What Were the 5 Biggest US Hits by Bad Company?

Not many bands that start off as so-called “supergroups” end up having the kind of staying power that the British outfit known as Bad Company displayed. For that matter, few make as much impact as these guys did, both in terms of commercial success and acclaim. They proved throughout their career to be a stout band when it came to crossing over to the pop charts as well. That being said, here are the five biggest US hits from Bad Company’s career.

“Movin’ On” – No. 19 in 1975

The pedigree for Bad Company was certainly impressive. They boasted two members of Free (singer Paul Rodgers and guitarist Mick Ralphs) and one each from Mott The Hoople (drummer Simon Kirke) and King Crimson (Boz Burrell). Of course, none of that guarantees that a band is going to have any kind of chemistry once they get together. Perhaps the fact that they stuck to the blues-rock formula that Free had down pat helped them out. On songs like “Movin’ On”, they sound like they’d been together forever, instead of just starting out.

“If You Needed Somebody” – No. 16 in 1990

After grinding to a halt in the early 80s, Bad Company pulled themselves back together for the second half of the decade. The only problem was that lead singer Paul Rodgers was otherwise occupied with The Firm, another supergroup of sorts. Thus, Bad Company pivoted and hired Brian Howe as the new lead singer. This reconstituted group actually had a good deal of rock radio success. Thanks to the power ballad “If You Needed Somebody”, written by Howe and producer Terry Thomas, they also enjoyed pop radio exposure for the first time in more than a decade.

“Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy” – No. 13 in 1979

Some hits win you over in the very opening moments, and Bad Company definitely did that with “Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy”. Starting with a little bit of synth guitar fiddling, the song then effortlessly glides into a stomping beat. There’s just a hint of disco in Simon Kirke’s drum attack, which makes the title a bit ironic. This was the last gasp of single success for Bad Company in their prime era. They shared a manager (Peter Grant) with Led Zeppelin. When Zep closed its doors upon the death of John Bonham, Grant also largely threw in the towel. Bad Company’s momentum soon stalled as well.

“Feel Like Makin’ Love” – No. 10 in 1975

It’s always good to get a big hit on the second album to show that a smash debut was no fluke. Bad Company seemed to be playing it smart by releasing the uptempo “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” as the first single off their sophomore album Straight Shooter in 1975. But that song barely scraped into the top 40. Instead, it was the slow one, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, that did the big damage. Of course, it’s a slow one that features some crunching guitars from Mick Ralphs to toughen it up a bit. Rodgers proves very convincing in seductive mode on lead vocal.

“Can’t Get Enough” – No. 5 in 1974

Even with the past accomplishments of its members, Bad Company faced some skepticism among the rock community when they made their debut. The fact that they were signed to Led Zeppelin’s vanity rock label had a lot to do with that. Bad Company found a way to answer that skepticism by coming out of the gate with yet another entry on their list of smash hits, proving themselves more suitable to crossing over than their benefactors Led Zep ever were. Yet “Can’t Get Enough” also scores as an authentically powerful blues-rock exercise, as every member of the quartet delivers a bravura performance.

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