Tuesday Top Ten: Songs With "Baby" In The Title

A while back, the oldies station here in Chicago had a weekend featuring songs with "baby" in the title.  I have a baby, so it now seems like the right time to do a Tuesday Top Ten with my ten favorite songs with the word "baby" in the title.  Just so no one freaks out about the absences of Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies" or The Beatles' "Baby's In Black," this list is strictly limited to songs with the word "baby" in them, as opposed to any variation of the word.

With that, here are my top ten songs with "baby" in the title:

Honorable mention (alphabetical by song title):  "Anything for My Baby" by KISS; "Baby Be Mine" by Michael Jackson; "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot; "Baby, I Need Your Lovin'" by The Four Tops; "Baby, I'm Yours" by Barbara Lewis; "Baby It's You" by The Beatles; "Baby Please Don't Go" by AC/DC; "Baby Please Don't Go" by The Amboy Dukes; "Baby Please Don't Go" by Thin Lizzy; "Baby Please Don't Go" by Muddy Waters; "Baby, You're a Rich Man" by The Beatles; "Bossa Nova Baby" by Elvis Presley; "Bye Bye Baby" by Janis Joplin; "Casanova, Baby!" by The Gaslight Anthem; "Come Baby Come" by K7; "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin; "Cry Baby Cry" by The Beatles; "Doin' It All (For My Baby) by Huey Lewis & The News; "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" by Carl Perkins; "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" by The Beatles; "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby?" by The Rolling Stones; "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" by Jimi Hendrix; "I Can't Quit You Baby" by Led Zeppelin; "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" by Bob Dylan; "Maybe Baby" by Buddy Holly & The Crickets; "Ozone Baby" by Led Zeppelin; "Rock Me Baby" by Otis Redding; "Speedin' Back to My Baby" by KISS; "Talking About My Baby" by The Impressions; "The Big Three Killed My Baby" by The White Stripes; "The KKK Took My Baby Away" by The Ramones; "Wild About You Baby" by Elmore James

10 (tie).  "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel

I would be remiss if I didn't include this 1961 sing-along classic.  You don't know the real power of the song, however, until you've heard it in a beer tent in Munich during Oktoberfest, as thousands of drunk Germans belt it out.

10 (tie).  "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice

There cannot be a list of top ten songs with "baby" in it without "Ice Ice Baby," even if the bassline was stolen from Queen and David Bowie.  Even 20+ years later, I still know every word to this song.

9.  "Baby Fratelli" by The Fratellis

Behind "Chelsea Dagger," this might be my favorite Fratellis song.

8.  "Baby Blue" by Badfinger

I realize this song has taken on some renewed interest, since it was used in the series finale of Breaking Bad, but it was a great song for 42 years before that.  It's catchy proto power pop, and for me, this is Badfinger at the top of their game.

7.  "There Goes My Baby" by The Drifters

This is probably my favorite Drifters song, and unfortunately, it doesn't get as much love on oldies stations as some of their other songs, like "Under the Boardwalk," "Up On The Roof," or "On Broadway," which is strange, since "There Goes My Baby" was a #2 song on the Billboard Hot 100.  Of course, what makes this song so great is the soulful lead singer, Ben E. King, who would leave the group about a year later (and two years later would release his signature song, "Stand By Me").

6.  "Baby Drives Me Crazy" (live) by Thin Lizzy. 

This is one of the standout tracks on Thin Lizzy's phenomenal 1978 live double album, Live and Dangerous.  It's the kind of song that makes you wish you were at the show where it was recorded.  Interesting tidbit:  that wailing harmonica you hear is played by none other than Huey Lewis.

5.  "Baby, I Love You" by The Ronettes

This is my second favorite Ronettes song with the word "baby" in the title.  There's something about Ronnie Spector's voice in those opening lines that gives me goosebumps.  Combined with the Wall of Sound, it doesn't get much better than this, as far as pure pop songs go.

4.  "Born to Be My Baby" by Bon Jovi

The second of five Top 10 songs off of Bon Jovi's 1988 New Jersey album, "Born to Be My Baby" (which got to #3) seems to get lost in the shuffle amongst the many other great Bon Jovi songs of that era.  It's got a great chorus and pretty much rocks, so that's why I like it.

3.  "Baby Please Don't Go" by Them

It was tough to choose a version of "Baby Please Don't Go" for this list because there are many good ones.  Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Lighting Hopkins have great blues versions, AC/DC has a really good, balls-out version, and The Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent's band before he went solo) has a good one as well.  However, I went with the version that made my fall in love the song, by Them.  It's hard to believe Van Morrison was only 19 when he sang this, but then again, that's why he has one of the greatest voices in rock history.  This version is as frenetic as some of the others, but that '60s mod vibe and Morrison's voice make this one stick out.

2.  "Don't Worry Baby" by The Beach Boys

This song makes me want to smile and cry at the same time, which speaks to Brian Wilson's genius and the power of the Beach Boys' harmonies.  Released in 1964, it was one of the last great songs that can honestly capture the innocence of the early '60s, although I note that with some irony, given that the song says "don't worry baby / everything will turn out all right," and the next half of the decade was a rather tumultuous one.

1.  "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes

This is one of my five favorite songs from the '60s, and one of my 25 favorite songs of all-time.  Yes, two Ronettes songs deserve to be on this list, and yes, this is the best song of all-time with the word "baby" in it.  Hell, Brian Wilson was trying to capture the essence of "Be My Baby" when he wrote "Don't Worry Baby."  That's how great this song is.