Back To Back Hits: John Waite & The Babys join Eric Carmen & The Raspberries
Written: Aug 26 '03 (Updated Nov 08 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Seven Top 40 hits among 10 songs by The Raspberries and The Babys. Cheap price.
Cons: No CD booklet.
The Bottom Line: Pairing power pop heavyweights The Raspberries (Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson) and The Babys (John Waite, Jonathan Cain, Ricky Phillips) is a brilliant compilation idea.
Don_Krider's Full Review: Back To Back Hits * by The Raspberries/The Babys
EMI Music Special Products has released for 2003 an interesting compilation of two of the most exciting power pop bands of the 1970s, The Raspberries and The Babys.
Entitled "Back2Back Hits: The Raspberries & The Babys," the CD offers 10 wonderful tracks, five from each band. Included are all four Top 40 hits by The Raspberries (featuring lead singer Eric "All By Myself" Carmen) and all three Top 40 hits by The Babys (featuring lead singer John "Missing You" Waite).
Both bands made Top 40 radio enjoyable to listen to during their brief careers.
The album:
The 10 tracks are presented on a single CD. The sound quality is excellent.
There's a cover card with photos of both bands (one shot of each group) but no CD booklet (no songwriter credits, no band information, no production credits, no chart information and no song length information). Still, with a list price under $10 ($6.98 at Amazon.Com when I purchased this in August 2003) this is an exceptional value considering the quality of the music found here.
The tracks:
The Raspberries are represented by the Jimmy Ienner-produced tracks "Go All The Way" (which peaked at # 5 in Billboard magazine's charts in 1972 and earned a Gold Record Award for selling 1.3 million copies), "I Wanna Be With You" (# 16 in 1972-73), "Let's Pretend" (# 35 in 1973) and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" (the title is shortened on this release to just "Overnight Sensation" for some reason; the tune hit # 18 in 1974).
The fifth Raspberries' track is "I Saw The Light," which was never released as a single.
The Babys offerings are "If You've Got The Time" (# 88 in 1977), "Isn't It Time" (# 13 in 1977), "Everytime I Think Of You" (# 13 in 1978), "Head First" (# 77 in 1979) and "Back On My Feet Again" (# 33 in 1980).
The bands:
Raspberries:
The Raspberries' lineup underwent several changes over their 1970-75 lifespan, but the core members of the Cleveland foursome were Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti from 1971-73 (Smalley replaced the original bass player upon his return from Vietnam, where he had been wounded while an Army helicopter gunner).
Bryson, Smalley and Bonfanti had previously been in The Choir (originally known as The Mods) who were the most popular band in Cleveland (their Roulette single, "It's Cold Outside," may have peaked at # 68 nationally in 1967, but it was # 1 in Cleveland for seven weeks, going Top 10 on stations in Boston, New York and elsewhere as well). They were all of 17-years-old at the time the tune, with lead vocals by Smalley, scored.
Carmen had released singles on Epic Records with Cyrus Erie (with Bryson and future Raspberries drummer Michael McBride, they cut a wonderful single with "Sparrow"/"Get The Message") and The Quick (with future Raspberries' drummer Michael McBride) that failed to chart.
By 1970, with their 1960's bands now history, Carmen and Bonfanti got together and decided to form a group that Carmen later described as "more American than The Beatles and more British than The Beach Boys" --- The Raspberries. Adding Bryson (after forcing him to cut his hair twice to fit the "image") in 1970 and Smalley in 1971 completed the original recording lineup of the group.
Wearing matching clothing and suits on stage, with short, carefully-styled hair, was how the group intended to shock audiences used to long jam sessions and scuzzy-looking rockers.
The band scored six Hot 100 hits in 1972-73 before Smalley and Bonfanti exited the group in a dispute with Carmen. Brought in as replacements were McBride (Carmen and Bryson's bandmate from Cyrus Erie) and a left-handed bassist named Scott McCarl (who had recorded with Yellow Hair and been a roadie for the female rock group Vixen).
This final recording lineup scored a seventh Hot 100 hit for the band and their album, "Starting Over," was named Album Of The Year by Rolling Stone magazine --- when that fourth and final album sold poorly, the group split.
The band's members have continued recording over the years: Carmen scoring eight Top 40 singles (including "Hungry Eyes" and "Make Me Lose Control" in 1988); Bryson as a member of Tattoo, Fotomaker (including two Hot 100 hits with "Where Have You Been All My LIfe" and "Miles Away") and Sittin' Ducks; Smalley as a solo artist, including his just released "Internal Monlogue" CD; Bonfanti as a member of Boxer (they have a CD due shortly); McCarl as a solo act with his "Play On" CD and with The Drysdales on their self-titled CD; and McBride with Don Kriss & The Vettes (McBride has retired from the business, however).
In its February 2000 issue, Britain's MOJO magazine named The Raspberries one of its "100 Essential Cult Heroes."
I actually saw the original recording lineup perform in Louisville in November, 1973, and still have the radio advertising for the show on tape (WAKY-AM radio deejays announcing "The Raspberries want your body..."). They were a wonderful live band.
The Babys:
Often compared to The Raspberries, The Babys came from the other side of the ocean and arrived in the U. S. a couple of years after The Raspberries ceased to exist as a group.
Babys' lead singer John Waite was asked on the radio series "Rockline" whether he knew of The Raspberries, and he said that he had briefly lived in Cleveland.
While there, he had seen The Raspberries play live at The Agora, a Cleveland club, and thought "they were a good band," but added that he didn't understand why people thought The Raspberries had influenced The Babys' music (the entire interview is at http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/davis/846/Doreenstranscript.htm).
Like The Raspberries, The Babys went through a number of personnel changes after forming in 1976.
Over the years, The Babys' lineup included lead guitarist Wally Stocker (later of Air Supply), Jonathan Cain (later of Journey and composer of several Journey hits) and bassist Ricky Phillips.
Waite, Cain and Phillips later joined Journey guitarist Neil Schon in Bad English ("When I See You Smile") for a pair of albums before Cain and Schon rejoined Journey.
Cain has written songs recorded by, among others, Heart, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, Greg Allman and Peter Frampton.
Waite's eventual solo career included the monster hit "Missing You," which hit # 1 in 1984 (later covered by both Tina Turner and Brooks & Dunn).
Phillips is an amazing bass player whose work since The Babys has been steady, to say the least (performing with Jimmy Page, Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger, David Coverdale, Joe Cocker, Jeff Beck and many others over the years).
Between 1977 and 1981, when poor sales caused The Babys to leave the cradle, the band scored eight Hot 100 Billboard hits, but no million-sellers and no Top 10 entries. Still, their television performances were exciting on shows like "The Midnight Special" and "The Mike Douglas Show" (two shows that also showcased The Raspberries years earlier).
It has been a regret of mine not to have seen The Babys perform live other than on TV.
The best tracks:
"Go All The Way," Raspberries:
With its stunning intro by lead guitarist Wally Bryson, the Carmen-penned tune is the epitomy of what power pop music is about: driving, melodic rock 'n' roll with soaring, sweet harmonies that grab you and won't let you go. No wonder more than a million people bought the single (Keith Moon of The Who loved The Raspberries so much that he later joined them on stage, behind the drums, for a 1974 Los Angeles performance).
Carmen brilliantly turned the usual "guy tries to get girl to give in" theme around, with the girl begging the reluctant guy to "go all the way" with her in the song's lyrics:
"I never knew how complete love could be / 'til she kissed me and said / 'baby, please, go all the way'..."
Spin magazine named "Go All The Way" one of its "100 Greatest Singles Of All-Time."
"I Wanna Be With You," Raspberries:
The tune that hooked me on The Raspberries was "I Wanna Be With You," with its opening drum roll, Bryson's ringing guitar sounds, Carmen's sweet vocal and the band's beautiful backup harmonies perfectly nailing the mid-'60s pop radio sounds. Carmen's teen-lust lyrics were just fine with me as I was 15 going on 16:
"If we were older / we wouldn't have to be worried tonight / baby, oh, I wanna be with you, so bad (yeah, I want to be with you)..."
"Let's Pretend," Raspberries:
Carmen can pen some pretty tunes and "Let's Pretend" is a standout ballad. The band's third Top 40 single in less than a year, it also pegged them as "teen idols," the kiss of death for a rock band.
Listen to the Carmen's pleading lead vocal as he sings (I've always considered this tune to be the musical cousin of The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in its wonderfully uplifting spirit):
"...baby, let's pretend that tonight could live forever / if we close our eyes and believe it might come true / baby, let's pretend we could always be together / but for now just let me spend the night with you..."
"Overnight Sensation," Raspberries:
Chosen by Rolling Stone magazine as the Best Single Of 1974 and one of its 100 Greatest Singles Of The Rock Era in 1989, "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" is nothing short of amazing. As The Raspberries seventh and final Hot 100 hit in two years, the tune was their third Top 20 single.
With a Left Banke-ish piano intro and built in the style of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations," the tune features the maniac drumming of McBride and some sensual lead guitar work by Bryson, all layered around multi-part harmonies (the band singing "wanna hit record, yeah" while a voice pleads "number one" and a bass vocal says "big hit record" over and over again).
Carmen's vocal is to die for: sweet, innocent, yearning, pleading and yet confident at the same time. His lyrics captured the music business for people in the know, with lines about "A slots," "bullets," "program directors" and "demos."
It would also be cool to believe, and I'd like to, that Carmen means it when he sings:
"Well, I know it sounds funny / but I'm not in it for the money, no / I don't need no reputation / and I'm not in it for the show / I just wanna hit record / wanna hear it on the radio / wanna a big hit record / one that everybodys got to know..."
"Isn't It Time," Babys:
John Waite's lead vocal on The Babys' Top 20 hit is sweet at first, sung over some lovely piano and lush orchestration. Then the band kicks in and the tune goes uptempo with throbbing bass, pounding drums and horns dominating the mix, with female vocalists backing Waite for added effect and contrast:
"Falling in love was the last thing I had on my mind / holding you is a warmth that I thought I could never find / ... / I just can't find the answers to the questions that keep going through my mind / hey babe, isn't it time..."
"Everytime I Think Of You," Babys:
Again opening with a sweet piano melody and lush orchestration, "Everytime I Think Of You" is gorgeous when it turns uptempo on the chorus, again with female backup vocalists adding impact to the sound as they underscore the lyrics sung by Waite (listen, too, for the gorgeous lead guitar solo midway through the tune):
"Everytime I think of you / it always turns out good / everytime I've held you / I thought you understood / people say a love like ours will surely pass / but I know a love like ours / will last and last..."
"Back On My Feet Again," Babys:
Kind of Foreigner meets Free, "Back On My Feet Again" was The Babys final Top 40 hit in 1980, with Jonathan Cain's keyboards driving the chorus as the band rocks out on this tune about a guy who was "down for the count":
"...drownin' my sorrows / avoiding tomorrows / kind of felt that I just had enough / and here I am / I'm back on my feet again..."
"If You've Got The Time," Babys:
I was 20 when I heard this minor AM radio hit in 1977 and Phonograph Record Magazine had raved about The Babys being a cross between The Raspberries and Free, which is more than enough to sell me a record.
This was my unfulfilled lament in college, I admit, an uplifting tune for a guy who wanted to be uplifted, it's a driving rocker with slashing, ringing power chording, throbbing bass and a well-beaten drum kit, complete with harmonies a plenty on the dirty little chorus:
"If I say I love ya / and lay it on the line, yeah / could you say you need me / and put your hands in mine / oh I got love that grows / oh I got love that shows / I got the love / if you've got the time..."
The song fairly sizzles and the lead guitar work is fantastic.
Recommendation:
All 10 tunes (The Raspberries' "I Saw The Light" is a beautiful piano ballad written by Carmen and Bryson, while The Babys' "Head First" is a gutsy rocker whose title is self-explanatory) are enough to wake the power pop faithful from premature graves.
The album's music should appeal to fans of The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Badfinger, British guitar pop and glam rock.
Just released:
Live On Sunset Strip (Deluxe Edition of 2 CDs and a DVD recorded during the 2005 reunion tour) By Raspberries, a 2007 Rykodisc release with liner notes byBruce Springsteen and a photo of John Lennon in a Raspberries sweatshirt in the CD booklet, produced by Mark Linett and Eric Carmen: http://www.epinions.com/content_393207123588
On the web:
Official Eric Carmen (Raspberries) site: http://www.ericcarmen.com
Official Raspberries site: http://www.raspberries.net (now run by guitarist Wally Bryson and his wife Kay)
Official Dave Smalley (Raspberries) website, which features info on his just released solo album, "Internal Monologue": http://www.davesmalley.com
Official John Waite (Babys) site: http://www.johnwaiteonline.com
Official Jonathan Cain (Babys) site: http://www.jonathancain.com
Official Ricky Phillips (Babys) site: http://www.rickyphillips.com
Official Journey site: http://www.journeymusic.com
Reviews of mine related to this subject:
Capitol/EMI's 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
The self-titled debut CD by The Drysdales features Scott McCarl singing lead on "Lost In Your Smile" and playing on the album's other tracks: http://www.epinions.com/content_23024340612
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