Photograph courtesy of Googol Press
Saratoga High School grads Scott Johnson (left) and Rob Babcock have released three CDs in three years via their business, Googol Press.
Album lets SHS grads follow dreams
Partners graduated in '77
By Shari Kaplan
Releasing three albums in three years is small potatoes for some of today's top pop groups and singers, but for an independent recording label like Googol Press, it's quite a large feat--especially when there's no applicable radio charts to climb and no group involved to promote itself by touring or merchandising.
Googol Press, which just released a new CD, Dreams in the Making, is the three-year-old brainchild of Saratoga High School graduates and former Saratogans Scott Johnson and Rob Babcock. The release comes a little more than a year after Passages, their second successful CD venture. Before that was the self-titled Googol On!
Dreams in the Making is a 12-track CD--plus a "hidden" track at the very end--filled with upbeat songs including adult pop and rock ("Right This Moment"), humorous pub-style sing-a-longs ("To Hell With It All"), sensitive ballads ("It's Never Too Late") and even swing.
"It's all centered around the theme of not settling with just getting by. I think we all, deep inside, want something grander," Johnson says. "The message is what drives much of my stuff. I want to encourage people to do what they love doing and to follow their dreams.
"Music has been a dream of mine since high school," he adds, referring to songwriting and singing. Both Johnson and Babcock graduated from Saratoga High in 1977. Although Babcock has evolved into more of a silent partner--doing marketing, finance and website work for Googol Press, he does love music and used to sing with Johnson in their school days, Johnson says. Babcock, who now lives in San Jose, also created the company's motto "Googol On!", which he describes as thinking for oneself, living big and singing one's own song.
That certainly describes Johnson.
"No matter what else I've done in my life, music has always remained a passion. My own 'dream in the making' has been to publish my own CDs," Johnson says. Among the other pursuits to which he refers are jobs in public relations, customer service, food delivery, caring for the disabled and writing a book on osteopathic medicine.
Photograph courtesy of Googol Press
'Dreams in the Making' describes not only Googol Press' newest CD, but also how former SHS grad Scott Johnson feels about the company he founded with Rob Babcock. Both are former Saratogans.
Although he says he once wanted to become another Billy Joel, John Denver or Neil Diamond, he changed his mind after settling in Colorado, getting married, having children and starting his own graphic design business.
His endeavors through Googol Press are a good fit for his life now, because his dream, he explains, has evolved away from fame and fortune and into a goal of inspiring others through music to pursue what they love and to create lives with purpose and passion.
Googol Press' first release, Googol On!, is a compilation of kid- and family-friendly songs Johnson originally created for singing with his two daughters. The company name was also inspired by his family. After one of his daughters learned in elementary school that the number "a googol" is a one followed by 100 zeros and a googolplex is a googol to the power of itself, she declared she loved him "a googolplex!"
The songs on the Passages album have a decidedly different flavor from Googol On! All deal with various turning points in life, from birth to death, including "Just a Heartbeat Away," which Johnson wrote after his father, Dr. Stan Johnson of Saratoga, died after a long battle with cancer.
Will Googol Press release a fourth CD in 2002, its fourth year of existence? Johnson doesn't doubt it.
"Most people give up on their dreams by the time they're 30 or so. We're all so busy with work and family and our day-to-day lives. But it's never too late. Look at me. I'm 42, and I feel like I'm just getting warmed up."
Dreams in the Making and Googol Press' other CDs may be purchased by calling Googol Press at 877.269.5182 or online at www.googolpress.com. CDs are also available online from Amazon.com.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
