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Saratoga graduates are just continuing their googoling
By Shari Kaplan
"Googoling on," as they like to call it, 1977 Saratoga High School grads Scott Johnson and Rob Babcock recently released their second CD, titled Passages.
The release comes just nine months after their first successful CD venture, Googol On! Both discs were published by the friends' independent recording label, Googol Press.
The inspiration for the first CD and the company name came from one of Johnson's daughters, then 6, who proclaimed she loved her father "a googolplex." She had just learned that mouthful in elementary school--a googol is a one followed by 100 zeros and a googolplex is a googol to the power of itself.
Johnson, a graphic designer who lives in Boulder, Colo., with his wife and two daughters, had been making up nursery rhymes and songs for the children. He came to the realization that perhaps he could record and market them, along with other family-oriented tunes.
Babcock, who lives in San Jose, liked the recording idea. He came up with the motto "Googol on!" which he explains as being able to think for oneself, live big and sing one's own song. Exemplifying that motto, he quit his job in the high-tech industry to become Johnson's partner in Googol Press.
The partnership's second endeavor, Passages, released in late 1999, also came from a family-inspired experience of Johnson's. The day after his father, Dr. Stan Johnson of Saratoga, died in April after a long battle with cancer, Johnson began writing a song for him, titled "Just a Heartbeat Away."
Other heartfelt songs followed, dealing with various turning points in life, such as letting go ("As the Leaves Fall"), the expectation of giving birth to a first child ("Rockabye Love") and gratitude ("Goodnight Mom, Goodnight Dad" and "Things We're Thankful For.") Soon there were enough songs for a new CD. A handful of tracks from Googol On! also appear on Passages, whose cover art was reproduced from a watercolor painting Johnson's sister, Kathy Johnson, designed for the Saratoga Rotary Art Show two years ago.
"Passages is about honoring those coming into this world and those passing on," Johnson explains. "It's really a celebration of life and recognizing the natural cycles and seasons of life."
In the memory of Johnson's father, and in the hopes of helping others caring for loved ones or friends who are reaching the end of their seasons, the CD booklet for Passages includes information about hospice programs. Twenty-five percent of CD proceeds are donated to hospice programs around the country, including Hospice of the Valley, which served the Johnson family.
Passages and Googol On! are available from Googol Press at 1.877.269.5182 or www.googolpress.com, or from Amazon.com.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
