They Recorded The Album Before Playing Live Together
Released in late 1977, “Baby Come Back” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks starting January 14, 1978, knocking the Bee Gees’ How Deep Is Your Love from the top spot. The track also reached number ten on the R&B chart, number 32 in the UK, and number one in Canada, spending an impressive 32 weeks on the US charts. Peter Beckett and J.C. Crowley wrote the song after two band members broke up with their girlfriends, according to an American Top 40 broadcast from November 1977. The single came from Player’s self-titled debut album, released September 1, 1977 on RSO Records.
The track was the biggest hit of 1978’s early months until eventually falling to Stayin’ Alive on February 4. It competed during the height of the disco era, proving that soft rock still had commercial power alongside Saturday Night Fever domination. The follow-up single This Time I’m in It for Love reached number ten, making Player decidedly not a one-hit wonder despite being remembered almost exclusively for this track. Billboard named Player Best New Singles Artist of 1978, and Eric Clapton invited them to open his 1978 North American Slowhand tour.
Beckett and Crowley had met at a Los Angeles party after Beckett’s previous band Skyband dissolved in 1975. They formed a band called Riff Raff that became Bandana before finally settling on Player. The duo added bassist Ronn Moss and pitched their songs to producers by lugging guitars and amps into offices and performing live. Their theory was that demo tapes get thrown on shelves and forgotten, but a live band wouldn’t fit. After multiple rejections, they reached the office of Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, successful songwriters who’d produced hits for Glen Campbell, the Four Tops, and Tavares. When Player performed this song live in their office, Lambert and Potter’s chins hit their chests. They immediately heard the hit potential and took the band to RSO Records.
The recording was produced by Lambert and Potter, who’d just scored a number one with Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy. They added drummer John Friesen to complete the lineup, then recorded the entire debut album before Player ever performed live as a complete band. Peter Beckett sang lead vocals while also playing guitar, with Crowley handling keyboards and backing vocals. Two versions exist: the album version ends with a guitar solo fade out, while the single version has a shorter opening and fades on the chorus. Beckett later recalled hearing it on the radio for the first time while driving toward Beverly Hills after lunch at Butterfield’s on the Sunset Strip, calling it absolutely amazing.
The more remarkable moment came during rehearsals at a joint called Rats in Studio City while preparing to open for Gino Vannelli. Their manager ran in holding Billboard magazine announcing the song had entered at number 80. Beckett said that number 80 felt more remarkable than number one because none of them had ever had a hit before, and you kind of got used to it as the song climbed. Ronn Moss later became a soap opera star playing Ridge Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful from 1987 through 2012. Ocean Alley covered it in 2018 on Australian radio’s Like a Version segment, and it appeared on The Simpsons when Homer called the Lost Baby division of Springfield Police and heard it playing on hold.
