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Monday, November 20, 2006
Player spawns a player
Listening to:Baby Come Back, of course
Reading:got a suggestion?
Weather:32, overcast
And all these years I thought it was Little River Band. The song "Baby Come Back" is one of my long list of 70's pop hit favorites. It's got all the characteristics of the archetypical 70's pop hit, too, shall we review? The main riff is a short simple double guitar, engineered with a lovely watery chorus effect. Think Bread, but shinier. The snare and highhat are tight, clean, and right up front in the mix. A very simple electric piano sound is in the mix, not quite Rhodes, also shiny and bell-like. Bassplayer keeping it uncluttered, sparse, very slightly funky edge, keeping it tight with the bass drum at all times. The lead is a soaring and satisfying electric rock ballad style, and the bridge is a perfect specimen, starts with a no-decay synth riff, and a major 7 chord built on the flat 7th scale degree, an excellent choice. And the meat of the arrangement is the smooth pleasant always-in-tune vocal, almost whispered at the beginning of each verse, then lettting loose with sumptuous 3 part at the haunting and desperate chorus. And of course the song is about a girl. The one you can't have. And the lyrics are strictly Velveeta (ie. "all day long wearing a mask of false bravado." Uh, that's redundant, yo.)

The overall flavor of the song is very reminiscent of LRB, of course, as well as many of my other 70's vocal pop faves, like Orleans, Ambrosia, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Poco. Perhaps the BeeGees on the right day. And the song bears an almost illegal resemblance to the Hall and Oates hit "She's Gone," but that's a whole 'nother Oprah. Soft rock, some might call it. Real ear candy for me, I can't get enough of it.

So now let's hop on the trivia bus and figure out who these guys were, and why I thought it was Little River Band. According to the Player Greatest Hits CD insert and a few sundry websites, Peter Beckett of the fertile town of Liverpool came over to the states and met Galveston-born JC Crowley at a party in LA in 1977. Story has it Beckett saw Crowley and figured he must be a musician, since he was the only other one in jeans where everyone else at the party was in the then-trendy all white outfit. They later jammed, formed a band, and quickly cranked out the tune in question, which would be their greatest hit by far. The band included John Friesden on drums, Wayne Cook on keys, and Ronn Moss on bass.

Here's where it gets a little weird. Band personnel come and go, that's not weird, but later Beckett went on to join Little River Band. Mystery solved there. But you'll never freakin guess where Ronn Moss ended up. Or maybe you have already guessed by recognizing on of the dudes in the picture. I wish I could draw out the suspense a little longer, but I know your eyes have already darted over to the second picture in this post, yes, you guessed it, it's Ridge Forrester from The Bold and the Beautiful! It's like Jack Wagner all over again!


permalink posted by cat 7:06 AM

read 2 comments

Comments:
Dear Cathy:

Is there a better lyric in all of
music than "I need a drink and a quick decision?" I think not.

Chuck
 
I agree, it's a killer lyric from a killer song.
 
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