The Babys - Union Jacks

Union Jacks fell in between the trio of albums I had by the band back in the day. My buddy Andrew, who I'd jam with back in high school, introduced me to some cool bands, notably Harlequin because he made me learn the guitar parts (as a fifteen year old I thought I got pretty close) to "You are the Light" and then we were farting around one afternoon and he was playing the lead riff to "Head First" by a band called The Babys. I thought it was really cool. It was probably not long after I picked up the album, and then when they dropped I'd snag Union Jacks and the band's last album On the Edge that came out in the fall of 1980.

It's been a while since I've listened to The Babys and it's a bit weird listening now. Jonathan Cain would join Journey and John Waite would manage to carve out a pretty decent solo career. Then in the late '80s while Journey was in limbo, Jonathan Cain, John Waite and Ricky Phillips would team up with Neil Schon and enlist drummer Deen Castronovo (who would also go on to play with Journey) to form Bad English. The band would release two albums, the first going platinum and their second was released in '91 just in time for their style of hard rock to be out of fashion.

For an album released in 1980 it still sounds remarkably fresh, although there are a couple of little nods to the skinny tie era in Jonathan's keyboards, particularly on the somewhat throwaway track "Jesus, Are You There?"

The Babys were anchored by Wally Stocker, a guitar player who didn't play a lot of flashy solos or throw in a lot of unnecessary notes to show off. The guy was a monstrous presence with his riffs and rhythm meshing with the songs to tie them together. I'm not sleeping on his lead work, it was tasty and I'm surprised that after The Babys he more or less maintained a low profile.

The songs on Union Jacks are all pretty serviceable, with the lead track "Back on My Feet Again" being the best song on the album for me. The Babys are probably more well known as being the band whose members went on to do other stuff, but there are still people out there who remember them for what they were ... and what they were was pretty bloody good mate.

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