"Day After Day" is a song by the British rock band

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are rec ...

from their 1971 album ''

Straight Up Straight up is a bartending term referring to a chilled drink served in a stemmed glass without ice. Straight Up may also refer to: * ''Straight Up'' (book), by author, blogger, physicist and climate expert Joseph J. Romm * ''Straight Up'' (Ha ...

''. It was written by

Pete Ham Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as a lead vocalist of and composer for the 1970s rock band Badfinger, whose hit songs include " No Matter What", " Day After Day" and " ...

and produced by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

, who also plays

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos t ...

on the recording. The song was issued as a single and became Badfinger's biggest hit, charting at number 4 in the United States and number 10 in the UK, ultimately earning gold accreditation from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

Recording

"Day After Day" was written and sung by

and produced by

, who plays some of the

parts of the song along with Ham. The record also features

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

on piano. As the song was unfinished at the time Harrison left the Badfinger album to produce the

Concert for Bangladesh The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt)Harry, p. 135. was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were he ...

, the final mix was done by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

, who took over ''Straight Up'' after Harrison's departure.

Release

Released as a single in the US in November 1971 (January 1972 elsewhere), it would become the group's highest charting single there, peaking at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Singles chart. It also peaked at number 10 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1972. It remains one of the band's best-known songs, most notably for the slide guitar solos. It went Gold in March 1972, becoming the band's first and only gold single. "Day After Day" reached number 10 on Billboard's

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

chart.

Personnel

Badfinger *

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar,

* Tom Evans – backing vocals, bass guitar * Joey Molland – backing vocals, acoustic guitar * Mike Gibbins – drums, percussion Additional musicians *

– slide guitar *

– piano

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions and other uses

*In 1972

The Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contempor ...

released an album ''Lettermen 1'' with this song on side 1. *Also in 1972 Engelbert Humperdinck covered the song for his album ''In Time''. *Also in 1972

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, afte ...

covered the song on their album ''Meet the Brady Bunch''. *In 1986

Savatage Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...

covered the song on their album ''

Fight for the Rock ''Fight for the Rock'' is the third full-length album by the American heavy metal band Savatage. It is their first album with new bass player Johnny Lee Middleton. Released in 1986, it is largely regarded as the band's worst release by both fan ...

''. *In 1990

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...

rock band

Dreams So Real Dreams So Real were an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, who gained national exposure in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They recorded three albums, including two releases on Arista Records. History The trio was led by songw ...

covered the song for their album ''

Gloryline ''Gloryline'' was the third album by Athens, Georgia rock band Dreams So Real. It was their second album for Arista Records, released in 1990. It is generally thought of as more uneven than their ''Jericho'' release. They toured in support of th ...

''. *In 1990 synthpop band

Exotic Birds The Exotic Birds was an American Synthpop music group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, in 1982 by three Cleveland Institute of Music percussion students (Andy Kubiszewski, Tom Freer and Timothy Adams Jr.) They wrote their own music, an ...

covered the song for their album ''Equilibrium''. *In 2006

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

covered the song on his album '' Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time''. *In 2006

Neal Morse Neal Morse (born August 2, 1960) is an American singer, musician and composer based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he formed the progressive rock band Spock's Beard with his brother Alan and released an album which was moderately successful. ...

covered the song on his album '' Cover to Cover''. *In 2006 an instrumental version of the song can be heard near the end of the ″ Join the Club" episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

''. *In 2007 the song was used in a

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for the NBA celebrating the revival of the

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. *In 2007 the song was featured in "

Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" is the ninth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 2007. The episode averaged 1 ...

", a Season 19 episode of the animated TV series ''

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''. *In 2008

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980 ...

covered the song on his album ''10''. *In 2017 the song was used in the movie ''

My Friend Dahmer ''My Friend Dahmer'' is a 2012 graphic novel and memoir by artist John "Derf" Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer. The book evolved from a 24-page, self-published version by Backderf in 20 ...

''. *In 2019 the song was used in the movie '' Annabelle Comes Home''. *In 2020 the song was used in the movie ''

Boss Level ''Boss Level'' is a 2020 American science fiction action film directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Carnahan and Chris and Eddie Borey, from a story by the Boreys. It stars Frank Grillo as a retired special forces soldier who tries to escape a ...

''.

References

{{authority control Apple Records singles Badfinger songs 1971 singles 1972 singles Songs written by Pete Ham Song recordings produced by George Harrison 1970s ballads Pop ballads Rock ballads 1971 songs