Bad English
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Bad English
- Genres: Rock
Biography
Following Journey's temporary breakup in 1987, guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain teamed up with Cain's former bandmates in the Babys -- vocalist John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips -- to form Bad English. Drummer Deen Castronovo, who would later join Journey in the late '90s, completed the lineup. One of the last supergroups of the decade, Bad English made power ballads like there was no tomorrow -- and they did it better than most, due in part to Waite's strong vocals and Schon's creation of the power ballad prototype during his years with Journey. As the '80s gave way to the '90s, the group scored two huge hit singles -- "When I See You Smile" and "Price of Love" -- and watched its self-titled debut (released in 1989 by Epic Records) reach platinum certification. However, the band's follow-up album, Backlash, proved to be aptly titled as it experienced a backlash of massive proportions, failing to send any of its songs into the Top 40. The band called it quits soon after the album's release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, RoviWikipedia on Answers.com:
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Bad English
| Bad English | |
|---|---|
 Bad English, clockwise L-to-R: Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, Ricky Phillips, Jonathan Cain, and John Waite |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Hard rock, AOR |
| Years active | 1988–1991 |
| Labels | Epic |
| Associated acts | Journey, The Babys |
| Members | |
| John Waite Neal Schon Jonathan Cain Ricky Phillips Deen Castronovo |
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Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1988, reuniting keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in The Babys.
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Contents
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History
The members decided on a name for the band while playing pool. John Waite missed a shot and Jonathan Cain made a comment on how bad his "english" was (referring to the spin a player puts on the cue ball) and the band decided to use the phrase.[1] The name is also thought to be a reference to The Babys, since the name was misspelled and an example of bad English.
Jonathan Cain and guitarist Neal Schon, who had enjoyed enormous success in Journey, continued on to form Bad English with Waite after Journey disbanded.[2] The first album, eponymously titled, was a big seller with three hit singles, including the number one hit "When I See You Smile" written by Diane Warren, the top 10 hit "Price of Love," and "Possession." Another track from the debut album, the AOR song "Best of What I Got", was featured in the soundtrack to 1989's Tango and Cash.[3]
The band's second album, 1991's "Backlash" came and went without any fanfare. The only single, "Straight To Your Heart," just missed the Top 40, peaking at #42. Ricky Phillips writes on his website that the group had parted company before the second album had been mixed. Both Phillips and guitarist Neal Schon expressed frustration with the "pop" side of the band's songs and wanted a harder edge. In the end, it proved to be the band's undoing as everyone left to pursue other projects.
In later interviews Waite revealed that although he loved playing to stadium-sized audiences, he was uncomfortable with the corporate rock image that he felt the band had presented and has been a solo artist ever since.
Bad English drummer Deen Castronovo later went on to join a reformed Journey with singer Steve Augeri, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, and Ross Valory. He also played on Ozzy Osbourne's album Ozzmosis in 1995.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
AUS [5] |
CAN [6] |
SWE [7] |
SWI [8] |
UK [9] |
||||
| 1989 | Bad English
|
21 | 12 | 34 | 39 | — | 74 | ||
| 1991 | Backlash
|
72 | — | 34 | 21 | 30 | 64 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Greatest Hits
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) |
Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [12] |
US AC [13] |
US Main [14] |
AUS [15] |
UK [9] |
NL [16] |
||||
| 1988 | "Forget Me Not" | 45 | — | 2 | — | — | — | Bad English | |
| 1989 | "When I See You Smile" | 1 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 61 | — | ||
| 1990 | "Price of Love" | 5 | — | 30 | 44 | 80 | — | ||
| "Heaven Is a 4 Letter Word" | 66 | — | 12 | — | — | — | |||
| "Possession" | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1991 | "Straight to Your Heart" | 42 | — | 9 | — | — | 41 | Backlash | |
| "Time Stood Still" (Bad English featuring John Waite) |
— | — | — | — | — | 19 | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or not released to that country | |||||||||
References
- ^ Rock Band Name Origins at WHAT'S IN A NAME
- ^ A ROUSING RECEPTION FOR BAD ENGLISH, Daily News of Los Angeles, January 29, 1990
- ^ Tango & Cash (1989), Yahoo Movies
- ^ "Bad English Album & Song Chart History - Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/bad-english/chart-history/4023?f=305&g=Albums. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?cat=a&search=Bad+English. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Top Albums/CDs". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=lq498cep6giiqq58vjqcsvvs20&q1=Bad+English&q2=Top+Albums%2FCDs&interval=20. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com - Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=a&search=bad+english. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ "hitparade.ch - Swiss charts portal". hitparde.ch. http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=bad+english&cat=a. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ a b "Chart Stats - Bad English". chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=5650. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - August 11, 2010: Bad English certified albums". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Bad%20English&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
- ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum". Canadian Recording Industry Association. http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.phphttp://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Bad%20English&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 2010-08-11.[dead link]
- ^ "Bad English Album & Song Chart History - Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/bad-english/chart-history/4023. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ "Bad English Album & Song Chart History - Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/bad-english/chart-history/4023?f=341&g=Singles. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ "Bad English - Allmusic - Billboard Singles". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/bad-english-p3608/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ "australian-charts.com - Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/search.asp?search=Bad+English&cat=s. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl - Dutch charts portal". Hung Medien. http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Bad+English. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
- ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - December 5, 2010: Bad English certified singles". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Bad%20English&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
External links
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