Bad English

Bad English was an American Rock band which was formed in 1988. They were a supergroup who reunited and were former members of The Babys. The members were Jonathan Cain (keyboard player), John Waite (singer), Ricky Phillips (bass player), and Deen Castronovo (drummer).The members got the name of their band while they were playing a game of pool. John missed a shot and someone said that he had bad English. The band thought this was a good name for the band and so it was named Bad English. Another story says that the name was chosen to make fun of the name of some of the member’s previous band, The Babys, because the name was misspelled. Neil Schon, former member of the band, Journey, joined Bad English after the Journey band split up.

The group released their first album, Bad English, in 1989, and the album was a big hit. The album reached number 21 on the U. S. Chart. It also had two hit singles and they were When I See You Smile, which reached number 1 on the charts in the United States, and Price of Love which was a number 5 hit. Their second , and last, album was released in 1989 and was called Backlash, but it did not reach the Top 40 in the U. S. The. The album did reach number 72 on the United States charts.

According to Ricky Phillips, the group broke up before the second album was released. It seems that they enjoyed a rewarding experience but it was very short. They released albums and singles between 1989 and 1991. The band played the glam metal style of music. He also felt that the public did not hear some of the high quality music and sensitive song writing. Later John Waite stated, in an interview, that he loved playing to stadium sized audiences but he was uncomfortable with the corporate rock image that he felt they had presented. He has been a solo artist since the breakup of the band. Deen Castronovo (the drummer for the group), went on to join the reformed group, Journey. Other members of the new reformed Journey band were Steve Augeri (singer), Neal Schon Jonathan Cain, and Ross Valory. He also played with Ozzy Osbourne on his album, Ozzmosis in 1995.

Like many other rock bands, the group did not stay together very long but they had success in their short period of time together. The released a total of 2 albums called, Bad English and Backlash, and a total of 6 singles. Their singles were, Forget Me Not, When I See You Smile, Price Of Love, Possession, Heaven Is A 4 Letter Word, and Straight To the Heart.