A Turn for the Worse That Sounds Good

Song 445: The week on the playlist you can hear Good Lovin' Gone Bad by Bad Company, written by Mick Ralphs, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In the middle of the 1970s, Bad Company stood out as one truly rocking combo surrounded by a sea of bland commerciality, and I remember one day in Evanston when my friend Hank Neuberger made that point while putting the Straight Shooter LP onto his turntable. This cut opens that album with a bang, and while the words mourn a romantic fling that has turned sour, the record itself never falters or loses momentum - in fact, well over 4 decades later, it still sounds fresh and fitting. For the writer, love may have gone bad, but the recording that memorialized his sad affair still sounds very good.