line up 1

- Ringo Staff (Richard Starkey) -- vocals, drums, percussion

  supporting musicians (1978)

- Hamisch Bisonette (aka Mac Rebennack) -- keyboards,

   synthesizers

- Diesel (aka Dee Murray) -- bass

- Git-Tar (Ji Webb) -- rhythm guitar

- Morris Lane -- keyboards

- Melissa Manchester -- backing vocals

- Push-a-lone (aka Lon Van Eaton) -- lead guitar

- Tom of the North (aka Tom Saviano) -- sax

- The Beatles (Ringo Starr)

- Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (Ringo Starr)

Genre: rock

Rating: 2 stars **

Title:  Bad Boy

Company: Polydor

Catalog: 2310 599
Year: 1978

Country/State: UK

Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

Comments: UK pressing

Available: 1

Catalog ID: 1554

Price: $15.00

So I'll readily admit this was the last Ringo Starr album I ever bought and I only bought it because it was on sale for 99 cents.   Anyone who can actually sit through these ten throwaways will quickly understand why the album was thoroughly trashed by critics and why it was on sale for 99 cents.  Speculation on my part, but I easily see a landfill full of truckloads of returned copies ...

Having shifted from Atlantic Records to CBS's Portrait subsidiary, 1978's "Bad Boy" teamed Starr with longtime sidekick Vini Poncia in the production role , Unfortunately, "Bad Boy" was anything but.  Two forgettable Starr-Poncia originals were surrounded by a largely forgettable set of '50s and '60s pop, rock, and soul covers - none which added anything to the originals.  To his credit, Poncia seemingly attempted to protect Starr from having to tackle anything to challenging, or strenuous (you suspected someone in a coma could probably have replicated 'Who Needs a Heart').  Unfortunately, the track listing was ceaselessly dull and surrounding Starr with heavy orchestration and waves of back-up singers only served to showcase the fact he wasn't much of a singer.   Add to that, there were no real opportunities for Starr to demonstrate he could still play the drums.  So what you got was album of mediocrity that probably only saw the light of day due to Starr's past.   While many Starr fans will tell you this was his best solo offering, I'll respectfully disagree,  This was borderline horrible without a single song that you'll remember an hour later.   

Even with support from a US  television special ("Ringo Starr - Ognir Rats") the album proved a  commercial disappointment, peaking at # 129 on the US charts.  It didn't even make the UK charts.  Starr didn't record another album until 1981's "Stop and Smell the Roses".

"Bad Boy" track listing:
(side 1)

1.) Who Needs a Heart   (Vini Poncia - Richard Starkey) - 3:48

'Who Needs a Heart' was one of two originals co-written with producer Vini Poncia.  A breezy, up-temp pop tune, Ringo's voice remained instantly recognizable, which meant there were lots of backup singers to help smooth the tune out.  Only mildly painful, the tune actually kind of grew on you if given an opportunity.  rating: *** stars

2.) Bad Boy  (Lil Armstrong - Avon Long) - 3:14

Starr's always had a fondness for '50s era chestnuts and this time around The Jive Bombers 1957 'Bad Boy' was one he attempted to rescue from oblivion.  Decent bluesy remake, but stick with the original.   rating: ** stars

3.) Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)   (Naomi Neville) - 3:01

Another oldies - Allen Toussaint wrote it using the pseudonym Naomi Neville, while Benny Spellman enjoyed an early-'60s hit with it.  Showcasing Mac Rebbenack on keyboards, Ringo's horn-powered cover had kind of a goofy country-tinge to it.  Once again, lots of backing vocals, which only served to underscore his limited vocal abilities.   The song was tapped as the leadoff single:

- 1978's 'Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)' b/w 'Old Time Revolvin'' (Portrait catalog number 6-70051)  rating: ** stars

4.) Heart On a Sleeve   (Benny Gallagher - Graham Lyle) - 3:20

Well, Ringo's cover wasn't going to make you forget the Gallagher and Lyle original (which I never thought was particularly good).  Portrait tapped it as the second US single:

- 1978's 'Heart On My Sleeve' b/w ''Who Needs a Heart' ' (Portrait catalog number 6-70018)

Neither the sound, or video quality were particularly good, but YouTube has a live performance of the tune taken from the 1978 NBC "Ringo Starr - Ognir Rats" television special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXwvv15IHss   rating: *** stars

5.) Where Did Our Love Go   (Brian Holland - Lamont Dozier - Eddie Holland) - 3:15

Opening up with some bizarre synthesizers, it took a minute for the melody to spring forward at which point you were left to wonder why Starr would have elected to cover this old Supremes tune.  He was all but drown out by the shrill female backing singers and the heavy orchestration.   rating: ** stars

(side 2)
1.) Hard Times   (Peter Skellern) - 3:31

Given how bad most of this album was, Starr's cover of Peter Skellem's 'Hard Times' at least showed a touch of energy.  That wasn't to imply it was a great tune, since it wasn't.  Still, it would have slotted well on 1973's "Ringo" and at least sported a nice slide guitar solo.  Again, the video and sound quality are poor, but YouTube has another track off the "Ringo Starr - Ognir Rats" television special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV6CGVMXPDg    rating: *** stars

2.) Tonight (Ian McLagan  - John Pidgeon) - 2:56

Ouch,  this Small faces remake was just painful.  Who knows why, but the track was released as a UK single:

- 1978's 'Tonight' b/w 'Heart On My Sleeve' (Polydor catalog number 2001 795)  There's even a video for the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3fuVYH5VGY    rating: ** stars

3.) Monkey See - Monkey Do   (Michael Franks) - 3:36

With a funky rhythm 'Monkey See - Monkey Do'  sported one of the album's better melodies.  Unfortunately Starr sounded like he'd recorded this one in an echo chamber.  Totally inappropriate for Starr's limited vocal range.  You had to wonder what Poncia and Starr were thinking.    (For anyone interested, Melissa Manchester actually recorded a far better version the previous year.)   rating: ** star

4.) Old Time Relovin'  (Vini Poncia - Richard Starkey) - 4:16

The second original composition, 'Old Time Relovin'' sported some nice organ accompaniment, but otherwise was pretty flaccid.  rating: ** stars

5.) A Man Like Me  (Ruan O'Lochlainn) - 3:00

Polydor catalog number 2480-249

The year before, Starr had recorded some material for a planned animated television series.  The series about a mouse who immigrates from Liverpool to the United States (I'm not making this up), was ultimately shelved, but some of the narrative and songs were compiled and released as "Scouse The Mouse". One of Starr's contributions was a track entitled 'A Mouse Like Me' and he apparently reworked the tune as 'A Man Like Me' for this album.   As far as I can tell the main changes were replacing the word "mouse" with "man", slowing the tune down, and adding more instrumentation to the arrangement.  Was it worth the extra work?  Nah.  rating: ** stars