Guilty pleasures.
The Pope and I have differing views on whether they exist or not. His argument, and it's a good one, is-- if you like it, then fuck it, you like it. There’s nothing to feel guilty about. Go ahead and scream it from the top of your neighbors 100 ft tall eucalyptus tree. It's yours, go claim it.
And you can’t really argue with that. But where I grew up and went to see shows, there was no way I’d dare walk down the meanstreets of East Oakland, passing the Hell's Angels on the corner of 66th Ave, in through the doors of the Oakland Coliseum for a Ted Nugent or Judas Priest concert wearing a Babys t-shirt. One of us, either I or the T-shirt would leave looking worse for wear. That's just a fact.
But times have changed, and I got so much music in my collection these days, of so many genres, tastes and sizes, that –yeah—I agree with Pope. If I like it, then fuck, I like it. And besides, at 6’2”, 240 lbs, I’m probably big and mean enough to kick the ass of anyone who tries to mess with my Babys t-shirt anyways. So there, I said it. I dig The Babys.
Prior to going solo and hitting it huge with his mega-hit “Missing You,” John Waite was the leader of this bunch of 70’s rockers who fused a glam edge to their mainstream, post-Raspberries MOR rock. Releasing a couple of big hits of their own, “Isn’t it Time,” and “Every time I Think of You,” not everything The Babys did worked. At times, they seemed like a band striving to find their own unique sound; and with a band that featured, Wally Stocker on lead guitar, Michael Corby on guitar/keys, Tony Brock on drums and Waite singing and playing bass, they seemed to just fall short of living up to their potential.
But when it came to finding that sound and potential, Broken Heart nailed it dead on.
Bringing in Ron Nevison to produce the album, just after his massive breakthrough with UFO’s Lights Out, was a stroke of genius. Broken Heart is a deceptively heavy combination of 70’s AM pop and FM muscle, and definitely the most satisfying listen in The Babys catalog. This is a big, symphonic stab of searing guitar rock and sugar-laden pop gems.
Starting off with orchestral arrangement of “Wrong or Right,” John Waite’s voice is in impeccable form. No matter where the guy took his music, no one can claim that Waite can’t sing, and here’s he’s inspired. Over a gently strummed acoustic guitar, strings rising and falling in the background, Waite sings, “when he takes you babe/oh when he loves you babe/my whole world comes apart/when he loves you babe” with dripping feeling. Nothing maudlin or whiny about it, this is the song of a man who’s heart and soul are torn apart by the loss of a woman. We've all been there, and Waite captures it dead on. Then, midway in, when the band kicks in, the song elevates to a powerful mid-tempo rocker with a great and steady groove. Guitars slash in amongst the strings, leading up to a true searing solo. Throughout the melody is captivating. A truly stunning album opener.
Then, lest you think you got the album pegged as AM radio fodder, “Give Me Your Love,” percolates out next all mean, dirty, and nasty. Nevison really spins the dials well here with a huge drum sound and a surprisingly heavy guitar tone. Sure the lyrics are sappy 70’s pap, but there’s nothing sappy about those end-verse spasms of Stocker’s guitar. Taking a tip Nevison must’ve picked up from working with Schenker on Light’s Out, Stocker totally surprises here. Bring on that big drum sound and this is a true heavy melodic rocker of the first order. “And If You Could See Me Fly,” is also totally huge in its sound; big and raucous and totally sleazy in guitar tone. Waite really breaks it down to gruff up a rock-and-roll vocal here and I don’t know what Tony Brock is pounding on but his drums sound like they’re being beaten by ogres. Another big-time rock guitar riff and some more inspired electricity coming from Stocker’s fingertips and this song is simply mean and nasty. Perhaps more nasty than you ever thought The Babys could be.
And in between these two slabs of AM metal, we get the sublime beauty of “Isn’t it Time.” Following a delicate piano intro, Waite again sounds pristine. Bring in the flurry of gospel-tinged female backing vocals, raise the whole affair in a fury of strings and drums to that knock-em out chorus and we’ve got one of the best “lost” songs of 70’s radio. Forget the band on this one; this is all Waite carrying the song, giving his most soulful performance through 4:03 of pop perfection.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected aspects of the album is the weight of it. If you were expecting that The Babys were simply bright AM fluff, you got another thing coming. Think back to UFO’s Lights Out and think about how that album felt like no other of the day. A certain melancholy and meatiness to it, a dark sobriety. That’s all here again. Whether on the fun-as-a-kick-in-the-ass pop rocker of the title track “Broken Heart,” the gentle orchestral strains leading to the crunch of the power ballad, “I’m Falling,” the street-wise grit rock of “Rescue Me,” or on their big UFO “Love to Love”-stab at epic rock “A Piece of the Action,” Broken Heart is an infinitely listenable album. Waite never lets up on those stellar vocals and while you may not think of The Babys as a guitar band, Wally Stocker has got the chops to prove you wrong.
Don’t go here expecting riff mad 70’s metal. What we got is much more refined than that, and certainly more pop friendly. But also don’t let the poppiness sway you, for on Broken Heart, The Babys show that in their heart and crotch they were truly a rock band, and a formidable one at that.
--Racer
Buy here: The Baby's/Broken Heart
Buy mp3: Broken Heart
Buy combined with the Babys first album: Babys / Broken Heart
