Bad Company – Movin On

Sometimes…I need some arena rock; this is one of those times. If you were a long-haired kid in 1974, flipping through the FM dial in a Chevelle or Mustang with the windows down, odds are this song was the reason for a speeding ticket. This is a straight-ahead blues-rocker that sounds like it was born on a plane, train, and an automobile. The story of many rockers in the 1970s. 

Bad Company cut their self-titled debut album at Headley Grange in November 1973, using Ronnie Lane’s Mobile Studio. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Led Zeppelin recorded many of their early seventies albums in the same manor house. There was something about that place that produced a sound that you just can’t manufacture in a sterile studio. Mick Ralphs wrote this song and brought it over from his days in his former band, Mott the Hoople. It was the perfect fit for Paul Rodger’s voice.

Led Zeppelin’s new record label Swan Song got off to a smashing start. Bad Company was the first album released on the new label, followed by Physical Graffiti a few months later. Bad Company was their most commercially successful signing with the label, which included Dave Edmunds, Maggie Bell, The Pretty Things, Detective, and others.  The label folded soon after John Bonham’s passing. Swan Song exists now just for reissues.

The 1974 album was a smash; it peaked at #1 on the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, #3 in the UK, and #27 in New Zealand. This single peaked at #19 on the Billboard 100 and #30 in Canada.

Movin’ On
I get up in the morning and it’s just another day
Pack up my belongings, I’ve got to get away
Jump into a taxi and the time is gettin’ tight
I got to keep on movin’ I got a show tonight

And I’m movin’ on, movin’ on from town to town
Movin’ on, baby, never seem to touch the ground

I check in to the ticket desk I have an hour to go
Headin’ for the boarding gate I’m feelin’ pretty low
Fifteen minutes later I’m sittin’ on my plane
Fastening my safety belt I’m takin’ off again

And I’m movin’ on, movin’ on from town to town
Moving on, baby, yeah I’m never touching the ground

Movin’ on, movin’ on from town to town
Movin’ on, I can’t seem to stop now

Movin’
Movin’ on

I got to move on, move on from town to town
I got to move on
And I never seem to slow me down

I’m movin’ on, movin’ on from town to town

I never seem to slow down

Everyday of my life I’m moving on

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

56 thoughts on “Bad Company – Movin On”

    1. I couIdn’t agree more with what you said…I saw them once and they were great. The only problem was that Paul Rodgers wasn’t with them at the time but they still were great with that catalog of songs.

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    1. This one is awesome…He can sing just about anything. When he stood in for Queen…it actually sounded good…different but good. That is when I knew he could do about anything.

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  4. good post. I knew they were on Swan Song, but not that they had the distinction of having the first record out on it. I agree about the acoustics too – Zep did well at picking places that would give the good and correct to the song resonance or feel, and that’s often not a conventional studio. Didn’t know this song though, but my knowledge of Bad Company is limited to maybe half a dozen radio spinners

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    1. I know a few B sides of them but mostly I know their radio hits…that is what we were talking about yesterday…with the Allmans and Dead…I know more of their album songs…but not this band. If not for radio overplay I would like them more.

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      1. I had a buddy on the right side of the tracks and in the summer we would go over and swim in his “ceement pound” and listen to this album, Aqualung, Steppenwolf, Deep Purple, Foghat ..I think you get it. Lots of fun.

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  7. Max, I mean no disrespect to you or to Bad Company in what I’m about to say. I remember when they first came on the radio I loved them. But now, I consider the terminal overplay that will never let them die has turned them into zombie songs that will eat your brain if you’re not careful. They are just one example of a monstrous cadre of zombie songs. I really would like to backtrack to who gets the royalty checks every time one of the zombies are played.

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      1. Sheila, I avoid AM radio at all costs. It gives me a shiver/shudder when I hear songs that were playing when I was 15 years old. Yes, all of those you mention fit the Overplay Zombie bill. What may be even more frightening is that there are few better songs to take their place from the present.

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    2. lol…them and The Steve Miller Band suffer from overplay…some songs didn’t get as much of that treatment…but why do you think I usually feature album songs? I got tired of posting just hits…on Fridays I do hits more.

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  10. I always considered Bad Co. to be formula rock along with 38 Special, Boston, Journey and Foreigner. They all have a similar sound even though they come from different rock styles. I think they all worked with some of the same producers, except for Boston,

    Bad Co., I’d say, is the earthiest example of formula/arena rock–especially their debut album. They’re the fathers of the second wave.

    I guess you could say that The Beatles are the original arena rockers, but they kept innovating and evolving in all aspects of music and genre, whereas their proteges just stayed put. Tom Scholz is a master of innovation with equipment and technique, but he bunkered down in familiarity with sound and songwriting.

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    1. Don’t forget Styx…but yes I know what you mean but these guys…like you said were more down to earth and sounded a bit more original to me…plus they had Paul Rodgers.
      Oh Boston…yea it got old after a while. I went to see them a few years ago…it was a lot of fun…they were at the Fontanel.

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      1. I like some Styx. Renegade, Come Sail Away, the Paradise Theater album. Yes, I would put them into the arena rock crowd, although I think they were more divergent. They veered more to the theatrical and prog, IMO.

        I like Paul Rodgers, but not as much as most rock enthusiasts do. I think he’s a little overrated I actually prefer Lou Gramm.

        Like you, I’m a Mick Ralphs fan…he’s produced some the great, iconic guitar riffs of the 70s.

        Likewise, I love Mott the Hoople and I’m a huge fan of Ian Hunter.

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      2. Sorry I missed this…I was just leaving work. Yes they did go toward the theatrics much more.

        My favorite rock singer…well that is John Lennon but Steve Marriott would be my favorite real rock singer. I do like Lou Gramm.

        What impressed me about Rodgers is him singing for Queen. It was totally different but he made it work…not classic Queen but a hybrid of it.

        Yes Ralphs worked with two great singers and I like a lot of Ian Hunters solo work as well.

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      3. I agree with you on Lennon. He’s a fantastic singer who sang rock and pop music. To me, he transcended the genre. The quality of his voice. So clean, so pure. Yes, he could sing nasty and hard and he did it as well (or better) than anyone. But his tone was so beautiful. It matched so brilliantly with Harrison’s guitar.

        Janis Joplin, Freddie Mercury, Steve Marriott, Lou Gramm, Roger Daltrey, Patti Smith, Eric Burdon, Pat Benatar, Ann Wilson, Tina Turner are some of my favorite rock singers.

        I’ve never heard Rodgers sing with Queen. I just wasn’t interested in hearing anybody else do Queen songs…but I’ll give it a whirl. 😊

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      4. Of course I agree totally about Lennon. Yea you listed some of the best singers period.
        I was appalled when I first heard he was doing it…but when he pulled it off in his own way I was impressed. That is not an easy gig. He didn’t try to copy because that is not his style of singing. I would rather have Mercury of course but Rodgers pulled it off. The singer they have now sounds a lot like Mercury and fits better within their structure….but the Rodgers experiment was it’s own thing.

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      5. So I listened to Queen + Paul Rodgers and yeah…I was impressed. He did a great job of honoring the integrity of Freddie and Queen and matching that with the integrity of his own vocal quality. That’s a very hard thing to do.

        I think of all the bands who’ve gone through upheaval without their lead singer. Journey comes to mind. I’m a big fan. (I suspect your not because I’ve never seen them profiled by you…but that cool. Lol!) I love Steve Perry as a vocalist (forgot to put him on my list earlier, but he’s way up there.) He’s like Freddie Mercury–he can’t be replaced. I didn’t like the singer they chose after Perry left–and the one they have right now is a copy of Perry, but, of course, he’s not Perry.

        Same thing with Queen. Adam Lambert is theatrical like Freddie, has a solid vibrato but doesn’t have his operatic power.

        Who does?

        Same thing with Judas Priest and Rob Halford.(Forgot to put him on my list too.) They tried other singers before they just went with a copy vocalist.

        So yeah….Paul Rodgers is a rare cat. I like him more now that I listened to him with Queen.

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      6. I’m glad you enjoyed Rodgers in that. I thought he did a good job in that without becoming a tribute band…it was it’s own thing.

        No I do like Journey! BUT it is with a catch…a huge catch…I have featured around 3 songs by them but none of them have Jonathan Cain…I loved Gregg Rolie with his keyboard playing and singing as well with Perry. When Cain joined the band my interest completely dropped. In other words give me Wheel in the Sky, Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezing, The Same Way, Lights, Any Way You Want It, and those…and I really like those… but the minute Cain joined they switched to an 80s pop band and lost their edge…just to me! I know I’m in the minority. In other words from Escape on I stopped listening….yes I know Escape was their big album.

        Yea Adam is very much like Freddie so it works well with what they do.

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      7. Okay. So this is my last response…Lol!
        My husband feels the same way as you do about Journey. He doesn’t like the Jonathan Cain era. Me…I just love Journey. And yes, Escape is my favorite Journey album, but after it, I didn’t love or even really like another album until Trial by Fire came out.

        Well, I won’t bug you anymore. Enjoyed it.😊

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      8. Pam…you respond as much as you want!
        Ah…tell him thank you! I’m glad I’m not the only one. I found out that Cain used a more 80s synth and Rolie played a super cool Hammond B-3….that totally changed their sound. It would have been like Jon Lord of Deep Purple started to play a Casio…ok I’m being joking but you get what I’m saying. Plus Cain had a hand in writing those ballads…Ok…one exception! The one song on Escape I like…and I swear it sounds like a leftover from Rolie’s period…is Stone In
        Love.
        But hey…I get it…they were catchy I will admit that. You never bug me! I’m glad to get that out…it does the soul good.

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  11. I don’t seek them out, but I don’t mind listening to them if they come on, since I never really OD’d on their music.”Rock And Roll Fantasy” is the biggest culprit in overplaying in my opinion. Rogers had/has one of the greatest voices for Rock. I will never turn off “All Right Now” no matter how many times I’ve heard it.

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    1. Yes and Shooting Star…and Feel Like… He does have a great voice…a generational voice to me….up there with Steve Marriott.

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  12. BC haven’t been pounded into the ground over here. Good crowd pleasing songs, straight to the point.

    Ah, the romance of being a touring band. It ain’t all turfing TVs out through he window and driving your Hertz into the pool I guess.

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      2. Next time I have to write up on great debut albums…I will include this one. The two I think of is The Cars and Jimi Hendrix’s debut album…I need to include this next time. Yes it does!

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      4. Oh yea…I can see that! I know that album well. My favorite Van Halen song is on there…Ice Cream Man…yea make fun of me lol…but I love when they kick in

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  15. Great song! I like Bad Company overall but only know a handful of their songs.

    I saw Paul Rodgers once in August 2018 as part of a tour awkwardly titled “Stars Align Tour” where he shared the bill with Jeff Beck and Ann Wilson. Fortunately, the show was much better than its title! Rodgers’ set included a mix of Free and Bad Company songs. He sounded great!

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    1. Oh cool! I’m glad you got to see him. He has a one of a kind voice. I saw Bad Company in the 90s I believe…but he wasn’t with them. It was when they had their other singer and had a hit called Holy Water I believe.
      I only know mostly their hits.

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  16. I really like some of their songs but I really don’t think they registered with me until “Feel Like Makin’ Love” , I guess it was their big AM hit. But it’s not that I didn’t listen to a fair bit of FM radio. Some talented guys in that band. Love “Movin’ On”.

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    1. Biggest problem with them really wasn’t with them. It was radio playing the hell out of them. I agree with you though a lot of talented guys in there.

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  17. Pingback: Bad Company – Movin On – Chris Friday

    1. Since I’ve stayed away from the radio quite a bit in the past few years…I’m starting to listen to them again. They were so worn out here but now it sounds fresh.

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