Dan Matovina

Dan Matovina (10 October 1957 - 02 June 2023)) was an American record producer, recording engineer, video producer, publishing agent, author and curator who restored hundreds of hours of tapes by Beatles protegés, Badfinger and its precursor group, The Iveys, along with songwriting demos by Pete Ham and Tom Evans. His 1997 biography of the band, Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger, was considered one of the top rock biographies upon its release. Matovina was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Beginning in the early 1980s, his production and studio work included artists such as Pete Ham, Badfinger, New Edition, The Monkees, Manhattan Transfer, Frankie Valli, The Beach Boys, The Pandoras, Dean Ford, The Babys, James Lee Stanley, Primetime (band), The Long Ryders, 5 Guns West, Radio Cammon, Easter (band), The Rats, Derrick Anderson, Blood on the Saddle and Jigsaw Seen. His production work included Dean Ford, House of Freaks, Badfinger, Pete Ham, The Clints, Carman (singer) and On the Air (band). He worked for Bob Crewe (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) at his Los Angeles studio. In the early 1990s, Matovina began his research for his biography of The Beatles protegés and Apple Records artists, Badfinger. Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger (first published in 1997). A revised edition was made available in 2000 with a CD of rarities. In 2022, it is currently available on Kindle through Amazon. In 2023, two years after the initial symptoms were originally ignored by his doctor, Matovina succumbed to a metastasized cancer. His final weeks were spent completing two projects for release and arranging song placements for video productions. It was Matovina who negotiated the release of Ham and Evans' publishing rights from The Beatles' Apple Publishing, allowing a more aggressive promotion of the catalogue. Something that was considered a difficult task because of Apple's high prioritization of managing Beatles projects. Once accomplished, he compiled the song demo CD Badfinger: Perfection in cooperation with Bug Music. The disc featured remixes that surpassed the sonic quality of the reissues handled at the hands of EMI engineers. Matovina had working relationships with the estate of Pete Ham, along with both Tom Evans and Mike Gibbins prior to their deaths, Ron Griffiths (musician) and others who worked with the band. During this time as the publishing agent for the Pete Ham Estate, he coordinated placements of Badfinger songs in commercials, on television, in movies and, most famously, the final scene of Felina (Breaking Bad) | Breaking Bad (the Pete Ham-penned Baby Blue). Creator/producer Vince Gilligan had received a copy of the aforementioned Perfection CD. These placements and reissues generated considerable money for all of the individual popular lineup Badfinger members over the years after decades of minimal royalties. His restoration of pre-Badfinger recordings from The Iveys has also helped generate the first band-related income in decades for founding Badfinger member, bassist/vocalist, Ron Griffiths. Matovina also coordinated with VH-1 an episode of Behind the Music featuring Badfinger. He also spearheaded a Blue Plaque issuance to commemorate Pete Ham and, diplomatically, his various bandmates.

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