Rick Derringer and Badfinger

An evening of classic rock with the "Hang on Sloopy" singer and the sixties rock band fronted by guitarist Joey Molland ("Come and Get It").

Come to Penn's Peak for a night of classic rock with Rick Derringer and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland!! Rick Derringer For over 4 decades Rick Derringer has been producing hits and there does not look to be any slowing him down. His first #1 hit was in the summer of 1965 with ?Hang On Sloopy? with his band The McCoys. Rick was only 17 when that happened and they knocked The Beatles ?Yesterday? out of the top spot, quite an accomplishment and only the beginning of a long and lustrous career. From The McCoys, Rick moved on with Johnny Winter to form Johnny Winter And. Derringer was the producer of all the gold and platinum albums from the Winter brothers. While with Johnny Winter, Rick released the single ?Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo.? The song was released again in ?73, but this time it became a hit single. Forging ahead with Johnny Winter, Rick was a player and producer of the hit album They Only Come Out at Night that featured the #1 Grammy nominated hit, ?Frankenstein.? Rick Derringer returned to his solo career in ?83, but throughout the ?70's and ?80's, he appeared on numerous albums with a huge spectrum of artists; Alice Cooper, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Barbra Streisand and Kiss, just to name a few. His writing and producing skills became more and more evident over the years, but the mid ?80's really exemplified this. He discovered Weird Al Yankovic and produced his Grammy winning albums and videos. Including his #1 hit, a parody of Michael Jackson's ?Beat It,? ?Eat It.? He could not be a solo artist forever and in the ?90's, Edgar Winter wanted Rick back. They collaborated on Edgar's Winter Blues CD. Rick could not stay away from his personal musical career for long and in 2001, he ventured back into rock and roll with Vanilla Fudge superstars Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert, but in 2002, he went in a whole new direction. That winter he tried Smooth Jazz and interest in him quickly rose. His second single under the smooth jazz genre was ?Hot and Cool? and it was on Radio and Records Top 20 for 5 months and finished out the year #42. His wife, Brenda, is a co-writer and an arranger and singer with Rick. Badfinger with Joey Molland The Panthers, The Black Velvets, The Wild Ones and The Iveys were all names of the Swansea, Wales band now known as Badfinger. They started by touring the London circuit performing music from Motown to The Beatles. It was during this circuit that they were asked to be on the Apple Record label. The Beatles made this record label famous. That was 1968 and The Iveys were recording on the Apple Record label and releasing their first single ?Maybe Tomorrow.? That song reached #67 on the US Billboard Top 100 and the Top 10 in several European countries. In November 1969, The Iveys officially became Badfinger. This name was a reference to an early working title of The Beatles hit ?With a Little Help from My Friends? ?Bad Finger Boogie.? This was also during the time they acquired Joey Molland as their guitarist. Badfinger now consisted of originator and founder Pete Ham on guitar and keyboards, Tom Evans played guitar, but switched to bass with the addition of Joey on bass and Mike Gibbins on drums. ?Come and Get It,? written by Paul McCartney but released by Badfinger was a hit in Europe and the US in 1970, reaching the Billboard Top 10. Their next album, No Dice peaked at #28 on the Billboard charts and 2 songs hit the charts from the album, ?No Matter What? (#8 on the Billboard Hot 100) and ?Without You? (later recorded by Harry Nilsson and #1 on the Billboard Chart.) This song has since been covered by 100's of artists. The third album by Badfinger, 1971's Straight Up, became their most commercially successful album and spawned 2 hits as well. Badfinger eventually left the Apple label and forged ahead with a contract with Warner Brothers Records. Due to mismanagement, the band suffered a few years of turmoil and major upheaval following their deal with Warner Brothers. The band eventually dissolved, but it was soon reborn in 1978 with Joey Molland and Tom Evans, but again, short lived. Throughout the ?80's, Badfinger bands were here and gone with Molland and Gibbins being the only 2 remaining members living. In 1990, Gibbins finally called it quits with Badfinger. Joey Molland, the last living Badfinger member continues to tour as Badfinger still playing all the hits the fans know and love. You won?t want to miss this classic rock combo of Rick Derringer and Badfinger featuring Joey Molland at Penn's Peak on October 11th!! Tickets go on sale Friday, April 4th at 10:00 am at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the Penn's Peak Box Office. Penn's Peak ticket sales are walk-up only, no phone orders.