A PLACE IN TIME

MIKE GIBBINS

For those of you who don’t recognise the name, Mike Gibbins was the drummer with Badfinger during the seventies. While he may not be a household name, the Welsh musician has been in the music business for over four decades and has worked with some of the biggest names in music.

Paul McCartney wrote ‘Come And Get It’ for Badfinger. Mike performed at George Harrison’s Benefit Concert For Bangladesh and also turned up on ‘All Things Must Pass’. Badfinger disbanded in 1975 and while some of the band members committed suicide, Gibbins stayed in the music business and went on to play drums on Bonnie Tyler’s Top 5 hit ‘It’s A Heartache’.

He went on to reform Badfinger and successfully sued Apple Recordings to recover royalties from the group. He now currently resides in Florida.

So now you know who he is, so what’s his new album like? ‘A Place In Time’ is a grower. Upon my first listen nothing really caught my attention but the more I listened to it, the more I began to appreciate the contrasting styles of each track.

From the opening number ‘Sue Me’ (a possible reference to his court case in the 80’s) to the 7½ minute ‘Day After Night’ ballad, where he tries to be Paul McCartney, he covers various musical styles from pop to country.

‘Picture Of You’ is worth the purchase price alone. It’s a thumping catchy song that sounds like early Boomtown Rats and would surely be a huge hit if he were a household name.

‘Warcloud’ is a guitar orientated instrumental that doesn’t belong here and although there are some seven-minute + songs and a closing track called ‘Egg On My Face’, Mike Gibbins with this album has left himself with anything but.

By Michael Lynch

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