Today’s classic song of the day is “B-A-B-Y,” a moderate hit for both Carla Thomas and, a decade later, Rachel Sweet.
“B-A-B-Y” was written by the stellar Stax Records songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Ms. Thomas released her version, on the Stax label, in July of 1966; it went all the way to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
A dozen years later, in 1978, teen songstress Rachel Sweet recorded a cover of “B-A-B-Y” for her Fool Around album on Stiff Records. Ms. Sweet’s version applied a mix of old school Girl Group and newer (at the time) punk rock aesthetics to the song, which brought it a certain charm and energy. It wasn’t released as a single in the U.S. but it was in the UK, where it rose to #35 on the charts.
Carla Thomas was the Queen of Memphis Soul in the 1960s. She started singing with her siblings Marvell and Vaneese, and with her musician father, Rufus Thomas, when she was still in grade school. She became one of the founding stars of Stax Records, with hits like “Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes),” “Tramp” (with fellow Stax artist Otis Redding), and “Let Me Be Good to You.” Her career cooled off in the ’70s and she performed only occasionally after 1980. She got involved with the “Artists in School” program that provided access to famous artists to Memphis schoolchildren and was awarded the prestigious Pioneer .Award by the Rhythm & Blue Foundation. She’s still alive today, age 81.
Rachel Sweet was a teen singer from Akron, Ohio, who dropped out of high school to pursue her music career. Her first recorded performance was a commercial for a local talent show when she was just three years old; she began recording commercials when she was six. She toured with Mickey Rooney and opened for Bill Cosby before she entered her teens, recorded a country album in 1974, then switched to singing rock and signed with Stiff Records in 1978.
I know I was into Rachel Sweet at the time (I was then a junior in college) because I still have Fool Around in my collection. For the life of me I can’t remember how I got turned onto her, as she didn’t have any notable hits in the U.S. (It was probably a Steve Simels review in Stereo Review; his reviews turned me on to a lot of good but obscure stuff back then.) All I know is that Fool Around is a terrific collection of primarily covers with a modern Girl Group sheen and I still listen to it from time to time. Ms. Sweet was just 16 years old when she recorded it.
Rachel Sweet released a few more albums but didn’t really have any big hits. She quit recording in 1982 and returned to finish her education, getting a degree in French and English Literature from Columbia University in 1988. She also did a bit of acting in relatively obscure films, hosted a show on The Comedy Channel (the forerunner of Comedy Central), and appeared as George Costanza’s cousin in the “The Contest” episode of Seinfeld. She also recorded the theme song for Clarissa Explains It All, then turned to producing and writing for television, for series like Dharma & Greg, Hot in Cleveland, and 2 Broke Girls. That little girl singer is now 61 years old and has two girls of her own.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a pre-MTV music video of Rachel Sweet singing “B-A-B-Y.” For a kid, she had a presence.
