Bad Company’s Simon Kirke Reflects On The Band Ahead Of Rock Hall Induction

UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: USA Photo of Paul RODGERS and BAD COMPANY and Boz BURRELL and Mick RALPHS, Boz Burrell, Simon Kirke (back), Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)

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When the British rock group Bad Company started in 1973, its four members had been in previous notable bands — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke from Free; guitarist Mick Ralphs from Mott the Hoople; and bassist Boz Burrell from King Crimson — whose tenures ended disappointingly for them. Today, Kirke says the formation of Bad Company was a relief for the members at the time.

“There was nothing but misery,” he recalls. “We had a lot of trouble in Free with [guitarist] Paul Kossoff, who succumbed to drugs. It was just a nightmare the last couple of years. Mick was very unhappy in Mott the Hoople. Boz Burrell had only been in King Crimson, I believe, a couple of years before he was given the boot. So when we all finally converged, there was this wonderful sense of relief that we could really do what we wanted with the people that we really wanted.”

From 1974 to 1982, the original Bad Company lineup lived up to their supergroup status with songs that have since become classic rock staples: “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Shooting Star,” “Run With the Pack” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy,” among them. The enduring popularity and influence of Bad Company’s music all culminate with the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this Saturday at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. “I was just over the moon,” Kirke says about receiving the news about the induction earlier this year.

Bad Company’s journey to legendary rock status began with the group’s self-titled debut album from 1974; it really should have been titled Greatest Hits because it contained many popular songs including “Can’t Get Enough” and “Ready for Love.” “We managed to deliver the goods,” Kirke says. “We’ve been rehearsing those songs on the first album for months. So we recorded the whole thing in about five days. We paid our dues because on the first American tour, we were the opening act. So we schlepped all over America and Europe opening for people. And then by the second tour, we were headlining. We did Madison Square Garden.”

However, Kirke says that his favorite Bad Company album is 1975’s Straight Shooter, the follow-up to the self-titled debut. By that point, the group was a cohesive unit. “By the time we came to do Straight Shooter, we’d been all over the world. We were a tight band, and the songs were wonderful. You had “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad,” “Shooting Star,” “Weep No More.” There were some wonderful songs. So my own particular favourite would be Straight Shooter, closely followed by the first album.”

Fronted by Rodgers’ gritty soulful singing and Ralphs’ melodic riffs, Bad Company’s music was back-to-basics rock and roll without bombast and excess. “I grew up on the Beatles,” Kirke says. “I grew up loving the blues and soul. And songs said everything within no more than three minutes. I think that was our creed. We were just plain and simple, direct, and from the heart. And 99% of Bad Company songs were just about that. And I still to this day, when I write songs, I don’t want to go on and on and on. You said it in the first couple of verses.”

Bad Company’s success carried on with their third album, 1976’s Run With the Pack, which contained the title song, “Live for the Music” and “Silver, Blue and Gold,” a period when the band was really flying high, says Kirke. “We rented this beautiful villa in the south of France. We used mobile studios because it allowed us the freedom to record when and wherever we wanted. We were waiting for the Rolling Stones mobile truck, and we got a call. We were all sitting in the house: ‘Where are they? Where are they?’ And it was the driver of the truck who said, ‘Listen, guys, we’ve got a bit of a problem. It’s a quarter of a mile drive to the villa. We can’t get the truck through the gates. It’s too narrow.’ I said, ’You’ve got to be kidding me.’ He said, ‘No. We’ve tried every which way, but we cannot.’

“So we picked up the phone.We called Swan Song, [Led Zeppelin and Bad Company manager] Peter Grant’s company. And they said, ‘Oh, just rent another villa with wider gates. You can stay in the villa to live.’ And luckily, there was one about half a mile away that had gates wide enough. That’s kind of how we were. “

Two years after 1977’s Burnin’ Sky album, Bad Company released Desolation Angels around the time punk and disco were the rage. “It all revolved around “Rock and Roll Fantasy” because it became a hit,” Kirke recalls. “What happened was I came to Ridge Farm Studios, just outside London, and I heard this (sings opening riff). ‘What the hell is that?’ It was Paul Rodgers by himself in the studio trying out this thing called an octave divider, which Leslie West, that wonderful guitarist [from Mountain], had given to Paul. You split one note into an octave. And Paul was playing this riff. It was massive. And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s fantastic.’

“We cut that, I think, in two takes. And around that sort of central song, “Rock and Roll,” Desolation Angels came about. I never thought that it was a knee-jerk reaction to punk and disco, but quite possibly subconsciously, maybe it was.”

Following the release of 1982’s Rough Diamonds, Rodgers left the band, a time that Kirke says he has regrets about. “The original lineup ended acrimoniously. It was actually a fistfight. And when English people start hitting each other, that really is the end of it.

“Paul decided that he wanted a solo career. He never actually said, ‘Well, that’s the end of the band.’ He went and did his own solo album, then he formed the Firm [with Jimmy Page]. Me and Mick got a call from Ahmet Ertegun [Atlantic Records co-founder], who said, ‘Listen, guys, you have got a great band. You’ve got a great legacy. Why don’t you get another singer and carry on?’ And quite honestly, we went with it.”

Kirke and Ralphs continued the band, first with singer Brian Howe and then later Robert Hart; the revamped Bad Company experienced commercial success from the late ‘80s to the mid ‘90s. When that ran its course, the original Bad Company lineup reformed and recorded four new tracks for a compilation album to mark the band’s then-25th anniversary. “I was getting pretty strung out on booze and dope,” remembers Kirke. “By the time ‘96 rolled around, I was done. I had a near-death experience, and I went into rehab, and that really was the end of it. Two years later, Paul came back into the band because we had an anthology. We hadn’t seen him for years, I think, 12 years, And he plugged in and said, ’Right, let’s go.’”

Since then, Bad Company had been playing live with Rodgers and Kirke leading the way amid different lineups; Burrell died at age 60 in 2006, followed by Ralphs this past June at 81 years old, which makes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for surviving members Rodgers and Kirke all the more poignant (Rodgers recently announced he will not take part in the ceremony). Most recently, a tribute album, Can’t Get Enough, was released featuring artists such as HARDY, Halestorm and the Struts recording their own interpretations of Bad Company songs.

“I’m proud and I’m honored,” Kirke says of the tribute record. “Keith Richards was asked what he would like on his epitaph. And he said, ‘We just passed it on,’ or he just passed it on.’ And that’s all we’re doing. We’re passing on from generation to generation who, in turn, will pass on to future generations.”

As for Kirke — whose daughters Domino, Jemima and Lola have followed in their dad’s footsteps as musicians — he’s been working on a musical titled Rock Bottom. It’s a collaboration with Woody Giessmann, an addiction specialist and interventionist who also drummed for the Del Fuegos.

“He called me up a few years ago during COVID,” Kirke recalls, “and said, ‘Look, I’ve got these songs, some songs. I’ve got an idea about a musical about two kids in addiction who fall in love.’ I thought, ‘Wow, okay.’ So we started working on the script. The script is pretty much done with a few tweaks, but we have 16 songs.

“Without boasting, I mean, some of the songs are absolutely amazing. We debuted four or five of them in Boston [at] his fundraiser. People were, ‘Wow.’ There’s one song that had people in tears. That really, really does excite me…We’re doing fundraisers to get money to hire someone to help us with the script, and then ultimately a cast and a band because there’s a lot of rock and roll in it.”

Outside of Bad Company, Kirke is eyeing at another solo record, which he plans to do once the musical gets off the ground. “I just want to stay creative because I love creating,” he says. “I love listening back to the song and going, ‘Yeah, all right. That’s good.’ I’ve had a great run. And I’ll never stop. That’s the great thing about music. You never stop creating.”