Mike Gibbins, drummer for Badfinger from 1965 to 1975, died last week:

Badfinger were one of the unluckiest bands in the history of rock'n'roll. Signed to The Beatles' Apple Records and groomed to be the Fab Four's heirs, their first big hit was the Paul McCartney penned "Come And Get It". The Beatles even renamed them after a reference to an early title for "With A Little Help From My Friends". Notice that the URL for the NME story quoted above says "Beatles" instead of "Badfinger". After their mentors split in 1970, the band initially caught an anti-Beatles backlash from critics, but rebounded with several successful singles and albums, including "Without You" -- which was made famous by Harry Nilsson.

However, as Apple Records began to unwind, the band ran into financial troubles which were only exacerbated by their manager, Stan Polley, who negotiated a new deal with Warner Bros that would lead to several critically-panned albums and, eventually, a lawsuit.

Fed up with the financial mess, the band's original leader, Pete Ham, quit, rejoined, and the next year, committed suicide, blaming Polley in his suicide note. Amazingly, the rest of the band carried on until 1981, when it split into two separate groups, one led by bassist Tom Evans, the other by guitarist Joey Molland, both touring under the name "Badfinger". In 1983, following an argument with Molland, Evans hung himself in his home.