Bad Company Vids 

Bad Company in the 70's - The Glory Years 

Running with the SuperGroup!

Bad Company were an English blues rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of band members from Free (Paul Rodgers, Simon Kirke), Mott the Hoople (Mick Ralphs) and King Crimson (Boz Burrell). Bad Company was managed by Peter Grant, who had also guided Led Zeppelin to massive success, the band enjoyed great success throughout the 1970s.

Singer Paul Rodgers was so enamored of the film Bad Company that he chose to name his band after it. The film was also purportedly the inspiration for the band's eponymous album and breakthrough single.

The 1974 debut album Bad Company was an international hit, with the group considered one of the 1970s' first supergroups. The album peaked at #1 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart (North America) and included two singles that reached the top 20 charts, "Can't Get Enough" at #9 in 1974 and "Movin' On" at #14 in early 1975.

In 1975, Straight Shooter gave the group another #1 on Billboard's Pop Album chart. The album alsos spawned three hit singles, "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" at #30, the slower "Feel Like Makin' Love" at #10 and "Shooting Star".

Run With the Pack was Bad Company's first Platinum certified album. The third consecutive million-selling record, reaching #5 on the Billboard chart and featured the hit "Young Blood" that peaked at #29 on the Pop charts.

1977's Burnin' Sky fared the poorest of the first four albums, peaked at a disappointing #12, and was the worst selling Bad Company album to date. The album did have one hit: the album's title song Burnin' Sky that reached #18 on the Pop charts.

1979's Desolation Angels fared better than its predecessor and gave the band their first Top 5 Platinum selling album since 1976's album Run With the Pack. Desolation Angels embellished the group's sound with synthesizers and strings. the album reaching #3 on the Billboard charts and again had two hit singles "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy" at #12 and, "Gone Gone Gone" at #44.

Classic 70's Bad Company from Amazon 

Supergroup CD's

Bad Company Memorabilia on eBay 

Rock Steady Performed Live - Audio is a little low. 

Bad Cmpany Live

Bad Company - 80's through Today 

You can't keep an old rocker down.

A three-year hiatus from the studio ended with the release of Rough Diamonds in 1982. This would be the sixth and final LP in the group's original incarnation until four new songs were recorded in 1998. The album was the worst selling Bad Company album of those that had Paul Rodgers as the front man. The album peaked at #29; it yielded one hit, "Electricland", that reached #10 on the newly created Mainstream Rock Charts.

Live in Albuquerque 1976

Bad Company never released an official live album [in the 70's], even though they recorded some of the concerts, and are famous for their live shows packing the largest stadiums for almost a decade. Bootlegs were the only way to find live songs from the shows, sound quality was for the most part poor. The most famous are, Boblingen Live: (1974), Live in Japan: (1975), Shooting Star Live at the L.A. Forum: (1975) [this is the concert I attended]. Not until the release of Live in Albuquerque 1976 in 2006 thirty years after it was recorded did the band release an official live album of 1970s recordings. The recordings were made by Mick Ralphs, who regularly taped the group's shows, utilizing them as a tool to finely tune their set and performances. Not only is the sound quality excellent but almost all the hit songs from the band's first three albums appear on the live CD.

By the end of the 1970s the band were increasingly disenchanted with playing large stadiums. In addition, Peter Grant lost interest in the group, and in management generally, after Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham died in 1980. In the words of Simon Kirke, "Peter was definitely the glue which held us all together and in his absence we came apart". (Reportedly, Paul Rodgers-who has a black belt in martial arts-was involved in a rather one-sided physical altercation with Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs.) After the release of Rough Diamonds they disbanded. Mick Ralphs said, "Paul wanted a break and truthfully we all needed to stop. Bad Company had become bigger than us all and to continue would have destroyed someone or something. From a business standpoint, it was the wrong thing to do, but Paul's instinct was absolutely right"

During his absence from Bad Company, Rodgers was involved in many projects. His solo album, Cut Loose, was released in 1983, and A Tribute album to Muddy Waters hit record store shelves in 1992. He would also participate in two band-projects: The Firm, with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame and, The Law with Ex-The Who drummer Kenny Jones.

Original Bad Company Anthology

In 1998, Rodgers and Kirke were discussing that the band should release an extensive compilation album with a biography and pictures for the fans. Rodgers decided the album should include four new songs. He finally reunited with the other three original members in the studio to record these four new tracks. The reunion was short, but it produced Bad Company's first number one hit in 20 years with "Hey Hey". The second new song "Hammer of Love" peaked at #2 and the band also scored a surprise hit when it re-released "Deal with the Preacher," which first appeared on the album Straight Shooter in 1975. The new tracks appeared on the 1999 compilation album called The Original Bad Company Anthology. Bad Company toured with Paul Rodgers for only 30 dates in the U.S.; the tour drew sellout crowds.

Paul Rodgers, "The Voice" (as the media called him since his days in Free), again rejoined his life long friend Kirke in 2001, for Bad Company's Merchants of Cool tour that kicked off in the U.S, and then moved to the U.K. The sellout tour produced the band's first DVD/CD also called "Merchants of Cool" that features the song "Joe Fabulous," which hit #1 on Classic Rock Radio and the top 20 on Mainstream Rock Radio in the U.S. in its debut week in 2002. The Merchants of Cool tour featured Kirke and Rodgers as the only original members left by this time as Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs (who has always had a fear of flying) had retired from touring. Dave Colwell previously second guitarist in the post-Paul Rodgers era of Bad Company, took lead guitar, and Jaz Lochrie was on bass. Guest performers at the shows included former Guns N' Roses axeman Slash and Neal Schon of Journey fame.

In 2005, a DVD called "Inside Bad Company 1974-1982" was released that reviews Bad Company on stage, on film and on record. It also interviews Simon Kirke and has some live recordings from the 70s and 80s.

Paul Rodgers, 56 years old in 2006, was still touring and playing Bad Company songs with Queen. It was stated, including on Brian May's own website, "that Rodgers would be featured with Queen as: Queen + Paul Rodgers, not replacing the late Freddie Mercury", The CD and DVD of their collaboration was released in 2005 called Return of the Champions with songs by Queen, Bad Company and Free.

Bad Company

In 2006, a limited edition CD of 24 ct gold was released of the first Bad Company album (Bad Company). After taking over a year to find the original master tapes, the analog masters were put through a proprietary analog-to-digital converter that remastered the songs for the best possible sound.

Boz Burrell died of a heart attack on September 21, 2006, aged 60, at his home in Spain.

Bad Company after the 70's with Paul Rogers 

You need these for your collection.

Ready for Love - Perfomed Live 

The quality is low but its a hard to find clip.

Bad Company without Paul Rodgers 

In case you even care.

Are you in the Bad Company Fan Club? 

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