Mike Gibbins

Mike Gibbins spent a decade, from 1965 through 1975, as the drummer for the Iveys and their better-known successor group, Badfinger -- that alone made him one of the more visible musicians to emerge from what might be called the British Invasion's "third wave," out of the orbit of the Beatles' Apple Records. He was one of two members of the group left behind following a pair of tragic suicides, and he led reorganized versions of "Badfinger" into the 1980s and beyond, often in competition with fellow surviving member Joey Molland. Born Michael George Gibbins in Swansea, Wales, in 1949, he grew up in a crowded household that included six older sisters -- he later claimed he took up drumming just so he could be heard. Actually, he was a natural drummer, responding to rhythms and generating them on anything that came into his hands, enough so that his father got him his first drum kit when Mike was 14. He passed through various local groups, including the Planets, the Club Four, and the Misfits, over the next few years. In the late winter of 1965, when Gibbins was 16, an opportunity arose for him to move up to one of the more promising of the local bands on the Swansea music scene. The Iveys were a quartet led by guitarist/singer Pete Ham, and were starting to build a reputation around Swansea and get more and better gigs -- but their drummer, Terry Gleeson, had taken a new job in early 1965 that interfered with his availability. As a result, the group was in the market for a new drummer, and Iveys bassist Ron Griffiths met with Gibbins and invited him to audition. He passed, and joined at age 16. His youth notwithstanding, Gibbins was a strong drummer who gave the band a much more muscular sound; his style was similar to that of Ringo Starr of the Beatles, direct and...