5 Bad Company Songs That Prove 1974 Was The Best Year Of Their Career

Bad Company is one of the most textbook examples of the classic rock genre. They mixed rock 'n' roll with blues in a way that's still relevant today. And though they've been rocking on and off for the past 50 years, 1974 was the best year of their career — we have the songs to prove it.

Now, 1974 wasn't necessarily the most profitable year of their career, but it is the year they released and became wildly successful off their debut album. We know what you're thinking, but it's not as simple as "this was their first album so it's obviously the most important to their career." Rather, their debut album held many of the most popular songs in their discography — the legendary ones and some of their best chart toppers.

Bad Company had an edge when they released the songs on this album. The band was a supergroup formed from frontman Paul Rodgers of the band Free, Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople, and Boz Burrell of King Crimson in 1973, with Simon Kirke of Free added shortly after. The songs they released were the quintessential hard rock of their era, but these five Bad Company tunes dropped on the aforementioned 1974 album and have been the cornerstone of their career.

The musical circles you run in today may very well determine which Bad Company songs you've been exposed to, but make no mistake — "Can't Get Enough" was the band's biggest hit and one of the most popular rock songs in 1974. The hit song was originally rejected by Mott the Hoople before Mick Ralphs brought it with him to Bad Company and turned it into the band's debut single. Many musicians would bargain with the devil to hit the charts with their first song release, but as far as we know, Bad Company never had to make such a deal.

Supernatural blood pacts or not, "Can't Get Enough" caught the attention of critics, gained massive radio play, and took No. 5 on the Billboard 100 and No. 1 on the now-defunct Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart. Honestly, this song was destined for greatness from the start. Mick Ralphs composed the guitar riffs with what would become his recognizable style, and Paul Rodgers sang the tune with some of the cleanest rock vocals of the era.

The original members of Bad Company weren't new to the game. They knew what they were doing, and this lead single shows it with expert clarity. They made "Can't Get Enough" one of the most important songs in the band's catalog — and the one that put Bad Company on the books.

Though not quite as enduring in popularity as the previous song on this list, "Movin' On" certainly moved on to the radio, then the stage, then Bad Company fans' playlists across generations. This song brings the energy as it expertly mixes bopping rock riffs with a bluesy soul groove and heavy drum arrangements.

"Movin' On" is a perfect example of arena rock at its finest. The song didn't start out widely popular when it dropped in 1974, but by January of 1975, it had gained enough momentum to see the lower Hot 100. By March, it hit the Top 20. Even without seeing the Top 10, it stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for more than three months.

Like in "Can't Get Enough," Mick Ralphs' songwriting shines once again in this single, and so does his guitar playing. He had the talent to make "Movin' On" more guitar focused, but chose to let the rhythm do its thing, giving space to the drums and vocals, and it was the right choice. Distortion barely touches the guitar track, so it rings cleanly in the background. It's almost shocking that this song didn't peak higher on the charts. And while "Movin' On" wasn't the band's top-played single, it certainly helped cement their popularity, and it impresses new audiences today.

In 1974, Bad Company released the song "Bad Company" on the album "Bad Company." This can get a little confusing in casual conversation, but people who don't listen to classic hard rock could likely name the song even if they don't know the album or the band.

This single wasn't quite as popular as other Bad Company tracks during the band's heyday, but it's probably their most covered song. Honestly, it wouldn't be easy to count the number of times artists have covered it. Five Finger Death Punch most famously released a heavy metal version with great success, but it's also been covered with gothic tones and in country-rock versions. The Five Finger Death Punch version peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Rock Airplay chart.

Oddly enough, Bad Company's version not only didn't hit the Billboard Hot 100, but it wasn't even released as a single. The album, however, saw massive success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 just months after its release. But the song's chart position isn't really what's important here. The sheer number of its covers has turned "Bad Company" into an important part of the band's legacy — not to mention their royalties. With each artist that makes the song their own, they bring Bad Company recognition to a new audience.

"Rock Steady" is another song that Bad Company never released as a single, so we can't track it by its chart success because, at the time it came out, Billboard only included singles in its Hot 100 (that changed in 1998). But it does have over 4.4 million plays on YouTube and nearly 12 million plays on Spotify. Given that this song came out over 50 years ago, almost 30 years before the first music streaming service came out, the actual number of listens is a multitude higher. So, we'll gladly consider this song another important 1974 addition to Bad Company's career.

This track has made it to some interesting places. The song was featured in the musical score of the documentary "Bleed For This" about former boxing title-holder Vinny Paz, the dramedy film "Bottle Shock," and the 2001 dark comedy retelling of "MacBeth" — featuring Christopher Walken — "Scotland, PA." It's also one of the available songs on the music learning platform Rocksmith+ and the inspiration behind the name of a major Bad Company tribute band named, you guessed it, Rock Steady.

More importantly, Dirty Honey covered "Rock Steady" on a tribute album to Bad Company. The California band is rapidly increasing in popularity and has gone down in history as the first band of the modern era to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart without a record contract. It's just further proof that this Bad Company track transcends eras.

With one of the slower grooves and ominous-sounding intros available in Bad Company songs, "Ready for Love" wasn't originally a Bad Company song at all. The band has had their songs covered numerous times, but this is the first one they covered themselves, and it became an important piece of Bad Company's discography. While "Ready for Love" is technically a cover, it's a gray area. Mick Ralphs originally wrote and recorded the song while he was still with Mott the Hoople, and then brought it over to Bad Company for their 1974 debut album. Now, when people think of "Ready for Love," it's not the Mott the Hoople version that comes to mind.

Even though this song was never released as a single, it still made it onto the radio and was regarded by music critics at the time as one of Bad Company's best songs. In today's world, "Ready for Love" hits "best of" lists in online publications and gets streamed by the millions. On Spotify alone, the song has over 30 million plays and ranks in the Top 10 most popular Bad Company songs on the platform.

Single or not, "Ready for Love" clearly contributed to Bad Company's self-titled album's success. It's the enduring success of that album and the songs on this list that show exactly why 1974 was the best year of Bad Company's career.