We recorded 15 tracks or so with Geoff, and what happened was, the album got sent to America. Everything contract-wise, you name it; he wasnt being a straight shooter.. So he came over and played bass, and we made some demos. According to Wkipedia's entry on Stan Polley (it doesn't mention the fact that he was a jew), he defrauded some white man of a quarter of a million dollars in 1991, and was prosecuted for it. We were driving secondhand cars. He was great at everything he did with us. The Iveys had put out some records before Come and Get It that didnt really take off, Molland says. And it is understandable from a legal angle why Warners wanted the advance money back once they got wind of Polley's shady dealings. So did the others. Salaries and advances to the band members ranged from $5,000 to $8,500 US. The label initially thought the album had no hits and Rolling Stone magazine would rate it as one of the best records of the year. In their absence, Badfingers music continues to touch the hearts of new generations of listeners. In 1972, Polley negotiated a record contract with Warner Bros. Records for Badfinger, which called for advances to be paid into an escrow account. But yeah, the Nilsson track became huge. Molland said he got inspiration from things that happened to him, such as splitting up with his girlfriend. The Liverpool-born guitarist joined the Welsh/English group, then called the Iveys (which also featured singer-guitarist Pete Ham, singer-bassist Tom Evans and drummer Mike Gibbins), at a most fortuitous time. THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BRAWL BETWEEN JOHN LENNON AND CHRIS MONTEZ IN 1963! This browser does not support getting your location. He soon formed an instrumental combo called the Panthers, quickly emerging as an adept guitarist and disciplined bandleader. Dr. Stan Polley teaches 2nd, 4th, and 7th grade science at Loveland Classical School in Loveland, Colorado. Meanwhile, Mike Gibbins quietly released some low-key solo projects, and died of natural causes in 2005. He was provided with unaudited accounts that said earnings had been eaten up by expensive US tours. WERE WE ALL BRAINWASHED BY THE CIA WITH SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL? HARLEM OF THE WEST: SAN FRANCISCOS FILLMORE DISTRICT, BEAT SURRENDER: RECLAIMING THE LEGACY OF LUCIEN CARR. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. His potentially provocative comments proved to be a blessing when Paul McCartney read the piece, and responded by offering the band Come And Get It, an infectious new tune hed written for the soundtrack of the upcoming Ringo Starr/Peter Sellers film The Magic Christian. His natural facility with electronicswhich won him a post as an apprentice electrical engineer at his brother Johns TV/radio repair shopenabled him to build homemade amps and a P.A. As part of the agreement the band signed with Polley, they established Badfinger Enterprises Inc with business partner Stan Poses as the Vice-President. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, How fake copyright complaints are muzzling journalists, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. Badfinger continued its hot streak with 1971s Straight Up, whose production is credited to George Harrison, Todd Rundgren and Geoff Emerick. We didnt have any money. Even when pushing 70, he conned $1 . In January 1967, Davies took the Iveys into the studio to record demos of three of their original tunes. Getting involved with the crook was the worst thing we ever did. What kind of guitarist were you back in the '60s before you finally hooked up with Badfinger? Add to your scrapbook. Resend Activation Email. It wasnt our idea. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Were there tensions within the band at this point? Oops, we were unable to send the email. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. They soon began to draw the attention of a lot of record labels. To use this feature, use a newer browser. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. "It came from [a name for] John [Lennon] who could play piano but was not the greatest player," said Molland. Alan T, Oct 26, 2009 #110 wildstar Senior Member Location: ontario, canada Alan T said: Badfinger were on a downward spiral in record sales after the last Apple LP. Badfinger tried again four years later, signing a new deal with Elektra Records and releasing two more albums, 1979s Airwaves and 1981s Say No More, but they wouldnt be enough to sustain their momentum, commercially. Although Stan Polley may of done many unethcial things during his tenure as manger, Badfinger never had any release go anywhere near the top-forty globally after 1973. My feeling was, Just tag along, man. Badfinger had made the most of the opportunity, releasing a series of irresistibly melodic hit singles that led many to proclaim the foursome to be destined for Fab Four-level greatness. By 1969, the line-up included Swansea members Ham and drummer Mike Gibbins, plus Liverpudlians Molland and Tommy Evans. Why MTV Banned Nine Inch Nails From the MTV Movie Awards in 2005, Mother Love Bone and The Tragic Death of Andrew Wood, Pearl Jams Disastrous Fight With Ticketmaster, The Cults Making of Love and She Sells Sanctuary. He was a very good producer in every way.. I met some guys who wanted to put a band together, and I liked them, so we started something up. But it didnt take long for the eager young quartets bright prospects to turn unimaginably dark, sending the band into a bleak, bottomless abyss from which Ham and Evans would never escape. Their shows were so popular that the band members commanded more attention than Garrick himself, particularly Dai Jenkins. Mollands first collection of new songs in nearly a decade, the ten-song set shows his writing and performing skills to be as sharp as ever, with such tunes as This Time, Better Tomorrow and Rainy Day Man echoing his best work with Badfinger, with a reflective lyrical edge that compliments their melodic craft. It is a story with its roots in Swansea and Liverpool involving The Beatles, a love song and a tragedy. Follow More from Medium Alvin Ang in Mind Cafe A Beautiful Girl I Knew Became a High-Class Escort And. Bill Collins, a session musician, was impressed with the Iveys performance, and took them under his wing. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Learn more about managing a memorial . The TV Room David Soref - SorefTV Deep insights into the culture and events surrounding televisions first half-century, and beyond. The band is well-known for making a huge impact on power pop in the 1970s and sold an estimated 14 million albums throughout their careers. I dont know if anybody thought it was a hit. Please try again later. PolleyBadfinger EnterprisesInc.Stan PosesPolley His unassuming manner led others to feel comfortable confiding in him and seeking his advice. By Gregg L. Friedman MD, I really miss the great musical groups of the 1960's. In the years since, Molland, who settled in Minneapolis in the early 80s, has continued making solo albums and performing songs from his old bands vintage repertoire. He said it was decided to "write off" the money in the US, because trying to get it would have involved using other band funds for litigation that may have proved "hopeless". I will not be allowed to love and trust everybody. S tan Polley (1922- ) is a retired American music entrepreneur who, for a time, managed the business ventures of several musicians. If in doubt, leave it out. I feel as if things couldve turned out differently. ). Read More. George Harrison produced half of Straight Up. What I knew of the Iveys was that they were a bit too pop for me at the time. The date of birth lined up with the Lester Brown we're familiar A WWII vet, from the 1960s on (until his death) he lived as a wannabe Jewish mafia type, including scamming anyone anywhere. His clients included rock band Badfinger, musician Al Kooper, and singer Lou Christie. They were left penniless. But bad business dealings - the group had entrusted their financial affairs to an American businessman, Stan Polley, who ultimately swindled them out of millions and left the members all but broke - splintered Badfinger, and in 1975, Pete Ham hanged himself in the garage of his Surrey home. So we started letting him handle all our money but he handled it right into his bank account. Contents 1 Biography Straight Up spawned a pair of Ham-penned American hits in Day After Day and Baby Blue, although Apples business problems kept the latter from being released as a single in the U.K. Like No Matter What, both songs carried an unmistakable sense of bittersweet melancholy, giving them an emotional depth that transcended their ostensible status as fluffy pop-rock tunes. He was that good. Not everyone was fully convinced though. He was working in a hardware store or something. So we did our version of it, and that seemed fine. Ten million people watched Sunday's final episode of Breaking Bad, with a touching farewell scene set to Badfinger's 1971 ballad Baby Blue. Your first album with them, No Dice, featured No Matter What, which many consider to be the definitive Badfinger song. His clients included rock band Badfinger, musician Al Kooper, singer Lou Christie, singer-producer Hank Medress, arranger Charles Calello, composer Sandy Linzer, WABC disc jockey Bob Lewis, among others. A note left next to Ham's body read, "Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. Please enter your email and password to sign in. Collins was insistent that the band sign with Apple Records, which was owned by the Beatles themselves. No, we didnt. He began artist management after he met Christie in the mid-1960s. He quickly emerged as a prolific tunesmith, coming up with new songs on an almost daily basis and cutting rough demos of his compositions on the two-track tape machine in the houses makeshift studio. He went away and took the tapes; we never did overdubs or anything. This led to arguments, with Ham quitting before returning. The new moniker was suggested by Beatles staffer Neil Aspinall, who borrowed it from Bad Finger Boogie, a working title that John Lennon had used for the song that became With A Little Help from My Friends.. Ask away and we will do our best to answer or find someone who can.We try to vet our answers to get you the most acurate answers. Wed love to stay in touch, sign up for The Pick team to contact you with great news, content and offers. He always had a good reason for doing something, but he wanted you to feel good about it. He financially ruined a bunch of others, too. I said, 'Well, whats the point in this?'. BA1 1UA. He was that concerned. But his involvement would ultimately seal the bands doom. In April 1970, manager Bill Collins was in the US scouting prospects for a tour and he met Stan Polley. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Was calling the bands 1973 album Ass met with resistance? McCartney was so pleased with the results that he turned the job of recording two more new songs for The Magic Christiana task for which he had originally signed onover to the Iveys. So, only six weeks after finishing Ass, the band returned to the studio with Chris Thomas to record their Warner debut, which would be released in 1974 as Badfinger (the band had originally wanted to title it For Love or Money). By that point, Ham, Evans and Gibbins had already each resigned at various times over the previous two years, but had all been persuaded to return. Although Bill Collins was more of a dreamer than a dealmaker, his interest in the Iveys was genuine. I wanted to play guitar music with a harder bite to it.. I didnt even have my own amp at the time. Now, 40 years later, the only surviving original member Joey Molland says he still feels angry, calling his band mate's death "a disaster". The Firebird was a guitar I was playing for years before I joined Badfinger. What was he like? I thought that was a good album. "Somewhere along the way, we lost that cohesiveness, belief in each other that we could trust each other with our children, our lives. EMI, in return, were allowed to release Beatles compilations, which Brian Epstein had always resisted.. GREAT NEWS! My amp was an AC30 that belonged to the band. In 1970, the infamous Stan Polley agreed to be their manager. "It was [manager] Bill Collins who suggested we join their two ideas. In 1974, Warner's publishing division filed a lawsuit against Polley when it was unsuccessful in locating the funds. Almost two years later, in September 1985, the funds being held by Apple were finally released and royalties began to flow. Evans aired his frustrations to the magazine, Disc & Music Echo, stating, The business definitely seems to be blocking all that Apple are trying to do, and were the ones suffering for it because were the guinea pigs the first group Apple have launched. Although the fallout from the Warner Bros. lawsuit led to his exit from the music industry, Polley apparently never lost his gift for larceny. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. Stanley Herbert Polley was an American entertainment manager and fraudster active in the 1960s and 1970s. PS: Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. Stan Polley is a soulless bastard. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. You know, its a shame. By 1974, we were getting somewhat suspicious about it. American bands played really well and could sing their asses off. 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