“Hi! It’s Paul Rodgers here. It’s May 7th, 2020. The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated. I am very happy to say that I am very much alive. Yeah. Take care of yourselves and each other. Hope to play for you again soon. Thanks for caring. I feel the love.”
On May 6, Brian Howe, the lead vocalist in the Bad Company comeback years passed away from a heart attack and the music world broadcasting Howe's passing, as vocalist for Bad Company, a long time rock band that Simon Kirke has kept going with various musicians taking over for retired Mick Ralphs (who never recovered fully from his stroke and is now retired) and Paul Rodgers who went solo and later did albums for Jimmy Page (The Firm) and Kenny Jones (The Law). And lest us not forget Queen too.
While Simon Kirke continues to talk fondly of reuniting with Paul Rodgers, Bad Company has released live albums of live remakes, A Sanctuary album had two Bad Company songs but if Simon or Paul needs money, they'll throw a Bad Company concert. In interviews Kirke wishes he never had Brian Howe in the band, even tho, Howe did manage to get the guys to at least be interested in the albums Dangerous Age and Holy Water. But by Here Comes Trouble, that lineup ran its course and Howe left the band acrimoniously, Robert Hart continued for two Rodgers soundalike but bloated albums before Rodgers came back a calling.
Since then the Howe/Hart years have disappeared without a trace. The bitterness between Howe and his former bandmates have been well known, even to a 2018 interview to which Howe said that he hated Rodgers. Rodgers has ignored Howe throughout the years, Howe mentioned he and Paul met once and Paul was indifferent. It didn't help things that Dangerous Age was a better album than Rough Diamonds, the tired 1982 effort which included Electricland as a minor hit and the lazy assed Burning Sky, which the title track was pretty good but the rest was garbage. If Kirke had problems with the Mark 2 lineup of Bad Company, perhaps it was that Howe turned them into a Foreigner soundalike. He could have felt at home replacing Lou Gramm
An earlier blog about the Brian Howe years explains those Bad Company albums better. Dangerous Age did managed to kick out the jams and former Charlie guitar player and singer Terry Thomas help produced the three albums up till Here Comes Trouble, to which boredom finally took over the band and Howe bid adieu to which Simon Kirke cherry picked a concert and issued it as What You Hear Is What You Get. It may have not been Paul Rodgers but for how Bad Company sounded during Brian Howe's tenure it shows a working band and even Howe did put his heart into the hit singles that he didn't write.
After leaving Bad Company, Howe did managed to have a so so career of playing state fairs and being an opening act as former lead singer of Bad Company, till it raked the original vocalist and Kirke and so Howe had to redo the concerts and not piss off his former employers. Howe was very active on his facebook site up till April 30. He was pro animal, anti Trump and had time to chat with fans after a show. He had a scooter accident which may have played a role in him having a heart attack.
Once his passing and the news got out, tributes did come out for those who knew him. In the case of Paul Rodgers, he went into damage control and broadcast to the world that he is still alive. While Simon Kirke did use his own FB account to reach out to Brian's family, it didn't appear on the original Bad Company site. In fact, the official Bad Company site does not even mention anything from Howe or Hart of their musical contributions. At least Kirke did the minimal thing but not using the Bad Company site seems a bit petty. Rodgers was inexcusable. But nobody is going to worry about this, classic rock will continue to favor anything from the first three Bad Company albums. But Brian Howe should be looked at with fondess, after all he managed to kick start a band that was notorious for making lazy albums. But the bond between Simon Kirke and Paul Rodgers goes way back to the days of Free and I seriously doubt that Kirke will mentioned anything to the Bad Company site about Howe's passing. Even if Howe did fatten up the royalty wallet of Kirke and Mick Ralphs during the second coming of Bad Company of 86-93, the resentment of a replacement lead singer taking over a stale band didn't set too well.
Now that's Howe is no longer, that frees up Rodgers and Kirke and hired hands to get back to touring once the Corona Virus runs its course and it's safe to go to concerts. But Rodgers did no favors with his classless act. He's still here thank goodness, and he'll be happy to let the crowd sing the chorus to Can't Get Enough or Feel Like Making Love so he don't have to. It's the way of the world for old fart rock stars. And someday, Rodgers will join the rest of the departed, and he'll be remembered fondly.
For me he'll also will be remembered as the chest beating douche cookie saying the original Bad Co voice is still around.
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