Isn't It Time

Meeting The Babys

By 1977, I was a full-blown music junkie, who had already learned that meeting the objects of my affection was incredibly easy, at least when you were as lucky as I was to live in L.A. I watched the music shows religiously, Midnight Special, Don Kirshner’s, and my favorite, American Bandstand. I was always falling in love with bands on American Bandstand.

In March of 1977, The Babys debuted on American Bandstand with “If You’ve Got the Time.” They hit all of my adolescent kinks. Ridiculously pretty dark-haired, blue-eyed keyboard player? Check. Red-haired, Bowie-esque lead singer with silken vocals with just a touch of roughness around the edges? Check. Killer songs? Check. Sign me up for the fan club baby. 

But it’s when their second album, Broken Heart, came out in late ‘77 that my obsession peaked. I saw them at the Santa Monica Civic in November with Piper–featuring a pre-solo career Billy Squier–opening. 

The band appeared on American Bandstand for a second time in December 1977, introducing their new single,“Isn’t It Time.” “Isn’t It Time” featured a hauntingly lovely piano intro played by the equally lovely Michael Corby. By April of 1978, it had hit #13 on the US Hot 100, and they were getting ready to embark on an American tour. But first, they played two industry shows in February 1978 at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in West Hollywood.

My friends and I managed to snag tickets to both shows, and make it to the front of the stage, swooning over the band, and for me, Michael Corby in particular. Curly black hair, big blue eyes, scarves and silk and velvet. Everything I was looking for at the moment, all wrapped up with a British accent. I was in love, well, no, I was in lust, and I was determined to meet him. For the second night at the Whisky, I brought him a dozen red roses, and handed them to him on stage. He sought me out after the show, thanking me profusely for the flowers. I was giddy.

Not long after, I learned that The Babys were going to be doing an in-store album signing at Licorice Pizza on Sunset. I was thrilled to get a chance to see them again, and actually talk to all of them. I really didn’t care too much about autographs, then or now, it was more the experience I was after.

When the day came I went down with a friend and it was only the three of them, John, Wally, and Tony, but no Michael. I was terribly disappointed, but made due with the other three. And I did find John terribly attractive too, so it certainly wasn’t a loss. 

Incredibly, almost no one else showed up. I have no idea how PR managed to screw that up so royally, but I wasn’t complaining because my friend and I got to spend most of the autograph party chatting and hanging out, and the band was desperate for us not to leave, because if we did, then no one would be there. “Save us from the humiliation of having no fans”, they asked, and we were happy to oblige. By the end of the session we were old friends and John had given me his address and asked me to come round and visit him. 

Never one to sit on an invitation, the next day, my friend and I went round to the Kings Road address John had given me. No one answered when I rang the buzzer, and unsurprisingly, there were no recognizable names on the directory. Instead of being reasonable and accepting he wasn’t home, I pushed some random buttons until we were buzzed in. But I had no idea where to go once we were inside. It was a huge complex, so we just wandered around, hoping to run into John or someone who would tell us where to go. 

And then, pure magic happened. I heard some lilting piano music off in the distance and as I headed in the direction of the sound, I realized what I was hearing. “Isn’t it Time.” Someone was playing the keyboard part. We followed the music to a door and knocked.

Michael Corby answered. In his bathrobe. And invited us inside.

His wife was pregnant and he was home, taking care of her. I was disappointed to learn he was taken, but it was such a lovely, surreal experience. He made us tea, and we sat down and chatted at his kitchen table. He kept saying he was glad John hadn’t seen us, as he would get very angry if he saw fans there, and I kept trying to explain that John was the one who invited us to come by. When we were saying good-bye, he told us that they were leaving for tour the next day, and asked if we would like to come down to LAX to see them off. Of course we would! So armed with their flight information, we left.

The next day was a reunion of sorts. John, Tony, and Wally were excited to see us again after Licorice Pizza, and Michael was thrilled we came. Michael kept apart from the others, you could sense the tension and already see that the band was beginning to splinter, but we had a delightful time hanging out with them. I took a bunch of photos (sadly gone now) and got all of their autographs in my silly little autograph book. When it was time to board the plane, Tony handed me his cigarette, and told me to hold it for him. I still have that cigarette butt in my scrapbook.

Michael was fired from the band after that tour. The drama is online if you know where to look. It left him devastated. I continued going to see the new version of The Babys, until they broke up  in 1981. After that, I followed John’s solo career, and went to see Wally and Tony when they played with Rod Stewart.

Michael disappeared for a long time. When he finally reappeared on Facebook, we talked a bit, and he even sent me a package of goodies (also gone now). In 2003, he told me he was coming to Los Angeles, and would love to meet up with some old fans. We had a lovely dinner with him and he swore he remembered me, and said some unbelievably nice things to me. 

Every time I hear the opening bars of “Isn’t it Time” I remember the magic.