Joey Molland of Badfinger Passes On

Joey Molland, lead guitarist for the band Badfinger and the last surviving member of the band's classic lineup, died on March 1 2025 at the age of 77. His health had failed him this year.

Joey Molland was born June 21 1947 in Edge Hill, Lancashire. He began his career as a professional musician in 1965 as a member of the band The Masterminds. The group released one single, "She Belongs to Me." Members of The Masterminds would become part of the backing band for the vocal group The Merseys, The Fruit Eating Bears. The Fruit Eating Bears played on The Merseys' single "Nothing Can Change This Love."

After The Mersey's breakup, Joey Molland played briefly with The Cryin' Shames before joining Gary Walker & The Rain, a project of Gary Walker of The Walker Brothers. Gary Walker & The Rain released the album Album No. 1, the EP Gary Walker & The Rain Best 4, and several singles. It was in 1969 that the original bassist of a band called The Iveys, Ron Griffins left the group. Joey Molland auditioned for The Iveys in November 1969. By the time he was hired, the band had been renamed Badfinger. Tom Evans took over playing bass, while Joey Holland became the band's lead guitarist. 

Joey Molland's first recordings with Badfinger was their second album, No Dice. He played lead guitar on their second major hit, "No Matter What." He also co-wrote some of the songs on No Dice with Tom Evans and wrote the song  "Love Me Do." Joey Molland also wrote songs for Badfinger's next few albums, Straight Up, Ass, Badfinger, and Wish You Were Here.

Unfortunately, Badfinger would have problems with their label, Warner, which even rejected the album Wish You Were Here at one point. On top of this, there were conflicts between band members themselves. It was then that Joey Molland left Badfinger in late 1974. It was in April 1975 that he formed Natural Gas with  Jerry Shirley (formerly of Humble Pie). They released the album Private Stock in 1976, but disbanded in 1977. As to Badfinger, lead vocalist Pete Ham committed suicide on April 24 1975. The following moth Warner terminated their contract with Badfinger, after which the band broke up.

It was in 1977 that drummer Kenny Harck and guitarist Joe Tansin expressed the desire to form a new band with Joey Molland. The group needed a bassist, so Joey Molland brought Tom Evans onto the project. It was their label Elektra Records, who encouraged them to use the name Badfinger. It was then in 1979 that this new incarnation of Badfinger released the album Airwaves. With a different lineup, but retaining Tom Evans and Joey Molland, they released the album Say No More in 1981. Tom Evans and Joey Molland split up following Say No More. Until Tom Evans's 1983 suicide they both led touring bands called "Badfinger."

In 1983 Joey Molland released his first solo album, After the Pearl. It would be followed by five more solo albums, the last of which was Be True to Yourself in 2020. Joey Molland appeared as a guest artist a few times, including on George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison's album All Things Must Pass, John Lennon's album Imagine, and folk-duo John & Mary's album Victory Gardens. He produced Tim Schools's albums Wear a New Face and Love Her. In 2015 he collaborated with 10,000 Maniacs on a a cover of the Badfinger song "Sweet Tuesday Morning."  In 2019 he toured with  Todd Rundgren, Jason Scheff, Micky Dolenz, and Christopher Cross in tribute to The Beatles' "White Album." The tour was called, "It Was Fifty Years Ago Today – A Tribute to the Beatles' White Album."

While the career of Badfinger was one of the most tragic in the history of rock music, they were also one of the most pivotal bands in the evolution of power pop. As both a musician and a composer, Joey Molland was responsible for much of the band's success and much of the reason they would have a lasting influence on power pop groups from The Raspberries to Big Star to Cheap Trick. His guitar playing was precise and energetic, and would have a lasting impact on guitarists even beyond power pop. He either wrote or co-wrote some of Badfinger's more notable songs, including their singles "Love is Easy," "Love is Gonna Come at Last," "I Got You," and "Because of You." He also toured with Joey Mollland's Badfinger, for years, introducing the band's music to new generations.  Joey Molland was a talented musician and a true pioneer.

Godspeed David Johansen

David Johansen, the lead singer of The New York Dolls who also recorded jump blues, swing, and novelty songs as Buster Poindexter, died on February 28 2025 at the age of 75 from cancer.

David Johansen was born on Staten Island on January 9 1950. In the late Sixties he sang with the local Staten Island band The Vagabond Missionaries. He appeared in plays for Charles Ludlum's Ridiculous Theatrical Company. It was bassist Arthur "Killer" Kane and drummer Billy Murcia who approached David Johansen about joining their band The New York Dolls. The band's name was taken from the New York Doll Hospital, a doll repair shop in New York City.

The New York Dolls took glam rock to the extreme, not only wearing makeup, but satin and high heels as well. As to their music, it was proto-punk or outright punk. The band developed a cult following in New York City. They even opened for Rod Stewart when he played in London. It was in London, at only 21 years of age, that drummer Billy Murcia died of an overdose. They signed with Mercury Records in March 1973.

Ultimately, The New York Dolls would not last long. They recorded two albums for Mercury: their self-titled debut album in 1973 and Too Much Too Soon in 1974. By 1975 problems had developed in the band. There were artistic differences between the members. Drugs and alcohol were also taking their toll on some members. Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan left the band. David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain continued The New York Dolls with new members (among them Steve Duren, later Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P.). In August 1975 their contract with Mercury ended. They played their last show at Max's Kansas City in New York City on December 30 1976, sharing a bill with Blondie.

After the dissolution of The New York Dolls, David Johansen formed The David Johansen Group and released a self-titled solo album in 1978. It was followed by the album In Style in 1979, Here Comes the Night in 1981, and Sweet Revenge in 1984. There were also two live albums.

It was in the late Eighties that David Johansen created the alter ego of Buster Poindexter. Buster Poindexter would have a minor hit with "Hot Hot Hot," which went to no. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. There would be four Buster Poindexter albums,  Buster Poindexter (1987),  Buster Goes Berserk (1989), Buster's Happy Hour (1994), and Buster's Spanish Rocketship (1997).

David Johansen formed the band The Harry Smiths, named for Harry Everett Smith, who compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music. They released two albums, David Johansen and The Harry Smiths in 2000 and Shaker in 2002. It was in 2004 that David Johansen reunited with Killer Kane and Sylvain Sylvain for a tour of The New York Dolls. Unfortunately, Killer Kane died not long after their reunion concert. The New York Dolls recorded a new album,  One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This, released in 2006. It would be followed by two more albums, Cause I Sez So in 2009 and in Dancing Backward in High Heels in 2011. The band eventually broke up one last time. Sylvain Sylvain died in 2021.

David Johansen also had an acting career. He appeared as a singer at a party in an episode of Miami Vice in 1985. In the late Eighties he appeared on the TV show The Equalizer and in the movies Candy Mountain (1987), Married to the Mob (1988), Scrooged (1988), Let It Ride (1989), Tales From the Darkside, The Movie (1990).

In the Nineties he appeared on the TV shows The Adventures of Pete and Pete, CBS Schoolbreak Special, Cupid, and Oz. He appeared in the movies Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel (1991), Freejack (1992), Mr. Nanny (1993), Naked in New York (1993), Car 54, Where Are You? (1994), Buntzy's Last Call (1995), Nick and Jane (1997), The Deli (1997), The Tic Code (1998), and 200 Cigarettes (1999). He was a voice in the animated movie Cats Don't Dance (1997).

In the Naughts David Johansen guest starred on the TV show Deadline and was a guest voice on Arena and Centaurworld. He appeared in the special A Very Murray Christmas. He appeared in the movies Campfire Stories (2001), God is on Their Side (2002), and Crooked Lines (2003). In the Teens he appeared in the movies Glass Chin (2014) and Above the Shadows (2019).

The New York Dolls appeared only briefly on the scene in the Seventies, yet they had an enormous influence. Their style was a blend of the blues influenced rock of The Rolling Stones, the raw garage rock of The Stooges, the pop sensibility of T. Rex, and the girl groups of the Sixties. What they performed has been termed proto-punk, although an argument can be made that The New York Dolls were already playing punk before the term became common. Regardless, they would have a lasting impact on punk and heavy metal, influencing such diverse groups as  Richard Hell and The Voidoids,  The Damned, The Stilettos, The Brats,  Hanoi Rocks,  and even Guns 'n' Roses.

Much of The New York Dolls' impact was due to David Johansen, who wrote nearly all of their songs. What is more remarkable is that David Johansen was very versatile when it came to music styles. Not only did he pioneer punk rock with The New York Dolls, but as Buster Poindexter he performed everything from jump blues to swing to jazz. It could even be argued that as Buster Poindexter, David Johansen helped spur the Swing Revival of the Nineties.  Few music artists have the influence that David Johansen did. It was because he was a major talent.

The 40th Anniversary of Moonlighting

Forty years ago, on March 3 1985, the TV series Moonlighting debuted on ABC. Moonlighting was a dramatic shift from many of the other shows airing at the time. In fact, it would be the first series to ever be nominated for both the Directors Guild of America awards for Best Drama and Best Comedy in the same year. Moonlighting not only blended comedy and drama, but romance, mystery, suspense, and even fantasy as well. Moonlighting was also one of th earliest shows to be "meta," not only referencing itself, but a good deal of pop culture as well. It was perhaps the only show on at the time that regularly broke the fourth wall.

Moonlighting centred on former high fashion model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shpeherd), who found herself bankrupt after her accountant embezzled and fled with her fortune. In order to even pay her mortgage she had to liquidate her assets, which is when she learned that she owned the City of Angels Detective Agency,. To save his job, detective David Addison (Bruce Willis) talks Maddie into keeping the agency, at which point the two become business partners. The City of Angels Detective Agency is then renamed the Blue Moon Detective Agency., taking its name from the the Blue Moon Shampoo Company for whom Maddie had done advertisements as a model. Much of the show's appeal was owed to the sexual tension between Maddie and David, and the series owed a good deal to such classic screwball comedies as Twentieth Century (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and His Girl Friday (1940).

Maddie and David were not the only employees at the Blue Moon Detective Agency.  Agnes DiPesto, (Alyce Beasley) was the agency's quirky receptionist who answered the phone in rhyme. Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) began working at the agency as a temporary employee and then became a junior detective. A romance would develop between Agnes and Herbert.

Glenn Gordon Caron was a writer and supervisor on the show Remington Steele, which also focused on the sexual tension between its leads, when he was approached by ABC  Lewis H. Erlicht, who admired Mr. Caron's work on both Taxi and Remington Steele. Mr. Erlicht wanted Mr. Caron to create a detective show with a well-known star as the lead that would appeal to mostly upper class viewers. In response to Lewis H. Erlicht's request, Glenn Gordon Caron asked, "What if it's a romance?" Mr. Erlicht replied, "I don't care what it is, as long as it is a detective show." Glenn Gordon Caron has said that he was inspired by a production of The Taming of the Shrew he had seen in Central Park  in New York City starring Meryl Streep and Raul Julia.

The role of Maddie Hayes was written specifically for Cybill Shepherd, whose career already included the films The Last Picture Show (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), and Taxi Driver (1976). Cybil Shephard decided she wanted to do the show as soon as she read the script for the pilot. In fact, she was largely responsible for the influence screwball comedy had on the show. It was in her first meeting with Glenn Gordon Caron and produce Jeff Daniel that she remarked that it reminded her of a Howard Hawkes comedy. When they didn't understand what she meant, she suggested they watch Twentieth Century, Bringing Up Baby, and His Girl Friday.

While Cybill Shepherd was the only actress considered for Maddie, the role of David could have gone to someone else. It was claimed that 3000 actors were seen for the role of David Addison. Among the actors considered for the role were Robert Blake, best known for the title role in the show Baretta, Rick Dees, a comedian and deejay, Harley Vention, who had played lawyer Derek Colby on the soap opera Guiding Light, and comedian Maurice LaMache, who voiced Inspector Gadget and later voiced The Brain on Pinky and the Brain. Supposedly the very last actor to audition for the role of David was Bruce Willis, Glenn Gordon Caron decided he wanted Bruce Willis in the role of David, but he had to fight with ABC executives to cast him.

In the Eighties most shows did anywhere from 22 to 23 episodes per season. Moonlighting did far fewer. as a late season replacement, it only had seven episodes in its first season. The season with the most episodes would be its second season, with 18. The number of episodes would decline in its last few seasons, until it only had 13 in its final season. Part of the reason the show had fewer episodes on average than most shows in the Eighties was its rapid-fire dialogue. Because of the rapid-fire dialogue, Moonlighting scripts could be twice as long as those for other hour-long television shows. Similarly, while most hour-long shows of the time took seven days to shoot one episode, a Moonlighting episode could take 12 to 14 days. Because of all of this, Moonlighting was one of the most expensive shows of its time. It cost $1.5 million per episode. Such high costs might have doomed many shows, but Moonlighting was saved because ABC owned it outright, so they could recoup the costs, and the show was a ratings success at a time when ABC only had a few hits.

Although it might seem that way, Moonlighting was not a hit right away. In its initial season it did not even rank in the top thirty in the Nielsen ratings for the year. Fortunately, the show became a hit through word of mouth. In today's terms, one could say it went "viral." For its second season, Moonlighting ranked at no 9 for the year in the Nielsen ratings. It ranked no. 12 for its third season.

Of course, much of the reason Moonlighting proved to be so popular is that it was unlike any other show on the air at the time. Indeed, many of its episodes remain remembered to this day. Indeed, the episode The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" may be one of the most famous individual TV show episodes of all time. In the episode Maddie and David argue over a murder committed in the 1940s, complete with two dream sequences shot in black-and-white and set in the 1940s. "Atomic Shakespeare" featuring the characters of Moonlighting reimagined in a takeoff on The Taming of the Shrew. by William Shakespeare. The episode following "Atomic Shakespeare" was "It's a Wonderful Job," which was an homage to "It's a Wonderful Life." Other remarkable episodes included "Next Stop Murder," in which Agnes, Maddie, and David are on a train in which a murder mystery game turns real; "Somewhere Under the Rainbow," in which a client claims that she is a leprechaun being pursued by men after her pot of gold; and "Big Man on Mulberry Street," which featured a dance sequence set to Billy Joel.

Sadly, Moonlighting would not last. Following the third season, ratings for Moonlighting dropped so that it was no longer in the top thirty. The show had been rated no 12 in its third season. By the end of its fourth season it had dropped to no. 49. Many blame the show's decline in ratings on the third season episode "I Am Curious...Maddie," in which Maddie and David finally consummated their relationship. The show's creator, Glenn Gordon Caron had disputed this. Indeed, in the fourth season Cybill Shepherd was having her twins, with the end result being that Maddie and David actually have very little screen time together. A conflict also arose between Cybill Shepheard and Glenn Gordon Caron, with the Moonlighting's creator leaving the show.

The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike would make things even worse for Moonlighting. Its first episode of the fifth season would not air until December 6 1988. It should come as no surprise that its ratings dropped precipitously in its fifth season. ABC then cancelled the series.

There are only 67 episodes of Moonlighting, which were not considered to be enough for syndication in the late Eighties and early Nineties. While it would not be seen on local stations, it did run form time to time on Lifetime and Bravo. With regards to home video, the pilot episode would be released on VHS in 1991. Anchor Bay Entertainment released the entire series on DVD from 2005 to 2007. The show would not be available on streaming for years due to music licensing, but 2023 the show finally became available on Hulu. It is currently available on Disney+ and Tubi as well.

Although only 67 episodes were produced and for many years very little would be seen of Moonlighting following its initial network run, it would prove to be an influential show. After all, it turned Bruce Willis into a star. Before Die Hard (1988), before Pulp Fiction (1994), Bruce Willis was the star of Moonlighting. Although dramedies had before Moonlighting, it was the show that defined the genre. It also pioneered the use of musical numbers in a drama, leading the way for entire musical episodes of such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Doom Patrol. Moonlighting's peculiar blend of comedy and drama, often tinged with fantasy, would influence shows to come, including Northern Exposure, Boston Legal, Veronica Mars, and even shows today, such as the aforementioned Doom Patrol. Moonlighting has been absent from television screens for much of the time since its original run ended on ABC, but it should really should be seen more. It was not only one of the most influential shows of the Eighties. It was also one of the best.