“Baby Blue,” one Badfinger’s hit singles during the early 1970s, has been given a new life thanks to Breaking Bad. The track ended the saga of Walter White and, just like “Don’t Stop Believin’” after The Sopranos, the song has shot up the charts.
Billboard is reporting that the track jumped into the iTunes Top 25 and industry sources say that sales were up 3,000 percent. It sold almost 5,000 downloads on Sunday night alone, which is remarkable because Breaking Bad didn’t end until after 10 p.m. that night.
Nielsen SoundScan said that before Sunday night, the song had never sold over 1,000 downloads in a week before.
If you’ve never heard of Badfinger, you’re missing out on some great 1970s power pop tunes. The group was the second-best selling Apple Records act, following The Beatles, of course. Their hits include “Maybe Tomorrow,” “Day After Day,” “No Matter What,” “Come and Get It” and, of course, “Baby Blue.” The song and “Day After Day” were both featured on their best album, Straight Up. “Baby Blue” was a Top 20 hit when it was released in 1972, notes THR.
“Baby Blue” was used in the very last scene of the series. The show drew a record 10.3 million viewers.
Billboard said that its official stats will be out on Wednesday, but “Baby Blue” is likely to earn a spot on the Top Rock Songs chart. Streams of the song were up 9,000 percent on Spotify in the 11 hours after the show aired.
image: AMC