• Miscellanea •

What would be your idea of one of the rarest songs you could ever look for? An obscure import, a famous group's first record before they were famous, a promo only issue, a song recorded under a pseudonym, a song that was never intended for the music market, a song the fans don't know about. "Permissive Paradise" is all of these, and the kicker is that I never even heard of it until 34 years after it was recorded. I have some records that I searched years for; I got this little gem in the mail only nine days after you mentioned it in your newsletter. That's about as good as it gets! -Bryan Waller From Ron Griffiths: "...In front of me I have the liner, (for the flexidisc). The song was written by Jeremy Cox and John Sidey. The book was a "Harrap Book." That company were once addressed as - George G. Harrap & Co. 182, High Holborn, London WC1. The photography was by Frank Habicht. There are two introductory essays by Heather Cremonesi and Robert Bruce. The instruments / vocals on the song are all us, no one else was present. Oh, I forgot to say the picture that you sent IS the front cover of the book itself.. I know because there is a picture of the book on the rear of the disc liner."

The Pleasure Garden (The Iveys)

• Ron Griffiths - Bass/Lead Vocals
• Tommy Evans - Rhythm Guitar/Background Vocals
• Pete Ham - Lead Guitar/Piano/Background Vocals
• Mike Gibbins - Drums

The Pleasure Garden - "Permissive Paradise"

  The story unfolds at last!  

  Listen: "Permissive Paradise"  

Life Magazine - September 13, 1968 - Hunter Davies Beatles Biography

I didn't know that! The Iveys (Ivies) have a photo in this famous Life magazine article!

Another photo rediscovery from the early days. This photo was brought to my attention by my good friend Bryan Waller in a recent comment about the Shepard Sherbell photos that just came available. His comment was:

"Thank you for the collection of Badfinger photos. Except for the one outside the Cavern, I hadn't seen them before. The Cavern photos reminded me of the photo of the Iveys playing at the Cavern in 1968; it appeared in the 1968 Life magazine issue with the Beatles on the cover and a photo essay on the Beatles' Liverpool." -Bryan Waller

Hey! I have a copy of that issue! I don't remember an Iveys photo! But sure enough, on page 91, at the very bottom, Pete, Ron, Mike and Tom are shown from the back. Pete and Ron are clearly seen, the back of Mike's head and Tommy, off to the right in deep shadow - his arm and the neck of his guitar only.

Here is what Life Magazine says about the photo:

"...At the Cavern (bottom), the dingy, deafening hole from which the Beatles sprang to fame, their spiritual offspring--in this case the Ivies (sic)--still pick and strut and shout, hoping the same thing could happen to them." -Life Magazine - September 13, 1968

Prodigy and Prophesy

Thanks Bryan! I should have known better..... ;-)

Jammin' with the Butties and What's this about Spotted Dick???

BWR Note: The text below is a complete rip from this page:
No.1 in Scottie's How To Series - Jam Butties

Jam butties were, (and perhaps, still are) an important side story that helps our understanding of the complexity that surrounds the culinary wonders of the U.K., the Iveys and Badfinger... You are what you eat and what they ate inspired them to song... Or... something like that...

One of life's enduring pleasures. An indulgence, elegant in its simplicity, glorious in its excess, the dentist's nemesis. The Jam Butty has a place in all our hearts. And none more so than those made with RASPBERRY jam.

If you are going to do jam, you might as well get it right, and that is Raspberry. The best available is usually made by your granny using her own home-grown rasps, those which have survived the picking process. Like, not being eaten two seconds after being picked.

Ingredients for the perfect Jam Butty:

• Two slices of brown bread. Wholemeal, Hovis, whatever.
• Lurpak butter - not too hard. Try that new-fangled easy spread stuff.
• RRRRRaspberry jam. Shedloads of the stuff.

Tools:

• Knife.
• Greed and/or gluttony. (Optional, but recommended)

Method: ( Remember, all ingredients are used outwith their packaging. Relative quantities are a matter of personal taste. I like loads of butter and jam. If your going to pig out, do it properly! ) Anyway:

• Spread butter on one of the slices of bread.
• Spread jam on the other slice of bread. (True anal retentives will wipe the knife first, thus avoiding those icky butter smears in the jam.)
• Turn the jammy bread slice onto the buttered slice, making sure the slices are correctly aligned - top to top. etc.

Warning!: If either slice falls from your hand at this critical point it will definitely land sticky side down. This is a well known application of Murphy's Law.

• Take the now-completed butty somewhere through doors with closers on them, up stairs, through crowds of moronic and milling people with spring loaded elbows, to maximize the possibility of dropping the butty. The difficulty factor at this point can be trebled if you elect to carry a cup of scalding hot tea in the other hand. (This was in fact one of the most difficult games ever seen on Jeux Sans Frontiers.)

• Finally - ENJOY! Sink your teeth into that soft mix of sweet, sweet jam, cool, slippery butter and rough textured bread. Revel in teasing those pips from between your teeth. Sneak round the sides to capture those little squeezings trying to escape. Eat round the perimeter so that the last mouthful is not a corner with crust on and no jam. (This, unfortunately makes it easier for jam to squeeze out, but, well, life's a bitch.) Let yourself float off in transports of delight as those taste buds explode! Oh, the sheer joy of living life to the full! Bollocks to Weightwatchers, Balls to Saccharine! Take yer lettuce and shove it where the sun don't shine! Buuuurp.

  No.1 in Scottie's How To Series - Jam Butties  

Now the BWR version: Take a freshly baked and still warm Bob Evans biscuit, (from the Restaurant! -- Not the malum prohibitum...). Cut it lengthwise in half, then apply half a serving of "Land O'Lakes" butter spread, then top with Strawberry jam. This way you have two handy servings of a JBB - Jam Butty Biscuit - American style... Right Barb!!!

Now... what's this about Mike grabbing for his favorite Spotted Dick...

  Spotted Dick...Ummmmm!  

Badfinger's "Straight Up" Font Mystery Solved!!! - Zorba the....Font!!??

Way back in November 2001, Brian offered up a challenge of naming the mystery "Straight Up" font. As I am a 'printer' by professional choice, I could not let that challenge go without a good try - it was right up my California Job Case - as it were... I have quite a few typeface listing/collection books at my disposal, both at home and where I work. So painstakingly, I poured over each and every one of them off and on for several months... Nothing! Just like Brian, I found several that were from the same 'family' but just not the correct font.

The typeface that I use for the Badfinger Web Ring is one of those similar fonts. It is called "MotterFemD" a True Type font that I obtained from a CorelDRAW™ CD set that I own. It has that nice flowing look to it but the slant is forward facing rather than slanting back like the typeface used for the "Straight Up" artwork. And after first glance, the "MotterFemD" font is really not very close at all if you compare each character, letter by letter...

Frustrated, but not yet willing to give up, I posed the challenge to a friend of mine, Greg Walters who is a collector of all things involving printing and printing history - especially anything to do with the Letterpress process of printing using raised type. Think Johann Gutenberg and movable type and you have a small idea of Greg's interests. He has a basement complete print shop consisting of several antique hand/mechanical printing presses and hundreds of Monotype and old wooden display typefaces all stored in drawers and cabinets containing California job cases. Quite fascinating! Greg's handmade Christmas cards are truly wonderful to behold!

  What the heck is a California Job Case?  

Greg confidently told me to bring in the samples that I had and would be able to find it quickly, maybe the same day! So I made copies of the back of the "Straight Up" CD, the 'Daisy' ad from Brian and the 'Think I'm Crazy' ad from Paul Nyman and gave them to Greg. Several days later Greg contacted me and said that he was making progress but he could not find the name of the matching typeface yet. But now, he was curious...

Fast forward to mid July 2002: Greg stops by and sets a book down in front of me - huge grin on his face - Yes! Success! We now have a name -- "ZORBA." Ah, but is that the real name of the font? The reason for the skepticism is because many typefaces from the nineteenth century are long ago forgotten: typeface name, the font creator's name and the year that the font was first used. Sometimes all you find is a printed page where the font was used - maybe only that one time! All else is lost. But there are collectors of old typefaces and one such company is:

SOLOTYPE TYPOGRAPHERS
298 Crestmont Drive
Oakland, CA 94619

Each October, Solotype Typographers closes it doors for the entire month. Why? Because this is when they travel the world looking for newly discovered 'old' fonts. And find them, they do! Over four-thousand of these fonts that Solotype Typographers has available under its roof are listed in a book titled: "The Solotype Catalog of 4,147 Display Typefaces" ISBN 0-486-27169-2 (paperback). This was this book that Greg Walters owned and finally discovered the name of the Badfinger mystery font.

  The Solotype Catalog of 4,147 Display Typefaces  

It is a really good bet, (but not confirmed) that Gene Mahon and/or Richard DiLello, the designers of the "Straight Up" album jacket, purchased the back cover headline "Badfinger Straight Up" directly from Solotype Typographers and had them set it for them. How that particular typeface was found and chosen is still not clear. Brian and I are still investigating.

Taken from that book and on the same page as the listing for the "Zorba Half Solid" font is this note:

"Rummaging in the basement of an old printshop in San Francisco, we came across a cigar box full of worn type. Paid a whole dollar for it, took it home and sorted it out. Wow! What a find. Turned out to be the font shown below, which we call Glorietta. Its actual name was Columbian, but we already had two other faces by that name, so we changed it. Type hunting can be a dirty time-consuming and back-breaking job, but a type like Glorietta makes it all worth while."

So what does a modern typographer do when he finds a previously unknown typeface? Researches the best they can, then re-names it something suitable and markets the font using the new name. So is the "Zorba" typeface the correct name? We just do not know as of yet. But Brian has uncovered another piece of the puzzle. You can order a book and CD that contains the typeface "Zorba Solid" for your own use. It is the same font used on the Badfinger album!

  24 Bold Script Display Fonts CD-ROM and Book  

There will be more of this story to tell. In the meantime, Brian has issued another challenge:

"Once again, thanks to Greg Walters and Rick Kellogg for all their efforts in solving this mystery! Next up, that "No Dice" font!"

  Brando's Badƒinger Page - Zorba Font  

Casey Kasem, Pete Ham and Ace Frehley - The 'Six Degrees of Separation' Game

A trio of Pennsylvania college boys with too much time on their hands and a bottle of Southern Comfort came up with the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." Craig Fass, Brian Turtle and Mike Ginelli wrote a letter to then TV talk-show host Jon Stewart, who invited them on his show to demonstrate the game. From these humble beginnings, a Web site arose, a book was published and a nationwide cult-fad was born.

The game is based on the John Guare play and movie adaptation; "Six Degrees of Separation." The play proposes that we are all connected by six or fewer stages of circumstance or acquaintance. Here is a Badfinger, (Pete Ham) to Kevin Bacon example:

• Badfinger was in "The Concert for Bangladesh" (1972), with Jim Keltner.
• Jim Keltner was in "Tapeheads" (1988) with Courtney Love.
• Courtney Love was in "24 Hours" (2002) with Kevin Bacon...

  Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon  

Now, how about the Casey Kasem, Pete Ham and Ace Frehley connections...

Mention the name CASEY KASEM, and music lovers from around the world will think of radio's biggest countdown show. In fact, Casey is the man that set the standard for all countdown shows, with his weekly program American Top 40 with Casey Kasem now on Premiere Radio Networks. Casey's reach is broad, extending to millions of listeners on his radio line-up that also includes American Top 20 with Casey Kasem in two different versions (Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary), along with a weekday feature, America's Top Hits with Casey Kasem. From counting down the hits to offering listeners long distance-dedications, Casey's style and approach are summed up in his trademark phrase: "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

  Casey Kasem bio.  

The 3 degrees of Casey Kasem to Pete Ham:

• Casey Kasem was in "Disco Fever" (1978) with Fabian.
• Fabian was in "Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The Early Years" (1955-1970) (2000) (TV) with Ringo Starr.
• Ringo Starr was in "The Concert for Bangladesh" (1972) with Pete Ham.

Okay, that was pretty easy....

ACE FREHLEY is the lead guitarist of the hard rock/heavy metal band Kiss. He joined Kiss in late 1973. Frehley walked into the auditions for the lead guitarist position, wearing one red shoe and one orange shoe. He picked up a guitar that supposedly was not his, and started playing in the middle of another person's audition. Kiss members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons were about to throw him out, but liked his playing style and shoes. Thus, the Kiss lineup was finally completed.

  A little about Ace...  

The 3 degrees of Casey Kasem to Ace Frehley:

• Casey Kasem was in "City Hunter: Secret Service" (1996) (TV) with Enuka Okuma.
• Enuka Okuma was in "Reindeer Games" (2000) with Ron Jeremy.
• Ron Jeremy was in "Detroit Rock City" (1999) with Ace Frehley.

We are getting closer...

The 3 degrees of Ace Frehley to Pete Ham:

• Ace Frehley was in "Detroit Rock City" (1999) with Paul Stanley.
• Paul Stanley was in "The Return of Bruno" (1988) with Ringo Starr.
• Ringo Starr was in "The Concert for Bangladesh" (1972) with Pete Ham.

Oh, and one more connection - All three were born on April 27th!!!
Happy Birthday Pete, Casey and Ace!

  Want to try your own Star connections?  

Here is the Ron Griffiths to Pete Ham connection - the 'hard' way!

• Ron Griffiths was in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994) with Rowan Atkinson.
• Rowan Atkinson was in "Comic Relief: Behind the Nose" (1995) (TV) with Eric Clapton.
• Eric Clapton was in "The Concert for Bangladesh" (1972) with Pete Ham...

Try linking Pete Ham to:
Mariah Carey
Peter Max
Janis Joplin
James Dean
Hulk Hogan

It's difficult to get past 3 or 4 degrees...
Anyone able to come up with the full Six Degrees of Peter Ham?

Okay... Now is it 'Paper' or 'Painful'????

How about this for a revelation: A Pete Ham lyric is, and has been transcribed incorrectly for 30 years!! Everyone grab your favorite copy of the "Straight Up" album - Go to Pete's song "Name of the Game"; either the 'released' version or the 'original' version presented on the CD. Here is what to listen for - It is in the second verse:

"Oh, comfort me, dear brother, won't you tell me what you know?
For somewhere in this PAINFUL world is a place where I can go"

Okay... And the problem is??? Well, listen to it again, but using these words:

"Oh, comfort me, dear brother, won't you tell me what you know?
For somewhere in this PAPER world is a place where I can go"

Okay... Now is it 'Paper' or 'Painful'????

This little tid-bit comes to me from Brenda (Blodwen). When Brenda posed the question to me, she stated: "I'll have to make a point of checking your page every day for the fingerism - neat idea. Here's one you probably won't find anywhere: "For somewhere in this paper world is a place where I can go" (put the album on and listen very closely!) This one's from Beverley (Ellis) Tucker, by way of Keith James - it blew me away!"

I replied: "As for your stumper to me: Do you mean "this painful world", not "this paper world"? When you listen to the song and say the words over in your mind, you can hear Pete sing either... Both words work, but the word is 'painful'."

And Brenda responds: "No, I do actually mean "paper world." I always thought it was "painful," too, and that's how you'll find it on the sheet music. But while discussing the lyrics of "Name of the Game," Keith said "paper." I said I always thought it was "painful." We went back and forth with it a bit. I cited the sheet music, and thought that settled it. Keith asked Bev Tucker, and she confirmed that it is in fact "paper.""

"I like "paper" better than "painful." It's a far more interesting image. Paper - fragile, brittle, able to be crumpled or shredded or to go up in smoke. Quite possibly that's how Pete saw his world." -Brenda

So what is it readers? Enter your vote below and we'll have a bit of a Badfinger lyrical tussle!

From Brenda ( blodwen ) - "Badquiz"

Hi, Rick! About 10 years ago, I concocted a quiz which appeared in the fanzine 'No Matter What'. Following the release of "Head First" and all those CD bonus tracks, I've recently updated the "Badquiz," and would like to share it with you (and the Badfinger Web Ring).

The premise is this: Remember how the title of the song "Airwaves" is included in the lyrics of "Look Out California"? Well, one day when I heard Pete singing "no matter what" in a song other than that hit single, I was inspired to search for other cross references. So...

The following Badfinger song titles were also included in the lyrics of at least one other Badfinger song (official releases only - no bootlegs). How many can you identify?

Click the song sheet below for the answers!

 
 1. No Matter What
 2. Believe Me
 3. Without You
 4. I Don't Mind
 5. Friends Are Hard to Find
 6. Loving You
 7. Money
 8. Flying
 9. Suitcase
10. Perfection
11. Sometimes
12. The Winner
13. Timeless
14. When I Say
15. Get Away
16. Shine On
17. Lonely You
18. Turn Around
19. Airwaves
20. Hold On
21. Come On
22. No More
23. I Got You

BWR Note: Thanks Brenda! Okay gang, how many can you name?
Brenda's answers are posted! Just click on the song sheet graphic above.
>>> R i c k <<<

Digital Joey

Joey's been captured, photographed, scanned, turned into a 'toon' and digitized! Now he is forever trapped in the world of HTML of my own design... Click on Joey and see what we've done to him now!   Digital Joey

Royal Court of Justice - Strand, London - Wednesday, 19th April 2000

(Not edited for spelling errors)

LORD GOLDSMITH QC (sitting as a High Court Judge)

1. This case raises, as its principal issue, when a trustee or other fiduciary may be entitled to receive remuneration for services which have benefited the beneficiaries where that remuneration has not been agreed in advance by the terms of the trust or by the beneficiaries. It arises in the context of a dispute between the former members of a rock band, Badfinger, which in the early 1970s was internationally known. The issue concerns the right to royalties from a recording of the band playing live at the Agora Club, Cleveland, Ohio on March 4, 1974.

The Background

2. Badfinger had a number of substantial hits and was connected with The Beatles. The band wrote the best selling song Without You, made a number one hit in the United Kingdom and the USA by Harry Nilsson and recorded by many artists since. In 1975 the band broke up. The litigation before me is a part of the legal consequences of that split.

3. The early beginnings of the band were as a group known as The Iveys consisting of four members: Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbons and Ron Griffiths. Two members were tragically later to commit suicide: Peter Ham in 1975 and Tom Evans in 1983. Their musical mentor, and manager for a period of time until an American manager, Stanley Polley, took over the business management, was Bill Collins, now 85 years of age. Mr Collins is a man with a deep love of music and is even now engaged on what has become a lifelong project of musical teaching and innovation based on a new notation system together with his wife, a classically trained musician and teacher of music.

4. Ron Griffiths left the band and was replaced by Joey Molland. Mr Collins clearly attributes blame for the breakup of the group, and also, to some extent, for the way he personally was treated, to Joey Molland and his wife Kathy. At times during his evidence he demonstrated deep, and sometimes bitter, emotion about the events which led to the breakup and the tragic suicide of Pete Ham in 1975. I hold this in no way against him; his views are clearly honestly and deeply felt. Equally, however, I have to say that the cause of the breakup is no part of the issues I have to decide. I do not therefore have to investigate, let alone attribute, responsibility for the breakup. I, therefore, say no more about that issue.

-MORE-

  The complete court document of restitution  

Badfinger Back In Business - Trouser Press May 1979

What would eventually become Badfinger started out as a part time local band in Swansea, Wales during the post-Mersey beat boom of 1964-66. Back then they were called The Iveys and their line-up was Pete Ham and David Jenkins on guitars, Ron Griffiths bass and Mike Gibbins as drummer. In April 1966 they were spotted playing at a Swansea a ballroom by an elderly gentleman who was impressed enough to want to manage them. Despite objections by the boys' parents they signed up with him, quit their day jobs and became professional musicians. By December 1966 the Iveys had forsaken Wales for London. -MORE-   Badƒinger Back In Business

BADFINGER'S PETE HAM A SUICIDE - Rolling Stone Magazine (June 5, 1975)

LONDON-Pete Ham, lead vocalist and guitarist for Badfinger, was found dead in his London garage on the morning of April 23rd, a suicide by hanging. Reached in London, Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland said, "I think what brought him down was that he found he didn't have any money left. His girlfriend's havin' a baby inside a month. He'd had a bank account for ten years and for the first time he was overdrawn." -MORE- And so began the short, one column notice of Pete's suicide in Rolling Stone magazine. Note that there are several inaccuracies in the article, such as the date of Pete's death, 'Gibbons' instead of Gibbins and that the Iveys were a Liverpool band... But this is an important bit of Badfinger history.   Badƒinger's Pete Ham a Suicide