Baby You’ve Been Good – Robin Auld

Baby You’ve Been Good – Robin Auld

Before his baby was good to him, Robin Auld released an album called ‘At The Corner’ in 1984 which contained the single ‘First And Last’. Well thankfully this was not the last we heard from the Kommetjie Kid as it was with his follow up album and single that Auld came to the attention of the country. The album was ‘Z-Astaire’ and the single was ‘Baby You’ve Been Good To Me.’ He suddenly found himself with a number 25 hit on both the Springbok and Capital 604 charts as well as a number 8 hit on the Radio 5 charts.

‘Baby You’ve Been Good To Me’, in a way, defined Auld’s style. It is a laid back rock track. There are hints of Dire Straits in there with some neat guitar playing and the song seems to drift along on a wave of good feeling. This is complimented by Auld’s distinctive voice which is both rough and smooth at the same time. There is a kind of gravelly sound in there, but the overall effect is of a relaxing smoothness.

And the lyrics drift along with the song. The line‘Baby you’ve been good to me/There is still so much that we can see/doesn’t matter if we’re looking through a cloud’ conjures up images of floating along on a cloud watching the world go by, feeling relaxed in the warmth of the love of his baby.

Auld went on to produce further South African gems, but this, for many, would have been their introduction to one of our most talented singer/songwriters. His ‘baby’ was good to him as it launched a career that has continued for a number of decades now and is still going.

Where to find it:
The Best Of Robin Auld Vol 1 – Robin Auld (1999) TicTicBang, BANGCD888

Video:

All Of Woman – Robin Auld

All Of Woman – Robin Auld

In December 1984, Robin Auld saw his first Radio 5 hit in the form of ‘Baby You’ve Been Good To Me’ which got to number 8 on those charts and, while a pleasant and popular song, it did come across a bit as one by someone still learning their trade. Roll on about 8 months and Auld came along with a stronger offering in the form of ‘All Of Woman’ and this improvement was rewarded as he topped the Radio 5 charts with it.

Like its predecessor, ‘All Of Woman’ is a laid back love song which starts with a gentle beat and synthesized orchestral sounds. These are joined by sort of xylophony ‘plink plonks’ (sorry don’t know how else to describe them) before Robin comes along with his gentle vocals declaring that his love is ‘All of woman/to me’. But listening to the rest of the lyrics, the song is like a bunch of flowers sent in order to make up as the singer confesses ‘I know I’ve made you sad/I admit that I’ve been bad’.

We all like a break up/make up story in films and songs but here we are not told if the ‘make up’ happens, but are rather left to decide if the song itself is strong enough to garner the forgiveness that is being sought. Well those jocks on Radio 5 certainly though Robin had done enough as they propelled him to the top of their charts and its not difficult to see why they thought so. Check out the acoustic recording Robin did of the song in 2015 (see link below) and I think you will agree that Robin created a timeless classic with this one.

Where to find it:
The Best of Vol 1 – Robin Auld (1999), TicTicBang, BANGCD888

Video:

Acoustic version video: