The 1980s brainchild of students Jeff Feltenberger (vocals/strings), Ron Simasek (drums) and Terry Selders (saxophone), Pennsylvania roots rockers The Badlees were known by various names including The Leaky Sneakers, Secret Service and Bad Lee White before formally adopting their fans’ affectionate nickname for them, The Badlees, in the early nineties. Amidst a period in which the Selinsgrove-based group underwent various lineup changes, they teamed up with producer Bill Grabowski for a debut EP entitled What Goes Around, which was released in 1988 via the short-lived A Street Records. Shortly thereafter, they invited singer Pete Palladino of local band Anthem to become their new frontman, and by 1990, they had released another EP, It Ain’t For You, with engineer Bret Alexander doubling up as their in-house producer. Self-released via Selders’ label, Rite-Off Records, it bagged them Billboard’s coveted Critics’ Choice Award. A debut LP, Diamonds in the Coal, landed in 1992, with its single “Back Where We Come From” racking up local airplay and resulting in their SXSW debut. The group’s follow-up, 1993’s The Unfortunate Result of Spare Time, signalled a brief departure from roots rock; however, by the time their third album, River Songs, arrived in 1995, they had returned to their original sound. Soon shifting over 10,000 units, the independent LP found success in the form of the singles “Angeline is Coming Home” and “Fear of Falling”. It was subsequently reissued by Polydor, selling over 250,000 copies and landing its lead single a #67 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The label changed hands in 1998 in a drawn-out bureaucratic process, leaving the future of the group’s next album, Up There, Down Here, uncertain. Growing impatient, they self-released a different LP, Amazing Grace, in 1999, leading Universal to drop them. Up There eventually surfaced via Ark 21 the same year, and the group released a further three albums in the following two decades.
