Ah the power of the internet, it never seizes to amaze. The latest little marvel the information super highway has doled out this time is the newfound success of Brit psych-rockers Badfinger, whose 1972 single 'Baby Blue' is now arguably the hottest song on the web still, after it was used as the closing song on the series finale of Breaking Bad on Sunday, 29 September.

The single, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, was thrust into the iTunes top 20 for the first time ever, and saw it's streaming numbers - on Spotify and YouTube - go up dramatically, by 9000% in the space of a few hours after the East Coast airing of the show on AMC. This success has failed to peter away, and the song is still being downloaded and streamed at a rate never-before seen. Industry experts claim that the song enjoyed a 3,000% increase in sales in just one day, between 29 and 30 September, an amount that would reintroduce it into the chart on it's own. With it's continued success, the track is likely to be in the top 20 of the Billboard singles chart by the end of the week, if not higher.

That would give the song a gap of over 40 years since it was last in the top 20 of the chart, with the single reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was initially released in April 1972. The track was one of six hits from the band that managed to break the American top 20, appearing on the band's third album, Straight Up, which was released via The Beatles' record label, Apple.

The official figures will be released by Nielsen later today (2 Oct.) and it is unlikely the band will undergo another surge in popularity again. That is unless 'Without You' is played during the finale of Mad Men, perhaps.

Joey Molland
Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland probably can't wait to cash his next royalties cheque