LOST TREASURES

by Peter Marston

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JOEY MOLLAND

“This Way Up”

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Yes, Joe Molland is Joey Molland from Badfinger. Why he switched from Joey to Joe for this 2001 release is unclear. In a March 2002 interview promoting This Way Up, Molland was asked, “So, who are you these days, Joe or Joey?” Molland’s reply: “It doesn’t matter to me really. I just put Joe on there ’cause I felt like it that day.” Fortunately, he put more thought into the music as This Way Up stands as one of the very best releases of his career. AllMusic is even more effusive: “This Way Up is the strongest representation of any material being issued by people associated with the Beatles camp in the new millennium, including contemporary solo Beatles efforts.”

As a member of Badfnger, Molland’s story is fairly well known. Having played in a variety of English pop bands starting in the mid-60s, Molland joined Scott Walker’s group The Rain in 1967, releasing a handful of singles and an album, #1, which included four of his compositions. Tepid commercial response led to the Rain breaking up and to Molland auditioning for Badfinger in 1969, when Tom Evans switched from guitar to bass to replace the departing Ron Griffiths. Molland got the job, of course, and, other than a brief break in the mid 70s to play in the band Natural Gas, remained in Badfinger up until their final album, Say No More, in 1981.

Molland’s solo career began in 1983 with the album After the Pearl and has continued with only sporadic releases: The Pilgrim in 1992 and This Way Up in 2001, along with a collection of 70s and 80s demos, Basil, issued in 1997. Throughout this period, Molland also sought to be a steward of Badfinger’s legacy, both playing in a group with the awkward but legally prudent name Joey Molland’s Badfinger and shepherding releases from the Badfinger vaults—even when it wasn’t entirely clear he had the legal right to do so.

The music on This Way Up is straight ahead pop-rock. The production has a little bit of a boxy 80s sound, but the songs and the arrangement more than compensate. The opening track, “Mirrors,” is driving power-pop set with eighth-note guitar chugging and simple guitar lines doubled on the piano. “Happy” starts with a riff similar to “I Feel Fine” and features beautiful close harmonies throughout. “A Way to Be” evokes the Travelling Wilburys, if only Ian Hunter had been tapped to replace Roy Orbison. “Another Honeymoon” is a jazzy, almost music hall number with a solid walking bass line and sweet, double-tracked vocals. “Three Minute Warning” is a solid rocker a little reminiscent of Dave Edmunds’ work with Rockpile. My favorite ballad on the album (and there are a few) is the album’s closer, “Isn’t That a Dream?” which works the land somewhere between psychedelia, folk and gospel.

Perhaps what strikes me most about This Way Up is its maturity. This album is completely pop, but the overall tone is reflective and even somewhat world-weary. As previously noted, there is a hint of Ian Hunter’s later work here, both in the air of nostalgia evoked by many of the lyrics and the warm and gentle rasp of Molland’s voice. Though I grew up on pop that typically celebrated the anticipation of what could be, it is great to hear lyrics and vocals that have a little more perspective on life and love—or that, as my daughter would say, are a little more age appropriate.

This Way Up was originally released on Parasol Records in 2002 and then reissued in 2011 on Paradise MusicWerks. Both versions are currently available on amazon along with mp3 editions at the usual outlets. If you missed this album the first time around, it is certainly worth rediscovering and if I’ve calculated my intervals correctly, we’re just about due for a new release from Joe Molland—or maybe that day he’ll be back to Joey.

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Pop Pioneer and “Lost Treasures” writer, Peter Marston is the leader of long-running power pop band, Shplang, whose most recent album, “My Big Three Wheeler” has been described as “the Beatles meet Zappa in pop-psych Sumo match.”  You check it out at this link:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shplang

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“Happy”

“Isn’t That A Dream”

“Short Documentary”