In 1999, the British band Bad Company — best known for such 1970s rock classics as “Can’t Get Enough,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” and “Shooting Star” — was eligible for nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, it would take about another 25 years for the group’s founding lineup of singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell to be finally selected for induction. Regardless of the long gap, Kirke is thrilled.
“I know that the musicians, for the most part, who had been inducted over the years, wanted us to be in,” he says recently. “I got the call, I believe, [last] October. My manager, David Spero, said, “It looks like you’re going to get nominated.” And then in February, he told me, ‘Don’t tell anyone, you’re in.’ And I was just over the moon.”
Ahead of Bad Company’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose ceremony is scheduled on Nov. 8 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, is the release of Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute to Bad Company, which came out Friday. The record features an eclectic cast of musicians paying homage to the band—among them are the Struts (“Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” ); Halestorm (“Shooting Star”); Charley Crockett (“Bad Company”); HARDY (“Ready for Love”); Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators (“Feel Like Makin’ Love”); and the Pretty Reckless (the Free track “All Right Now”). Kirke says he’s proud and honored by the treatment.
“The fact that relative youngsters — and anyone under 40 is a youngster to me – wants to cover our songs is a wonderful tribute,” says Kirke. “I’ve heard some of them, and I’m going, ‘Wow, yeah, they put their own spin on it.’ It’s wonderful that the younger generation has picked up the baton, as it were, and is now running with it. So great.”
Primary Wave Music, the music publishing company, previously acquired a stake in Bad Company’s catalog. “Larry Mestel [Primary Wave Music’s founder and CEO] approached me and Paul a couple of years ago and asked, ‘Would we be willing to, etc., etc.?’ We agreed, as did a lot of our contemporaries, because our touring career has pretty much come to an end, and we have to look at it for our families. So that’s what we did.
“Then a few months later, Robert Dippold[Primary Wave’s president of digital strategy] and Larry called me and said, ‘Look, would you be willing to have these artists, about 10 artists, lined up who really want to do a tribute album to you?’ And we said, ‘Yeah, of course. Absolutely.’”
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