KID'S STUFF

Well, I finally found a copy of this album after waiting for years to give it a chance. A friend got a remastereed CD version and I must say that Kid´s Stuff was not nearly as bad as I initially thought it would be based on the ratings this record got here at PA. By this time the band had lost the two last original members, singer Janita Haan and bassist Dave Hewitt. With Bernie Mardsen as their leader now they moved on recruiting Ellie Hope and Ray Knot their replacements. The results? Well, not really their best LP ever. But not really bad either. There are some good stuff, but generally the feelingof losing Haan was too much.

Hope has a good blues voice, but replacing an iconic and powerhouse singer like Haan was really beyond most mortal beings. Besides, the band seemed unsure on which way to go musically too (a problem that plagued Babe Ruth for far too long, and together with the constat line up changes, pratically destroyed their chances to made it big after their stunning debut a few years before). So while most of the tracks are good hard rockers, there is some funky and soul stuff creeping in too but NOT disco as some reviewer here claimed. You know, there is a difference between funky and soul to disco, specially the bass and drums patterns and definitly, Babe Ruth did nothing disco in their career. But the black danceable rhythms were indeed featured both on Kid´s Stuff and, to a lesser extent, to their previous one. Songs like Sweet Sweet Surrender, Oh Doctor and Since You Went Away are very much influenced by those musical forms. If you´re open minded person and/or like funky stuff, you´ll see they are quite good. However, overall I feel Kid´s Stuff lacking a strong musical direction. Their previous album, Stealin´Home, was varied, but was much more focused and the repertoire was way stronger (not ot mention Haan´s presence!).

Still there is at least one great number here, the closing Living A Lie, not only an excelent blues rock sample but surely one of their best songs ever (and oddly enough, sung by Marsden, who takes over lead vocal duties on several tunes). The only prog connection here might be the instrumental Nickelodeon, a short, nice, keyboard only track. While the tracklist overall isn´t great, there is not hacks either (as long as you like the funk and soul stuff, which I do). Marsden would eventually join David Coverdale´s Whitesnake, where this mix of styles would be far more succesful).

Conclusion: nice blues/rock/funk record, but nothing more. Not on par with Babe Ruth´s debut (whcih, by the way, none from their discography is) and sorely missing Janita Haan´s distinctive voice. Not much prog here either. Final rating: something between 2 and 2.5 stars.