Day After Day came on my random music player yesterday while I was out and about. I could have sworn it was a Paul McCartney track because of the voice, and I wondered how I hadn’t already included it in my Music Library Project. It’s not the first time I’ve confused Badfinger’s lead vocalist and songwriter Pete Ham’s voice with McCartney’s. I also once thought their Lay me Down was by McCartney. The resemblance is uncanny, especially considering Badfinger were signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, with George Harrison producing this track and contributing the slide guitar part. Just a year earlier, Badfinger had also played on Harrison’s first solo album, All Things Must Pass.
Even Songfacts states:
This sounds a lot like The Beatles. Badfinger was one of the first bands to sign with The Beatles’ label, Apple Records. As a result, they got to know The Beatles quite well and picked up on their sound. Badfinger signed with Warner Brothers when Apple Records folded.
My friend Max over at PowerPop first got me hooked on Badfinger’s music – God knows when – but it was back when we were both still relative newbies on the music blog circuit. He’s such a fan that his blog nickname is “Badfinger,” which I used to call him at first – unlucky for him. Let’s be honest, the band’s name isn’t exactly one of their best features. Max said about their Apple Records connection:
They were signed to the Beatle’s Apple Records which was a blessing and a curse. It got them noticed with initial excitement but also hindered their development for their own sound.
Pete Ham, the Welsh singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known as a founding member of the 1970s rock band Badfinger, died tragically young at just 27 by suicide. His death placed him among the ranks of the so-called “27 Club,” alongside Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. Ham took his life after Badfinger was financially ruined by their fraudulent manager, Stan Polley. Sadly, Tom Evans, Badfinger’s co-lead singer and songwriter, also died by suicide in 1983.
Day After Day is one of Badfinger’s best-known songs and it is from their 1971 album Straight Up. This was their biggest hit peaking at No. 4 in the Billboard 100, No. 2 in Canada, and No.10 in the UK Charts in 1972.
[Verse 1]
I remember finding out about you
Every day, my mind is all around you
[Chorus]
Looking out from my lonely room, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
[Verse 2]
I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
[Chorus]
Looking out of my lonely gloom, day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you
References:
1. Day After Day (Badfinger song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I didn’t know about the suicide. I always liked Badfinger but I don’t know much about them, other than they were signed to Apple & sounded a lot like the Beatles.
Both lead singers killed themselves. Just horrific!
I’ll go one better than you hehe. I knew zilch, zero, less than zero about them – their songs, their very name (as crappy as it is), the Beatles link.
If it weren’t for Max, I think I would have remained blissfully ignorant of their very existence.
Well, they got a LOT of airplay when they first came out. Sounding like the Beatles certainly helped, since the Beatles had broken up & they were kinda the next best thing. Both McCartney & Harrison had a hand in their songwriting & production. I was, like 10 or 11 when I first heard of them.
Yeah, the name of the band sucks but there’s a lot of bands with sucky names LOL
Thanks for filling me in about their popularity and connection with the Beatles.
Yeh, the name of the band ‘badfinger’ conjures images in my mind too unsavoury to impart here ;-P
I think that’s the point. No pun intended.
Excellent song…maybe their most complete song commercially…. I love that slide guitar at the beginning of it. Thanks for posting them Matt… and thanks for the shout out.
They had a sad story but left us some great music.
You know that whole conspiracy diatribe and urban myth about Paul is dead thing? I’m surprised it didn’t rear its ugly head again given the uncanny similarity between him and Ham’s voice and how Ham died just a few years after this song’s release.
None of this makes any sense, just letting my mind wander – that’s all. Cheers man.
I’ve heard people say their story is like a Greek Tragedy…I guess by then the story had moved on but I agree…Ham could not only sound like him but write like him as well.
The whole story is so screwed up.