THE BABYS - Broken Heart - (Chrysalis) - 1977, comment, review, John Waite.

I only knew The Babys from the single "Isn't it Time" which is still a magnificent piece of AOR pop released on the cusp of punk and new wave.

The Babys, critically, are usually referred to as one of the the great white hopes of the 70s to fend off the new wave invasion … their pop rock is BIG … dinosaur big … with smooth horns, strings, backing vocals, meaningful lyrics, overwrought emotion. They were part of a larger group of AOR pop rock stalwarts like REO Speedwagon, Loverboy, Boston, Journey, Foreigner, Heart, etc etc.

The only distinguishing features are they are (surprisingly) English whereas the rest the aforementioned are American or Canadian, their powerpop influences were more obvious, and they had some new wave image trappings – despite the hairstyles.

allmusic, "The Babys generated extensive hype upon formation in 1976 as one of mainstream pop/rock's brightest hopes for the future. While competent, their music never broke away from its Raspberries-meets-AOR style and developed its own distinctive sound. The group consisted of vocalist/bassist John Waite, guitarist Wally Stocker, former Spontaneous Combustion and Strider drummer Tony Brock, and keyboardist/guitarist Mike Corby, who was replaced by Jonathan Cain in 1978; bassist Ricky Phillips also joined later on. Overshadowed by the punk and new wave movement in their native U.K., the band concentrated on the American market and did score two Top 20 singles with "Isn't It Time" and "Every Time I Think of You." By 1981, the Babys' future didn't look so bright anymore and the group disbanded, with Stocker joining Air Supply's road band. Waite went solo and finally broke through on the charts in 1984 with the number one smash "Missing You," while Cain joined Journey; the two later reunited in the AOR supergroup Bad English".

The whole sound, despite some good tunes (doesn't every genre have it's fair share of good tunes?), reeks of slick big label production. The music is as airbrushed as the the record sleeve. It does not offend (well if doesn't offend me) and it is singable. Should music be more? Some would argue yes but a bunch of pissed secretaries on a Friday night looking to throw their legs up in the air in a V probably wouldn't. I think there is room for this (the music that is ..err well maybe …).

More importantly, the music is quite catchy.

Reference is usually made to The Raspberries when referring to the The Babys and though I can see that I can also hear a lot of Nils Lofgren's band Grin (the better band by a country mile) who play pop rock songs with grit. But The Babys, like a lot of their ilk, have diluted that sound and taken away the rough edges, and any impulse to "rock out" is a controlled one. They are also however that much more pop-ier and sweeter than their genre partners. English bands have always had a tendency to popi-fy music with a emphasis on the saccharine side of pop. Put any American band up against any English band in any genre (punk, garage, R&B, hard rock, traditional, soul, rock n roll) and with a few exceptions the rule is usually proved. Is this a bad thing – no. Though to make a tune simplistically popp-y is the easy way out and it's a slippery slope from there.

The emphasis here is on melody and pop hooks without any asides, quirkiness or dirt. Is this bad? Maybe not but a little of this music goes a long way.

But despite my reservations the album is quite catchy.

If the Beatles had lasted into the 70s and McCartney ran the show to the exclusion of the others I suspect they would have sounded like this. Well for a little while at least.

Image wise The Babys had a little new wave sheen to their act mainly because of Waite's Ziggy Stardust like look, if not music. But they were too conventional to be adopted by the new wave even though there were many new wave acts that did look back to McCartney and the Beatles for inspiration.

The reality is the new wave changed everything but AOR pop rock bands never lost their dominance and the mainstream 80s were dominated by bands who had picked up this sound or had incorporated the blandest of new wave stylings into their sound and had hits. As I have said before the 80s, thus far, were probably the worst decade for mainstream music. In any event the era proved that when music went to the masses the masses flocked to the middle like lemmings and then waited like Pavlov's dog.

But then again … the Babys do have some good songs, and, err, they are quite catchy.

Tracks (best in italics)

Wrong or Right – very Grin like – maybe it's the tone and pitch of Waites voice that sounds like Nils Lofgren to me.
Give Me Your Love – hmmm very Grin like again … voice and music … but a lot slicker.
Isn't It Time – a great tune … and in mood a little bit like "McCartney's "Live and Let Die" … superb pop with a great tinkly piano, backing vocals and horns … probably the Baby's finest moment. I even have the 45.
And If You Could See Me Fly – a power ballad and not bad at that.
The Golden Mile – feels like a 20 minute mile … though there are some Paul McCartney like symphonic excess.
Broken Heart – hmmm … a little like Pat Benetar doing power pop.
I'm Falling – another power ballad.
Rescue Me – slow, guitar crunching ballad …eaghh.
Silver Dreams – the gentle ballad.
A Piece of the Action – overly dramatic, portentous and silly power ballad. But I like it.

            If you take me there
            You can claim your share
            Of the action
            Oh, for a piece of the action
            Oh, for a slice of the cake
            Oh, for a piece of the action
            Oh, for a slice of the cake
            For a slice of the cake
            Oh, oh, oh………………….

And …

I wasn't sure if I would like this album … but it's hard to dislike … have I mentioned it's quite catchy … there are a couple of tracks I'll tape … fuck it I'll keep it … anyone know where I can get some secretaries?

Chart Action

US
Singles
Isn't It Time #13, 1977

Silver Dreams #53, 1978

Album
#34, 1977

England
Singles

Isn't It Time #45, 1978

Album
failed to chart

Sounds

Wrong or Right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNuWJ0bkb8&p=A1E6B1064EB4B6BA&playnext=1&index=9

Give Me Your Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxeq4DmIdk8&p=FB5D4D6A8BE42C60&playnext=1&index=16