Fan Experiences - Colleen

My name is Colleen Williams-McGrane. I became a fan of The Babys in 1976 when a friend of mine from England introduced me to their music. I loved it! I met them for the first time in 1977 when they did an interview with Rodney Bingenheimer on radio station KROQ in L.A. They were ALL so cool! Especially Mike and John, who i fell for instantly.

My friends and I went to see them every chance we got. The Whiskey, The Country Club in Reseda, The Santa Monica Civic, Raincross Square in Riverside, Bakersfield Civic, Warners Theater in Fresno, the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara, and a few others. Most of which are covered in these photos!

1980 was a special year for me and my friends Linda(tizlin) Jenny and Amy. We knew where they were recording "ON THE EDGE" and decided we HAD to check it out. We were there as often as possible.(O.K. we were only 18 at the time!) Along with meeting the whole band, We made friends with their Roadies Jeff and Marc and were able to help out with things like going and picking up food and drinks. The Ultimate experience happened when ,towards the end of the mixing, Keith Olsen came out and said that John would lke to know if WE would like to come in and hear a bit of the new album and help out a bit. Like we would say NO! Anyway, we went in and listened to 2 different versions of "Turn and Walk Away" And they asked us which one we preferred. We actually chose the same as they did. We also listened to "Sweet 17" & "Postcard" It was AWESOME!

We must have seen them play a dozen times that year! The day we heard the band had broken up was a sad day for us all. One of the best bands in the world...GONE!

Ignition , No Brakes, and Rovers Return came out and they ROCKED! Missing You Was #1 on Billboard charts the last time I saw him play live at the Irvine Meadows Ampitheater with my friend Jill. We saw him afterwards and he came over with a big hug and a kiss for us both! We congratulated him on his success (which he was so non-chalant about ) . It always amazed me how unaffected he was by his popularity.

I got married in 1985, and John had kind of slipped my mind and my life periodically. Until October last year when I got a computer and was Re-introduced to JCW via The Net! My teens and twenties all come back to me now, each time I put on either a Babys or John Waite recording. I LOVE IT!

Thank you John for being there through all these years! Best Wishes for the future!

YOU ROCK!