomas

Released: 1974

Rec.Company: Warner Brothers Rec.

Tracks: Just A Chance, You're So Fine, Got To Get Out Of Here, Know One Know, In The Meantime/Some Other Time, Love Time, King Of The Load, Meanwhile Back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke.

The second WB LP is an overlooked classic in the history of rock. "Wish You Were Here" shows a group who has "grown up" and really stepped out from the shade of Beatles. Due to financial problems it was pulled back from the stores fast. But in the short while it was on the market it reached high positions in many charts, and the reviews were better than ever. The music is no longer a little naive, and is not what you would call "pop-music". Serious ballads, standard country,and American inspired rock is what "Wish You Were Here" is all about. But there is still some pop-songs to be found (Know One Knows). Great guitar work on all the tracks by Joey and Pete. "King Of The Load (t)" is perhaps my favorite Evans-track! Joey and Mike shows really great songwriting in all their tunes. There is not a single no-good tune one "Wish You Were Here"! Perhaps you can find better tunes on some other Badfinger recordings, but "Wish You Were Here" is the most complete and artisticly succesful album Badfinger ever made! What a shame they never got a chance to follow it up!

Wish You Were Here gets : * * * * * *

Head First

Producers: Kenny Kerner, Ritchie Wise

Recorded: 1974 , but not released until 2000

Check bottom of this page to read about more on this album

Airwaves

Producers: David Malloy.

Released: 1979

Rec. Company: Electra Rec.

Tracks: Airwaves, Look Out California,Love Is Gonna Come At Last, Lost Inside Your Love Symphathy, The Winner, The Dreamer, Come Down Hard, Sail Away

Bonus on reissue: One More Time,Send Me Your Love, Steal My Heart,Love Can't Hide,Can You Feel The Rain

Four years after the suicide of Pete Ham, Molland and Evans re-formed Badfinger ,to record Airwaves. Out of it came a good rock/pop LP. Evans and Molland shows some of their best songwriting, with higlights such as "The Dreamer" (Molland), "Lost Inside Your Love"(Evans), the rather "poppy" "Love Is Gonna Come At Last" (Joey), and "Sail Away"(Evans). The only track I really dislike is "Come Down Hard". The rest is good standard rock-pop music! Joe Tansin has wrote two of the song on the album. "Sympathy" is the best one of them, but "The Winner" is also a good tune. If Pete had wrote two or three songs for the album it would have been complete! What a shame he didn't!!!! Mike Gibbins is not included on Airwaves, due to bad playing at the time!

In May 1999 american label Permanent Press reissued Airwaves with 5 bouns tracks. The best and most interesting is the first "One More Time" which is a song that was recorded and meant to be included on the original issue of Airwaves but eventually was dropped. The song is written and sung by Joe Tansin but features backing vocals by Tom Evans. The rest of the bonus tracks are three other Tansin songs and one Joey Molland song. Both Tansin's "Can You Feel Rain" and "Send Me Your Love" have no other Badfinger assosiations apart from being written by Tansin. Nevertheless they're some really nice tunes. I do not like the last Tansin song "Steal My Heart". Joey has contributed with the track "Love Can't Hide". A very typical Joey ballad-not bad, but unfortunately it suffers from rather poor sound quality.Also Joey's voice sounds very muddy.It would have fittet Basil nicely. All in all I think Permanent Press did justice to the album, and Badfinger fans can only be happy with a top quality reissue and hope that future Badfinger issues will be handled with same care!

Link Here for an exclusive interview with Tansin regarding the reissue of the album and his role in Badfinger

Airwaves Gets : * * * *

Say No More

Producers: Richardson, Wittmack.

Released: 1981

Rec. Company: Radio Rec.

Tracks: I Got You, Come On, Hold On, Because I Love You, Rock And Roll Contract, Passin Time, Three Time Loser, Too Hung Up On You, Crocadillo, No More

A rather different Badfinger album! More of a rock'n roll album actually, but not without higlights. The best track must be the fantastic melodic-rocker "Too Hung Up On You" by Evans, it should have been a single! Another song that I can't get out of my head is "Because I Love You" by Joey, perhaps the most melodic song he has ever written!!!! But I also like "Passin Time" "Hold On" and "No More", all three good rock-songs. "Rock'n Roll Contract"(first recorded for Head First) has been re-recorded, I like the bit: "I gave you my heart... You made me your slave.." but I hope and think that the Head First version of it is better! Some more acoustic guitar, and a ballad or two would have given Say No More the last bit that it misses!

Say No More Gets : * * *

Joey Molland-After The Pearl

Joey Band Joey Molland,The Columbus group "Money",

Producers: Joey Molland

Released: 1983

Rec. Company: Earthtone Records

Tracks: Here Comes Heartache ,Too Late To Cry,Moolah Rey,In My Heart , All Your Lovin', Life Song, What Happened, Mean Jemima ,Dreams of Thunder

Nothing special, but OK. The Badfinger version of "Mean Jemima"is better. My two favorite songs are Here Comes A Heartache and Too Late To Cry. I would go after "The Pilgrim" instead.

After The Pearl: **

Badfinger-Shine On

Badfinger Pete Ham,Tom Evans,Joey Molland,Mike Gibbins

Producers: Chris Thomes

Released: 1989

Rec. Company: Edsel Records

Tracks: I Miss You, Shine On, Love Is Easy, Song for a Lost Friend, Why Don't We Talk, Island, Lonely You, Andy Norris, In the Meantime/Some Other Time, Just A Chance No One Knows, Dennis

This was BadŸinger's first CD release. Licensed by Warner Brothers Records to England's Demon Records (and their oldies name, Edsel) released a "greatest hits" of sorts from the two commercially released WB discs. As an import, the CD sold very well in the U.S. and around the world. It prompted Apple and Rhino to scramble to put something together...

Shine On:?

Live Day After Day

Producer: Joey Molland, Mark Healey

Released: 1990

Rec. Company: Ryko

Tracks: Sometimes,I Don't Mind, Blind Owl, Give It Up, Constitution, Baby Blue, Name Of The Game,Day After Day, Timeless I Can't Take It

I think Live Day After Day could have been produced much better! I hate the new drums added(if I was Mike Gibbins I would have gone mad when I first heard the CD). Wasn't Joey able to find a real drum-kit for the recordings? Anoter thing is I think I've found a place where you can hear three guitars.... And what about the vocals? Was Joey of key back then? I can't think of any other reason for redoing the vocals! But you still can hear them talking betwenn the songs, and you can hear them singing together, so I wouldn't say that it shouln't have been released, I just think it's a bad idea to change so many things from the original recordings!I would love to hear the original recordings without any overdubs!

Day After Day gets: *

Badfinger-Best Of Vol 2

Badfinger Pete Ham,Tom Evans,Joey Molland,Mike Gibbins

Producers: Chris Thomas,David Malloy,Kenny Kerner,Ritchie Wise

Released: 1990

Rec. Company: Rhino Records

Tracks: Shine On, Lonely You, Give It Up, Song for a Lost Friend, Just A Chance, You're So Fine, Got To Get Out of Here, In the Meantime/Some Other Time, I Miss You, Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke, Lay Me Down (Pete),Passed Fast (Tom & Bob), Keep Believing (Pete), Moonshine (Tom, Bob & Mike), Lost Inside Your Love, Love is Gonna Come at Last

Not a mere copy of the Edsel release, this features four tunes (on the CD) from the unreleased Head First album. It also takes a couple from the Airwaves disc. The tracks weren't seriously remastered according to Joey. The tracks from Head First sounded very much like a bootleg called Head Start. No doubt, Apple had notified Rhino of their desire to do a greatest hits compilation, thus the Vol. 2. Insight to the reissue... The drop out at the beginning of Lay Me Down was caused by aged tape falling apart during the remastering process. No effort was made to rectify the problem. Be aware, there is talk of repackaging these same recordings to give it a fresh look for the surge of interest generated by the VH1 program.

Best Of 2:?

Apple Daze

Released: 1991

Rec. Company: Raven Records (Discontinued November of 1995)

Tracks: Tom Evans talking

Nearly 34 minutes of Tom Evans a year before he died. According to Joey, who was not present at the time the interview was done, Tommy had been partaking in herbal substances. Some exaggerations are noted.

Apple Daze gets: -

Joey Molland-The Pilgrim

Joey Molland Band Joey Molland,John Richardson,Scott Bartel,Mike Lichey, Randy Anderson,Bill Collins,David Swanson,Kathie Molland,Ritchie Routledge

Producer:J. Molland

Released: 1992

Rec. Company: Ryko Rec.

Tracks: You Make Me Sick, All Caught Up, The Party's Over, No One Likes The Rain, Wampire Wedding, Hard Times, Long Long Way Back Home, In My Dreams, Your Eyes,This 'n' That,All The Way.

A well produced album! The absolute highlight is "No One Likes The Rain", that is a classic! It reminds me a bit of "Be My Baby". Another beautiful song is "In My Dreams" Some of the other ballads on the album can get a little boring! It obvious that Joey has a problem with his rock/blues songs! They are too ordinary, and he fails to put some good melody into them! "You Make Me Sick" is one of the songs that has some good melody in the chorus, and that makes it the best rocker on the album! Joey should start to mix his rock-talent with his melody-talent, instead of seperating them like he does a bit on this record. Also I'm not too impressed by the lead guitar parts done by Joey! The songs that I like the most:You Make Me Sick,No One Likes The Rain,Long Long Way Back Home,In My Dreams,This 'n' That! The Pilgrim is a must for every Badfinger fan, and it proves that Joey wasn't writing his best tunes when he was in Badfinger!

Pilgrim gets: ***

Over You

Producer: Rod Roach.

Released: 1993

Rec. Company: Gipsy Music

Tracks: Waited Too Long, Love Inside You,I Don't Know Why, You And I,Baby You, If I Needed Someone, A Step To Heaven, The Rain, Lay Down, Stolen Love, Over You

Over You is a great CD. Very different from 7 Park. The production is very clean, and some of it sounds like it could have been recorded today. Tommy does a great vocal job on all the songs,and also Rod Roach also plays a good guitar(sometimes it sounds like something Pete or Joey could have done). Most of the songs are great pop-rock tunes. Higlights: Waited Too Long, Love Inside You, You And I, A Step To Heaven, Over You. Not all of the blues-rock included are my style but some of it really rocks. Over You is a MUST for any Badfinger fan! With two great Badfinger demo albums on the market, Joey's gonna have difficulties with issuing a demos-album that can match these two - but only time can tell.

Over You Gets : * * * * *

The Best Of Badfinger

Producers: Various

Released: 1995 Apple Records (currently available)

Tracks:
Come and Get It, Maybe Tomorrow, Rock Of All Ages, Dear Angie, Carry On Till Tomorrow, No Matter What, Believe Me,Midnight Caller, Better Days, Without You, Take It All,Money, Flying,The Name of the Game, Suitcase, Day After Day, Baby Blue (U.S. Single Mix) , When I Say, Icicles , I Can Love You, Apple Of My Eye

There's a lot that could've been done with this release. Apple didn't do it. Where's the great tunes from Maybe Tomorrow? The overall tone of this album is a little too mellow for what Badfinger gave us - a lot of good rockin' pop tunes. Can't complain though, it is all we can get and we'll buy it. Going along controversial lines, in a very Beatles' Love Songs-like act, the cover photo was altered to give the dominant position to Joey (in Love Songs, Paul's photo was enlarged to make him larger than the other Beatles).

Best Of Badfinger Featuring Joey Molland

Producers: ?

Released: 1994 Eclipse Music Group,Retro Music 1996

Tracks:
Baby Blue No Matter What, Day After Day, Come and Get It, Love Is Gonna Come At Last ,Suitcase, I Don't Mind ,Sweet Tuesday Morning, Without You , Midnight Caller

Joey has re-recorded the old songs!I can't find anything positive to say about this CD! The sound is horrible! Missplelling,miscredits etc. shows that this project is low-budget, and only done to get money from fans! Best Of Featuring Joey gets: 1/2*

Pete Ham-7 Park Avenue

Pete Ham Band Pete Ham. (Ron Griffiths, Bob Jackson, Derrick Anderson, Rick Cammon)

Producers: Dan Matovina

Released: 1997

Rec. Company: Ryko Rec,

Tracks: Catherine Cares, Coppertone Blues, It Doesn't Really Matter, Live Love All Of Your Days,Would You Deny, Dear Father, Matted Spam, No Matter What, Leaving On A Midnight Train, Weep Baby,Hand In Hand, Sille Veb, I Know That I Should, Island, Just Look Inside The Cover, Just How Lucky We Are, No More, Ringside

This collection of home demos made by Pete Ham from 67 to 75, shows Pete Ham as one of the most talented songwriters ever! Not even the bad recording quality on some of the tracks can hide the beautiful melody that nearly every Ham-composition has!The album shows also that Pete was a great singer and guitar player! Many of the songs have the same hit-quality as Baby Blue,Day After Day etc.When Badfinger needed a hit-single, songs like "It Doesn't Really Matter" should have been used! This is the strongest Badfinger-related release in many years!Matovina also deserves a lot of credit for finding these "lost tapes", and doing a great production!

7 Park Avenue gets: ******

Without You-The Tragic Story.....

"Badfinger" Pete Ham, Tom Evans,Bob Jackson

Producer: Dan Matovina

Released: 1997

Rec. Company: Released as a bonus CD to the hardcover version of The "Without You,Tragic Story Of Badfinger",by Dan Matovina

Tracks: Good Times Together, Uncle C.,Without You (If It's Love), Without You (I Can't Live),Carry on Till Tomorrow, Just How Lucky We Are, It Doesn't Really Matter, Ringside,Lost Inside your Love,I Won't Forget You

A few early Tommy Demos and some other versions of songs from 7 Park Avenue!The version of "Just How Lucky We Are" is better than the one on 7 Park! The Goodfinger song "I Won't Forget You" written by Bob Jackson is a fantastic tribute to Pete Ham, and because of this track, the CD is a must far a Badfinger Fan!

I will not give this CD starts as it would be unfair to compare it to most of the other released reviewed on this page."I Won't Forget You" would get 6 stars i think.

BBC In Concert 1972-73

Producer: Jeff Griffin

Released: 1997

Rec. Company: Strange Fruit

Tracks: Better Days, Only You And I Know, We're For The Dark, Sweet Tuesday Morning ,Feelin' Alright?, Take It All,Suitcase,Love Is Easy, Blind Owl, Constitution, Icicles, Matted Spam, Suitcase, I Can't Take It, Come And Get It.

I think that Badfinger live at the BBC is a great live CD which shows what a great live band Badfinger was! When the band starts their long jamming you can hear what a great guitarist Pete Ham was. Joey also does a great job, but in my opinion Pete is the one playing with the most fantasy! Higlights:Take It All, Blind Owl and Better Days. BUT live at the BBC is not one of the Badfinger albums I hear the most, because after hearing 4-5 songs I get very tired in my head, due to the hard sound of the long jams

BBC In Concert gets * * *

Mike Gibbins-A Place In Time

Mike Gibbins Band Mike Gibbins,Rick Warsing,Alan Hewgley

Producers: Mike Gibbins

Released: 1998

Rec. Company: Forbidden Rec.

Tracks: Sue Me,Picture Of You,Rocking The Boat,Time In,Overdue, Bad Boy Blues, Layaway, Please Please,A Place In Time, Warcloud, Day After Night, Egg!

The Album shows that Mike Gibbins is a very talented songwriter! The Production is not in top though, and Mike doesn't get the best out of his songs on this album!Mike's singing is mixed too low, and really the album has a digital sound! On coming projects I hope Mike will try to get the tracks to sound more like a band performance! Bad Boy Blues is the song that sounds the most like a band performance! Time In,Layaway,Day After Night are the higlights! Layaway reminds me of George Harrison! Buy the album if you are a Badfinger fan!

A Place In Time gets: * and a half.

Joey Molland Basil

Producers: Joey Molland

Released: 1998 Indepentent Artist

Tracks:
I Said It's Alright, Borderline,Birdsong,Cadilac Blues,Can't Stop,Clouds Of Love,Isn't That A Dream,Mirrors,Miss Understood,Moonlight,Panning Gold,Sometimes,Walkin' On The Floor,What You're Doing,Whenm Miss Understood

Joey Molland's 1998 released demo cd. It features demos recorded by Joey from 1972 to 1995. There are some really great tunes on it. The higlight is definitely "Isn't That A Dream" recorded in 1995.But also "It's True" and "Mirrors are good tunes. From reading Randy Justesen's review of these songs I had expected a CD of the same quality as "Over You". For me that's unfortunately that's not the case. As I've said before I think Joey should try to put some melody into his rockers, they are just too simple and boring! We know from tracks like "No One Likes The Rain"(The Pilgrim), "The Dreamer"(Airwaves) and others, that he's able of creating good melodies, so why not try to blend it with his rocking tunes. I know it's wrong to compare Pete, Tommy and Joey because their songwritings are so different, but as "Moonlight" already has been compared with Pete Ham I will do the same. If there are any Joey tunes who deserve to be compared to Pete's songs it's not "Moonlight". Joey does a fantastic acoustic-guitar job on the song, but in my opinion the melody is too close to the guitar-riff. It's too boring.

I would have liked to hear more early seventies demos! That would have given a better view of which songs Badfinger/Joey decided not to take any further. When Joey has decided to release the 1990-95 songs as demos, it must be because he doesn't feel they are good enough to be re-recoreded and released in a proper quality. But the songs from Badfinger period could have been dropped by the group. Concluding that, it's obvious that Basil never could have reached the heights of "7 Park Avenue" and "Over You".

Since Joey needed finances for his coming solo project, "Basil" was a better idea than "Best Of Featuring Joey Molland".I really like "The Pilgrim" more and more, so if the coming CD has the same quality I can't wait.

My favorite tracks: "Borderline" ,"Isn't That A Dream" , "It's True","Mirrors", "What You're Doin' "

Basil gets: *

Pete Ham Golders Green

Producers: Dan Matovina (Chris von Sneidern,Mike Romanowski,Bennett Bowman)

Released: 1999 Rykodisc

Tracks:
Makes Me Feel Good, A Lonely Day, Dawn, If It's Love, Pete's Walk, Hurry On Father, Goodbye John Frost, I'll Kiss You Goodnight, When The Feeling, Shine On, Gonna Do It, Whiskey Man , Keyhole Street , I've Waited So Long To Be Free, Richard, Midnight Caller, Helping Hand, Where Will You Be, I'm So Lonely , Makes Me Feel Good, Japanese bonus tracks: Piano Red, Evening Sky

This new collection of Pete Ham demos once again proves to us all what a big talent Pete Ham was. Pete was not just a mainstream pop writer, his abilities were far beyond that. Golders Green shows us many other sides of the songwriter Pete Ham.

Whiskey Man and I'm So Lonely both have a very bluesy feel, and When The Feeling that features Pete singing and playing drums, sounds very inspired of "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" by Paul McCartney. I'm So Lonely also stands out as the perhaps most professional sounding Pete Ham demo released to this date. Like many other songs on Golders Green I'm So Lonely wouldn't have fitted in on 7 Park Avenue - the sound is more thick and some very nice overdubs has been added to it.

Richard stands out as the only real rock'n roller on Golders Green - apart from the great instrumental track Pete's Walk. Unfortunately the sound quality of Pete's original demo is not in top and it suffers a bit from that, but it is a really great rocker similar in style to Leaving On A Midnight Train.

Of course there are also a whole bunch of classic Pete Ham pop ballads; among the best of them are Hurry On Father, I've Waited So Long To Be Free and Where Will You Be. All three have very little if any overdubs on them. I've Waited So Long To Be Free and Where Will You Be both are very dark but extremely beautiful guitar ballads. Among the full instrumented pop classics are Dawn - extremely good sound quality, and Helping Hand - one of Pete's last songs, definitely a highlight along with the catchy opener Makes Me Feel Good.

Keyhole Street and Goodbye John Frost are two very Beatles inspired mainstream pop songs. Both are full instrumented and in good sound quality.

And of course there are the three songs that Badfinger recorded and released: Without You, Shine On and Midnight Caller. Shine One is very very short, but you can't help but notice Pete's beautiful voice. Without You (If It's Love) also features a good singing performance by Pete but are not that interesting. Midnight Caller features beautiful harmony singing but are not that exciting either.

All in all Golders Green is a great addition to our Badfinger collection, though perhaps not as commercial as 7 Park Avenue. I wouldn't prefer one from the other. Though perhaps it's unfair to compare the two CD's as the circumstances surrounding them are so very different, I'll do it anyway.

In 7 Park's favor: the tracks flows greatly together and are not so different in style as on Golders Green where both sound quality and song style varies a lot. Many of the songs on Golders Green are about one minute in play time where most songs on 7 Park Avenue are of a more normal length.

In Golders Green's favor: many of the songs have a more thick and finished production and some great overdubs have been added, where 7 Park has a more thin production. Golders Green also has some great fan features - Pete talks and has a good time behind a drum kit (When The Feeling) etc. Perhaps Dan Matovina deserves even more credit for the production of Golders Green than on does of 7 Park Avenue.

My favorite tracks: "Hand In Hand" ,"Makes Me Feel Good" , "Waited So Long To Be Free", "I'm So Lonely", "Dawn,"

Golders Green gets: ******

Mike Gibbins-More Annoying Songs

Mike Gibbins Band Mike Gibbins,Ron Griffiths, Rick Warsing,Alan Hewgley

Producers: Mike Gibbins, Rick Warsing

Released: 2000

Rec. Company: Exile Music

Tracks: Wired, Two And Two, Time Will Tell Us, Chains, Dirty Old Bugger, Oxydynamo, Love Song, Hold On To Your Dream, Dream On...Fall To Pieces

The second solo release from Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins is a bit more jammy than his first release "A Place In Time". Iveys member Ron Griffiths joined Mike on a couple of tracks on this release. Mike takes a good step forward with this CD, but the electronical sound that also was a problem on the first CD is still there. Still many of the songs are really good. Favorites includes: "Wired" "Chains", "Love Song", "Hold On To Your Dream". Guitarist Rick Warsing does a great job like he did on "A Place In Time". I personally would like to see Mike putting some more acoustic guitars on his albums, and get rid of some of the keyboards. It would make a nice change to the overall sound. Mike has the material to make great albums, but it doesn't come across as good as it could on his two recent releases.

More Annoying Songs gets: * and a half.

Badfinger - Head First

Badfinger: Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans, Bob Jackson, Pete Ham

Producers: Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise

Released: 2000

Rec. Company: Snapper Music

Tracks:Lay Me Down , Hey, Mr. Manager ,Keep Believing ,Passed Fast ,Rock 'n' Roll Contract ,Saville Row ,Moonshine ,Back Again ,Turn Around ,Rockin' Machine
Disc 2: ,Time Is Mine" ,Smokin' Gun ,Old Fashioned Notions ,Nothing To Show ,You Ask Yourself Why ,Keep Your Country Tidy ,To Say Goodbye ,Queen Of Darkness ,I Can't Believe In ,Thanks To You All ,Lay Me Down (Demo)

The lost album finally arrived, 25 years after it was recorded. Head First was recorded in just two weeks, late 1974. Joey Molland had just left the group, and new keyboardist Bob Jackson joined Badfinger for the recording of this album.

To read a full story on the making of head first link here

It was also the last Badfinger album to feature Pete Ham, as he just months after the Head First sessions committed suicide, depressed by the hopeless situation that surrounded him and the band.

Badfinger were only given two weeks to record the album, but managed to make a great album anyway. The departure of Joey made way for both Mike Gibbins and Tom Evans to shine a bit more as composers. T om's "Hey Mr. Manager" is a true classic with some highly controversial lyrics about the bands manager Stan Polley, who he by the end of 1974 knew had screwed them. "Rock'n Roll Contract" deals with the same topic, and both of them features killer lead guitar by Pete(the whole album does!). Pete contributed with two songs "Lay Me Down" which was meant to be the single of the album, and really it's right up there with "No Matter What". Just a great rocker, sung with great passion by Pete. "Keep Believing" is Pete's song to Joey after he had quit the band, and it's another Ham-classic. New member Bob Jackson collaborated with Tom and Mike on "Passed Fast" and "Moonshine" which both are beautiful tunes. His own heavy rocker "Turn Around", could perhaps have been the beginning of a new musical direction for Badfinger.

Dispite the crazy circumstances that surround Head First, the band proved their big talents and came out with an album that could have been just as good as any of their previous releases. There are of course things that indicates the rush the album was recorded in, and furthermore the only tapes available for this new CD issue was some rough mixes done after the sessions had been completed. It's also an extremly short album.

As a bonus a CD of demos by the members done around 1974 is included. Once again you are impressed by the talent of Pete Ham. Highlights of his songs are "Keep Your Country Tidy", "Smoking Gun", "I Can't Believe In" and "Time is Mine". Other highlights are "To Say Goodbye" by Bob Jackson and "You Ask Yourself Why" by Mike Gibbins

All in all it's a release you can't afford not to have!!!

Head First gets: * * * * * *

Badfinger - The Very Best Of Badfinger

Badfinger: Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans, Joey Molland, Pete Ham, Ron Griffiths

Producers: George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Todd Rundgren, Mal Evans, Geoff Emerick, Tony Visconti, Chris Thomas

Released: 2000

Rec. Company: Capitol

Tracks: No Matter What, Day After Day, Baby Blue, Name Of The Game, Maybe Tomorrow, Come And Get It, Rock Of All Ages, Carry On Till Tomorrow, Midnight Caller, We're For The Dark, I'll Be The One, Without You, I'd Die Babe, It's Over, Whe I Say, Dennis, Lonely You, Love Time, Meanwhile Back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke

A nice new collection of Badfinger's best songs on both Warner and Apple. The sound quality has been improved quite a bit, but the lack of bonus tracks makes this CD a little less interesting. I can't believe Apple/Capitol want to make a release like this without bonus songs on it.