Should Badfinger ever get into the Jann Wenner Hall of Fame?

I'm going to have to buy it again.

 

what happen to your copy? I still have mine...but, I do prefer the studio version best...

 

I lost it a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

 

been there and it sucks...I've even lost a CD in my home! LOL...still can't find it. : )

 

More hits than Richie Valens.

 

You can make a case for them; their hits have certainly had legs; Breaking Bad ended with Baby Blue; Without You gets murdered annually on American Idol; I got into Wish You Were here late and its truly a great album as is Straight Up.

 

True.
But Ritchie Valens passed at the age of 17, less than 9 months into his career.
I think Valens had released 3, maybe 4 singles, and no albums before the plane crash.

Badfinger had done 6 albums by the time Pete Ham committed suicide a few days short of his 28th birthday in 1975.

I think Valens was a bit more influential, at least in America, than Badfinger was.

 

Generally, I go by Innovation, Influence, Critical Success, and Commercial Success.
Innovation: Forerunners to what would come to be known as power pop. So there’s that

Influence: Of course, God knows how many times “Without You” has been covered, and they have influenced the likes of Matthew Sweet, Jellyfish, Oasis, The dBs, and The Artful Dodger.

Critical Success: Generally very well regarded critically

Commercial Success: Limited commercial success in their time, but their material has had some legs in later years, both through material being covered as well as the inclusion of “Baby Blue” in the finale of Breaking Bad.

Overall, Badfinger has a case for at least nomination.

 

As influential as Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers? I think not

 

Badfinger has definitely made it into my personal hall of fame... one of the great groups. Pete Ham's demos are better quality and of more interest than many groups' full studio recordings!

 

I'm glad to have a few of the live concerts that circulated in mid 90's on cassette.

Still love the BBC double vinyl release from StrangeFruit/Apple that was issued.

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thanks for posting this!

 

They'll get around to Badfinger eventually. The years keep rollin' by, and it's not like new rock bands are tumbling out of garages...

 

MN , I know exactly what you mean by this. Exactly.

 

I love them, but if I am honest with myself, I'd say they were more an "influenced" band than an "influential" one. If you like them it's probably because you like the Beatles and they carried the baton after the breakup.

 

Not the garages, but the corporate offices...
You figure that in the next few years, stars such as Britney Spears, N’Sync, The Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilera
will be eligible for nomination. Maybe the Clearchannel / IHeartMedia exec will be pushing for the pop stars of the turn of the century. Then we can watch the backs of the heads of the followers of this forum exploding throughout the land!
:—)

 

As much as I love Badfinger, I think their span of influence and their fan base are too narrow for inclusion.

They had hits but they weren't big enough to have the name recognition that other bands with a handful of hits, also they haven't really had the benefit of a modern artist singing their praises.

 

I like their albums but HOF. Can’t we just call them a good band! Richard Valens because he was there in the early days and first big Latino rocker to make it. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Los Lobos covered many of his songs before the movie and I think they are a great band.

 

Here's another cool version of "Day After Day" Live that aired on a tv program in UK back in '72 and all this time it's basically sat in vault until a few years ago.

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Great band. I don't think they'll ever get honored in Cleveland, but they are in my RRHOF, for whatever that is worth.

 

wow...thanks!

 

If they never do put them in it's not a huge loss as who's left other than Ron Griffiths, and the guy that replaced him, Joey Molland? Dai Jenkins maybe? They should be in there but how much could it really mean at this point? Pet Ham and Tom Evans should be in a songwriting hall too.

 

This article makes an excellent argument for their inclusion.

Why Badfinger Is A No-Brainer For The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

First, Badfinger was responsible (along with Big Star) for creating a popular and enduring genre of Rock & Roll music, power pop, that has itself already produced acts of such renown that they have been recognized for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (namely REM). Any band that is foundational in creating a popular and enduring genre of music is worthy of induction on those grounds alone, apart from any consideration of sales or hit records. On top of this, Badfinger’s music has endured both in its original and in cover versions. “Without You” has been covered by Nilsson and Mariah Carey with hit versions. “Day After Day,” “Come And Get It,” and “No Matter What” all hit the top ten for Badfinger, and “Baby Blue” came close [2]. And that is not even including their beautiful “Maybe Tomorrow” single and album as the Iveys before they were renamed to Badfinger. For a band that saw two albums pulled from shelves over the corrupt business dealings of its manager (Wish You Were Here and Head First), and saw its career momentum harmed by Apple Records releasing an unpolished and unready effort to complete the band’s contract with them (Ass, which nonetheless featured a beautiful and enduring song in “Apple Of My Eye”), the fact that their music has endured despite the incompetence and outright corruption of their management and record labels is remarkable. In addition, Badfinger’s story needs to be remembered for bands to learn from their tragedy and avoid repeating it. A band is like a family, and it has to stay together in order to survive the corruption of the music industry–Badfinger did not have enough asabiya to endure together, and they were eaten alive as a result and driven in despair to self-destruction. A powerful story like that of Badfinger is proof that talent cannot always triumph over adversity in this life in the absence of cooperation and mutual support and encouragement, and that needs to be understood by fans of music and by musicians alike.

 

I've been a fan of this band since before the CD era, and I'd prefer they NOT get into the Rock Hall.

I'm not going to be told what music is "important" by a bunch of social climbing Yuppies in pony tails who sit around and pass judgement on artists in corporate boardrooms while drinking mineral water and eating bran muffins. If this is some people's idea of rock and roll, so be it, but it's not mine.

Also: Anytime I see the smarmy phrase "the editors of Rolling Stone" attached to a publication featuring any group, I immediately stop listening to that group. So, I hope the Perrier crowd never gets near Badfinger, because then I'd have to sell all my vinyl by them.

 

Not before Big Star but I wouldn't hold your breath for either.