No Dice - History

History

Although this was the band's second album released as "Badfinger," it was the band's first album recorded after their name change from The Iveys and also their first with new guitarist Joey Molland, who replaced bassist Ron Griffiths after the recording of the previous album, Magic Christian Music. Molland's addition caused Tom Evans to switch from rhythm guitar to bass. Badfinger would release five albums, generally their most successful recordings, with this line-up.

No Dice peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. Widely praised in music reviews at the time, Rolling Stone Magazine observed that it represented what The Beatles would have sounded like had they retained their initial formula.

The single from this LP, "No Matter What", peaked in the United States at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. The song is often regarded as an early offering in the power pop genre. Other stand-out tracks are "Better Days", "I Don't Mind", and the closer "We're for the Dark". The album also contains the original version of "Without You". Although Badfinger did not release the song as a single in Europe or North America, it was taken to number one on the Billboard charts in 1972 by Harry Nilsson, and again became a hit for Mariah Carey in 1994. "Without You" has been the top money-earner for Badfinger in publishing royalties, having been covered by over 180 artists. The song was also picked to provide the title for Dan Matovina's 1997 biography, Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger.

'No Dice' is a slang term meaning "not possible." It was the first of three albums titled by bassist Tom Evans. The term was originally used in dice games: when a throw is out of play or not lying flat, the throw is not valid and is ruled as 'no dice.'

In October 1991, No Dice was digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studio by Ron Furmanek. The remastered album was released in 1992 by Capitol Records and Apple with five previously unreleased bonus tracks (see track listing below). Of the bonus tracks, "Friends Are Hard to Find" was an outtake from the same Mal Evans produced session that saw the recording of "No Matter What" and "Believe Me". "Get Down" was originally attempted with Evans but the version here was recorded with Geoff Emerick. The three remaining tracks, "Mean, Mean Jemima", "Loving You" and "I'll Be the One" were recorded with Emerick between January and March 1971 (after the completion of No Dice) for the intended follow up album that was never released.