This week’s final classic early ’70s song of the day is “Oh Babe, What Would You Say?” by Hurricane Smith. This one-hit wonder was released in July of 1972 and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 on the Cash Box Top 100. It also hit #4 on the UK chart.
“Oh Babe, What Would You Say?” was written by Eileen Sylvia Smith, the wife of Norman Smith, otherwise known as Hurricane Smith. Norman, AKA Hurricane, made his bones as the engineer of all the Beatles’ early recordings, up to and including Rubber Soul. He also produced three of Pink Floyd’s first four albums, then embarked on his own career as a recording artist.
Beatle John Lennon, reflecting on Norman’s extremely calm demeanor in the recording booth, nicknamed him “Normal.” Mr. Smith flipped that around to create his stage name of Hurricane Smith. He had his first UK hit in 1971 with “Don’t Let It Die.” His biggest hit, and his only U.S. hit, came a year later with “Oh Babe, What Would You Say?”
Here’s what Mr. Smith remembered about the song:
“The melody was happy and simple. It was the producer in me that designed the lyric to recapture the era I grew up in. It’s almost a true story of my life. I would go to a ballroom, but I was so shy I couldn’t even ask someone to dance. I’d walk home imagining a romance when I’d never even reached first base. ‘Oh, Babe’ was about those fantasies.”
Mr. Smith released a few singles after “Oh Babe,” to no major impact, and left the music industry soon after to focus on his passion of breeding horses. (See the photo on “Oh Babe’s” single sleeve.) He passed away in 2008, aged 85.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Normal Norman Hurricane Smith performing “Oh Babe, What Would You Say?” live on the February 27, 1973, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, backed by Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra. This was when The Tonight Show was still a full 90 minutes; the other artists on the bill that night were Nancy Wilson, Buddy Hackett, and Marcel Marceau. (Here’s a link to the entire episode: The Tonight Show February 27 1973.) That’s entertainment!
