Classic Rock Review: Badfinger's No Dice (1970)

Widely-considered as the “Godfathers of Power-Pop,” Badfinger’s storied career dated back to the early 1960s. Formed in 1961, the band ran through names like the Black Velvets and the Wild Ones before settling on the Iveys. A typical British R&B outfit, the Iveys played Top 40 chart hits, Motown, psychedelic-rock, blues, and soul while touring with better-known outfits like the Who, the Yardbirds, and the Spencer Davis Group. They would come to the attention of the Beatles and, signed to that band’s Apple Records label, would change their name and start the long slog of moving out of the long shadow of their benefactors.

No Dice was the second album recorded under the Badfinger band name and features the “classic” line-up of guitarists Pete Ham and Joey Molland, bassist Tom Evans, and drummer Mike Gibbins, all of whom share vocals at one time or another. It’s an odd album, and not what fans might expect, in spite of the power-pop blueprint “No Matter What,” an engaging slice of guitar-driven chart candy that would become the band’s second Top 10 U.K. and U.S. single. Although a lot of the album’s exercises in rock ‘n’ roll reflect the uncertainty of the changing decades (as well as upheaval in the Beatles camp and Apple Records), there are a number of gems hidden in these grooves.

The Ham/Evans co-write “Without You” would become a big hit for Harry Nilsson a year after Badfinger’s hauntingly beautiful and sublime version. The rollicking, country-tinged “Better Days” offers up some stellar fretwork and harmony vocals while the rockin’ “Love Me Do” one-ups the Beatles with a stomping ‘50s throwback soundtrack. Evans’ “Believe Me” is a Paul McCartney solo track by any standard with plaintive, yearning vocals and lush instrumental accompaniment and “We’re For the Dark” closes No Dice with an elegant folk-pop tune boasting of elegant guitarplay and Ham’s warm vocals. Oddly enough, only “No Matter What” was released as a single off the album, although there are easily a couple of other worthy candidates here.     

Badfinger peaked commercially with the band’s 1971 album Straight Up, which would ride the Top 10 U.S. hits “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue” to a #31 position on the Billboard albums chart. Financial mismanagement, personnel changes, the demise of Apple Records, numerous lawsuits, and other issues plagued the band until its break-up in 1975 following the death of Pete Ham by suicide. Broker than broke, Badfinger members Molland and Evans re-formed the band in the late ‘70s and released albums in 1979 (Airwaves) and 1981 (Say No More) before breaking up again, each man touring with their own version of Badfinger in the early ‘80s. Despondent over an argument concerning royalties, Evans took his own life in 1983. Joey Molland continued to lead Badfinger, in one form or another, into the 2000s while also releasing several solo albums. (Apple Records, 1970)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Badfinger’s No Dice

Short Rounds: Badfinger, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Billy Bremner, Dave Davies & Midnight Oil (2019)

New album releases in 150 words or less...

Badfinger – Wish You Were Here (Real Gone Music)
The Badfinger story is one of malfeasance and mismanagement that robbed the popular U.K. band of both money and momentum – a tale for another time, perhaps. The last gasp by the band’s best-known incarnation, Wish You Were Here is a stunning, critically-acclaimed collection of rock ‘n’ roll and power-pop that, if not for insurmountable legal issues, could have been huge. I count at least three hit singles here – the grandly-orchestrated “Dennis” (beating ELO at their own game), the enchanting “Know One Knows” (in the vein of earlier hit “Day After Day”), and the country-flavored “You’re So Fine,” which is what the Beatles might have sounded like if they hailed from Nashville. This expanded CD version doubles-down on the goodness with nine bonus tracks, mostly alternative mixes save for the unreleased gem “Queen of Darkness.” Call it Badfinger’s “lost album,” Wish You Were Here is a classic waiting to be rediscovered. Grade: A   BUY!

Big Brother & the Holding Company – Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills (Legacy Recordings)
San Francisco’s Big Brother & the Holding Company made a star of singer Janis Joplin with their classic Cheap Thrills album, but there was a lot of material left behind that further cements the album’s status as a landmark of rock ‘n’ roll. Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills is a two-disc, 30-track collection of 29 mostly-unreleased alternate takes from the album’s original recording sessions along with a rare, blistering live performance of “Ball and Chain” from Winterland Ballroom that highlights Joplin’s whiskey-soaked vocals and the twin-guitar attack of the underrated Sam Andrew and James Gurley. There’s nothing truly revelatory here, save for the mesmerizing “Oh, Sweet Mary,” on which Janis shares her vocals. Sex, Dope & Cheap Thrills will appeal mostly to the hardcore faithful, but it’s fun (and a little intriguing) to hear the band’s varying approaches to well-worn and familiar material like “Summertime” and “Piece of My Heart.” Grade: B   BUY!

Billy Bremner – Singled Out (RPM Records, U.K.)
British rocker Billy Bremner is best known for his tenure with the band Rockpile and association with Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe, having contributed musically to solo albums by both artists. But the singer, songwriter, and guitarist has enjoyed a lengthy solo career dating back to the early 1980s, with a handful of albums to his name. Singled Out is a career-spanning, 21-track compilation, and it’s a dandy, indeed! Bremner wrote “Trouble Boys,” a hit for Edmunds, and was an early Stiff Records label artist in the power-pop vein of Lowe, but he’s often been overshadowed by his friends. Singled Out puts his talents on display with smart wordplay and wiry fretwork as on the lovely “I See It In Your Eyes,” the rockabilly-tinged “Fire In My Pocket,” or his first single, the loping “Loud Music In Cars.” Bremner’s masterful style of rootsy pub-rock is timeless, his talent seemingly endless. RIYL Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Brinsley Schwarz, Rockpile. Grade: A   BUY! 

Dave Davies – Decade (Green Amp Records)
Ray Davies is lauded – and rightfully so – as the songwriting genius behind legendary British rockers the Kinks. Several songs written by brother Dave through the years has shown that there was more than one creative spark in the band, and Decade proves this in spades. A collection of 13 previously-unreleased songs recorded by Dave Davies between 1971 and 1979, Decade offers a something for everybody, from the country-flavored pub-rock of “Midnight Sun” and the soulful “If You Are Leaving” to the bluesy “Mystic Woman” and the swirling prog-psych of “Mr. Moon.” Brother Dave is a top-notch wordsmith in his own right, and if his vocals aren’t as melodic as Ray’s, they’re not half-bad either, and his immense six-string skills imbue each performance with the same sort of energy and emotion that he brought to his full-time band’s work. You don’t have to be a Kinks fan to love Dave Davies. Grade: A-   BUY!

Midnight Oil – Armistice Day: Live at the Domain, Sidney (Sony Music, Australia)
Australia’s favorite rockers returned in 2017 after a 15-year hiatus, the band’s best-known line-up bringing their lyrical message of social justice and environmental awareness to over 500,000 fans with 77 shows around the world on “The Great Circle” tour. The tour ended, appropriately, in Sydney, which is where Armistice Day was recorded. Featuring an explosive 26 performances across two discs and packaged in a handsome square-bound book with lots of photos, it’s really like they never left! Vocalist Peter Garrett still roars like a wounded lion across familiar songs like “Beds Are Burning,” “Blue Sky Mine,” “Redneck Wonderland,” and “Forgotten Years” while guitarists Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey destroy everything in their path. There are a lot of great “deep tracks” from the band’s extensive catalog included here as well and, overall, Midnight Oil sounds every bit as powerful and passionate on Armistice Day as they did 30+ years ago. Grade: A+   BUY!

Previously on That Devil Music.com:
Short Rounds, December 2018: Doug Deming, Tom Guerra, Handsome Jack, Tom Morello, NRBQ & Unicorn
Short Rounds, November 2018: Joe Bonamassa, Peter Holsapple & Alex Chilton, Winston Jarrett, Permanent Green Light, The Posies & Rolling River Royalty
Short Rounds, October 2018: Mike Felten, Eric Lindell, John McLaughlin, Daniel Seymour & Mark Robinson, Bob Seger & Ska Authentic