The Babys - Origin

Origin

Founding member Mike Corby places the origin of the idea for the band at Smalls Café on the Fulham Road in London in 1973, during a chance meeting with manager the late Adrian Millar. An agreement was signed between Corby and Millar on 4 September 1974, and auditions were held to fill out the remaining members.

In their search for a drummer Wait and Corby found Tony Brock who was playing with a group called Strider. Brock was having some financial difficulties with that group and decided to take a chance with this group instead. The last member to join the line-up was Walt Stocker.

In 1977 they purchased a 24 track mobile unit in which to record their music. They went to a ranch house in the Malibu mountains and put down the tracks in six weeks. The influences of the songs came about from their first year in Los Angeles and the culture shock of their relocation there.

The names "Cry Babys" and "Big Babys" were also proposed with Millar ultimately deciding on "The Babys."

In a 1979 Hit Parader magazine interview, Waite stated,

"The name was meant to be a joke. We took the name simply because the record companies wouldn't listen to any bands they thought were rock & roll. I mean, they wanted sure-fire teen bands, pre-teen bands. We couldn't get anybody down to hear us to get a record deal, so we called ourselves The Babys. We thought we'd keep the name just for two weeks. Then, the word got around in London that there was a band playing rock & roll called The Babys and it seemed so off the wall, so completely crazy, that it was worth taking a shot with. It really appealed to everyone's sense of humor."

Music videos were produced by Mike Mansfield for Supersonic, and Chrysalis Records signed the band in 1976.