Badfinger — Day After Day

«Day After Day», the only bona fide hit that Badfinger ever had, was the best song off their album Straight Up. Unfortunately for them, they straight-up got dealt hand after hand of bad luck in their career, and it’s likely that most music fans don’t even remember them today save for to comment on their legendary bad luck.

Before «Day After Day», and Straight Up, Badfinger looked like a band destined for long-term success. Discovered by The Beatles, of all acts, Badfinger was brought into the fold at Apple Records, the company that The Beatles created to sign new talent and encourage aspiring artists. Thing is, around the time that Badfinger was brought into the ranks of the company, the company was going through hard times. Because The Beatles’ finances were in terrible disarray, and a power struggle was emerging between the company and the Fab Four, groups like Badfinger were left twisting in the wind without much in the name of an agency.

Because of the resultant legal struggles between Badfinger and Apple, much of Badfinger’s catalog was seized. As a result, «Day After Day» and Straight Up became just about the only things of import that Badfinger would ever release. Why? Because Apple was making sure that Badfinger had no legal right to use the materials that they recorded for Apple, and, on top of this, had no money to do anything with because Apple was withholding their royalties due to legal issues that Badfinger had little to no control over. Legal troubles, and bad timing, were just some of the issues that plagued the band. For instance, the band had a hit song with «Without You», which was arguably the best track off their album previous to Straight Up, which was called No Dice. However, the song was only popular when Harry Nilsson covered it.

It is an unfortunate fact that a long legal battle will take the wind out of anyone’s sails. Unable to have a career doing what he wanted to do if only because his best material was in Apple’s vault, Badfinger’s Pete Ham - who wrote «Day After Day» - hanged himself in 1975. Adding to the band’s tragic history was the suicide, in much the same fashion, of Tom Evans. Evans, who wrote «Without You» with Ham, ended his life in 1983.

Strangely enough, some minor support for Badfinger’s contribution to rock music has recently been murmured in insider circles. For the record, «Day After Day» is finally receiving some of the acclaim that it always deserved in the early 1970s, although only by record critics and studious music fans. But due to the fact that Badfinger never attained the success and fame they were seemingly predestined to, it’s not likely that the song will ever be considered a true classic.