Badfinger: Day After Day

Michael Heatley told the story of Badfinger in Classic Rock:

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.

‘The new Fab Four’ label earned Badfinger respect in the States, where they found their greatest success. But with the whole Beatles business empire fragmenting around them they found themselves left in a limbo. Having inaccessible management in another country didn’t help. And, ultimately, even the authorship of Without You was disputed.

Ham and Evans both took their own lives, but Heatley says the band is being discovered by new fans because their track Baby Blues was used in the final episode of Breaking Bad.