Bad English were a supergroup when the phrase actually meant something. Their million dollar line-up featured members of The Babys (bassist Ricky Phillips and singer John Waite, the latter a solo star in his own right), Journey (guitarist Neal Schon) and both (keyboard player Jonathan Cain).
What could possibly go wrong? Nothing apart from timing, it turned out. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 1989, moments before the melodic rock ship was beached by the tidal wave of changing musical tastes. Its two monster hits, When I See You Smile and The Price Of Love, were perfectly pitched late-80s ballads, marshmallow-soft hankie-wavers. But it was when Bad English – and especially Schon – cranked things up that they were most effective.
The hard-edged Rockin’ Horse belies its kids’-toy title, while the Anne Rice-inspired Gothic AOR of Forget Me Not remains one of the towering tunes of the era (for aficionados, this reissue adds two unreleased but inessential remixes).
What happened next is scrawled in the history books: grunge came and everything changed. There were still great AOR albums and bands to come, but not one had the success of the old days. Bad English marked the end of an era, but what a last hurrah it was.
