BABYS: Perfectly Healthy
HOW DID THE BABYS GET IN CONTACT WITH BOB?
Waite explains: "Chrysalis had invited Bob Ezrin to come to London to talk about producing an album for Procol Harum. But several members of Procol harum didn't agree and that was it. While in London, Ezrin, just for the sake of curiosity, decided to look and listen to The Babys. He saw a future for the band, especially for the US market, and our sound was varied, heavy but still melodious. Also the image of the group was right, so Bob offered us to produce our debut album." Despite Ezrin's effort, however, the album "The Babys" was a flop to commercial standards. Still, thanks to a major advertising campaign of Chrysalis America, the name of The Babys became quite well-known in the United States. Also, due to innumerable concerts in the USA, The Babys got a lot of loyal fans. Everything indicated that the second album of The Babys could well become their break-through in the USA.
IN BAD COMPANY?
Although Waite persistently denies it, the material on 'Broken Heart' seems adjusted to the American market. Compared to the material on the debut album 'The Babys,' the sound on 'Broken Heart' is completely different. The sound is less hard, more soulful, and due to the use of violins and wind instruments it sounds smoother. Also on the 2nd album, Waite (together with the other members) proves his skill as an excellent composer and singer, who seems to have listened a lot to Bad Company, The Free and Paul Rodgers. But this turns out to be a delicate subject.
Waite: "Do you know i get sick of those comparisons? Let me put it this way: Rodgers, both as a composer and a singer, was highly influenced by the blues. I also grew up on blues music. While I was young I listened to Elmore James and artists like that. When I sing, I try to sound as emotional and honest as I can. I approach music, even rock and roll, from the point of view of the blues. Just as Paul Rodgers does, indeed. Maybe that's why people always compare us."
Waite writes all the lyrics for The Babys. The lyrics are mostly about love and seem to be made up of cliches and as such, they don't provide much news for interesting conversations. Still, Waite seems to have developed enormously over the past two years, not only as a composer but also as a singer. He very much regrets that the first world-hit of The Babys (the incredible soulful 'Isn't It Time') wasn't written by him. Instead, Conrad and Kennedy wrote this song. Who are they? Waite: "Conrad and Kennedy are 2 composers from Los Angeles. The song was presented as a kind of Las Vegas nightclub song, but still, we saw something in it, it sounded very commercial. By means of changing the tempo and the melody we could make it a Babys song. In fact, due to this all, our own contribution to this song was quite substantial." Together with 'A Piece of The Action' (from Japp/Sanford) 'Isn't It Time' is the only composition not written by The Babys for the album 'Broken Heart. Ron Nevison produced the album (well-known for his work for the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Who). This album will have surprised early Babys fans.
Waite: "Our fans just have to get used to this sound. After our first album, everyone expected another hard rock album, only sounding better than the first one. However, we try to surprise our fans. If we didn't, they could get bored very quickly. Our music will always be different and progressive. Musically speaking, The Babys are not really mature yet. We will only be mature when we can afford ourselves to make a new album which will sound musically very much like the previous one. For the moment, we are not yet in that phase but we grow, musically, under oppression. I want to be a part of that process as it can teach me very much. One is never too old to learn, not even as a member of The Babys."
From: Dutch magazine "Musiekkrant Oor," 11th of January 1978.
Written by Harry van Nieuwenhoven.
Translated by Adri Steenland and Marian Lindhout
