How EGOS & MANAGEMENT DESTROYED Bad English
Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2024 9:55 pmHe skipped a lot...and he exaggerates what the Babys were....they obviously were never close to what Journey was...no comparison.
Jonathan was not very happy at all with "When I See You Smile". He wanted "Ghost In Your Heart" included on the debut and it was originally cut. A deal was made with the label that Jon would not complain about "When I See You Smile" if they also included "Ghost In Your Heart". The entire idea of bringing in outside writers was something he did not like, "Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon, and John Waite can't write songs good enough for the album?" He was right, "When I See You Smile" and "Price of Love" are pretty close to the same level. He also accused John Waite of wanting to use Bad English to be a "rock star", and the label decided to make Waite the face of the band...which Jonathan did not like. He said BE was supposed to have a "Black Crowes" attitude and not be a kiss ass corporate rock band, but that is what they became. He also mentioned that Backlash became VERY expensive to make and it took longer than everybody wanted. But, he trudged on...when you do such things there are all these people who are relying on you to get paid and make a living and it creates an enormous amount of pressure. It seems like that is what motivated him to finish the album....but the band had obviously broke up during the recording. Waite wanted to go in a completely different direction. He wanted a sorta dark and moody album and not happy pop songs...nobody else liked that direction but the label was all in with Waite. So, that is what caused a lot of the friction and eventually broke the band up.
I remember when Backlash was released. It seemed like it was released and then a few weeks later Neal announced Hardline. That was the end of BE. The label cut their losses and stopped doing any promotion for the album and the band faded away into history.
This is a band that should have been huge and is an example of why a label should sometimes just get out of the way and let the band figure things out and write and record....and the label concentrate on releasing and promoting the album. Too much label control. Too much John Waite trying to be a rock star and the label propping him up over the other members. Not enough of a shared vision for the band and staying true to that.
