In May of 1997, Birthday was released. It received glowing critical praise in Billboard Magazine, and reaffirmed nationally Ralph stature as a singer-songwriter. Ralph had written a play, Sawdust and Spangles, with his friend G. Riley Mills, an accomplished local actor from the theater troup the Dog Boys. The play was produced in Chicago, opening the same week-end as the release of Birthday, and was awarded the 1998 Joseph Jefferson Award (the Chicago equivalent of the Tony Awards) for Best New Work.

In 1997 and 1998 The Bad Examples worked on some demos and recorded some live shows. The band was still very successful in the clubs, but was focusing on the Chicago area. Ron Barnes replaced Richardson on drums, and Rob Newhouse replaced Tommy O'Brien on lead guitar.

The Two Meter Sessions, a CD which had been recorded live acoustic during the band's first European tour in 1992, was released in February 1998, following John Duich's tragic loss to a heart attack.

Click on any chapter heading below for a chronological history!