Leave it to the hit show “Breaking Bad” to resurrect a 1972 song by the British rock band Badfinger.

The final episode of the AMC drug trade drama, which drew more than 10 million viewers Sunday night, closed out with the band’s 41-year-old single “Baby Blue,” used in cunning reference to Walter White’s signature blue-hued crystal meth.

Proving the influence of the series, that placement boosted sales of the tune, which is currently the ninth-most-selling song on Amazon.com’s MP3 chart. Streams on the online music service Spotify jumped 9000% after the finale aired.

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The song begins with the lyrics, “Guess I got what I deserved / Kept you waiting there too long, my love. / All that time without a word / Didn’t know you’d think that I’d forget / Or I’d regret the special love I have for you / My Baby Blue.”

Badfinger singer Pete Ham wrote the song about Dixie Armstrong, an American woman he dated. It was a Billboard Top 20 hit from the band’s album “Straight Up,” originally released on the Beatles’ Apple label. It appeared in the 2006 Oscar-winning Martin Scorsese film “The Departed.”

“Breaking Bad” has given it new life. According to Billboard, sales increased 30-fold for the week ended Sunday and is poised to reenter the publication’s singles chart.

The band recorded another album for Apple, called “Ass,” in 1973. The band continued to record, but faced major financial struggles. Ham hanged himself in 1975.


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ryan.faughnder@latimes.com



