Bad Company Plots One-Off Reunion
BAD COMPANY PLOTS ONE-OFF REUNION:
July 3, 2008
Bad Company will ride again this summer — for one night only.
The ’70s rock troupe plans to reunite for a one-off show on Aug. 8 at the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., the group’s first performance since a 1999 reunion tour.
And although frontman Paul Rodgers tells Billboard.com that “it’ll be great to see the guys and play and go back down that road again just for one night,” there’s also a business component to the gig.
“What I’m doing is protecting the legacy that we have built … cementing the rights to the trademark Bad Company for touring,” explains Rodgers, acknowledging that the group has learned of plans for at least one bogus Bad Company planning to hit the road. “I can’t really go into that because it’s kind of in the hands of our lawyers at the moment. But there are a lot of things that make it necessary to reinforce our rights here.
He continues, “By doing this one-night stand with Bad Company, we will be cementing our right to the trademark ‘Bad Company’ for touring, and anyone who attempts to challenge us and tour misuing our trademark and mislead the fans will be liable to legal action.”
Rodgers will be joined in August by original Bad Company guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke, who continued the group with other singers after Rodgers left in 1982. Lynn Sorenson from Rodgers’ solo band will take the place of late bassist Boz Burrell, who died in 2006.
The show will be dedicated to the memory of Steve Weiss, the longtime attorney for Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and Swan Song Records, who passed away last week in Florida. It will also be recorded for a DVD that will accompany a Bad Company compilation expected out later this year.
“I think it should be pure Bad Company and nothing else,” Rodgers says of the show’s repertoire. “We’re gonna dig into the catalog a little bit. There are some great songs there I’d like to revisit, like ‘Simple Man,’ and of course the favorites, too,” such as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Rock’N’Roll Fantasy.”
Rodgers does not expect to do more with Bad Company after this show, however, owing to his solo career and to his involvement with Queen + Paul Rodgers, which is working on final mixes for a studio album, tentatively titled “The Cosmos Rocks” and due out this fall. The group will start a world tour in September in Europe, and it recently previewed a new track, “C-lebrity,” on British TV.
“We’re in great shape, actually,” Rodgers says. I think it touches a lot of emotions. Every song is different from every other song, but I do think there is a very powerful emotional content in every song. I’m a great believer in variety in music, and so are the other guys.”
Courtesy of www.billboard.com