John Waite
| Written by: John Waite Produced by: Neil Geraldo Album: Ignition (Chrysalis, 1982) |
Not sure if this thing is really a "deep" album cut since it's the album's lead cut, but no matter. This thing is high energy rock 'n roll and gets my blood pumping from the get-go. And with the sweet piano and saxophone licks throughout, it embraced traditional rock instrumentation and steered clear of the synths that were ubiquitous on the radio stations of the time. It rocks hard for 2 minutes then backs off and simmers a bit with more piano, guitar, and sax play. Then the sixteenth notes on the snare drum work the piece back into a frenzy and we're off to back to the chorus, then a breakdown, before one more time through the chorus. The whole thing stops suddenly and I'm exhausted from my awkward mix of air guitar/pogo dancing.
The Ignition album was Waite's solo debut after The Babys broke up in 1981. The album was produced by Pat Benetar's guitarist/husband Neil Geraldo and while the album doesn't quite live up to the pedigree, it starts off with a fantastic one-two punch of this rocker followed by Waite's cover of Spider's "Change."
Lyrically, it's about a 16 year old kid picking up a hooker and while I can't publicly endorse such shenanigans, I will admit that those thoughts crossed this writer's mind when he was 16. As such, this thing got a lot of playing time on the Markmobile's much-abused Pioneer deck back at that time.
The Ignition album was Waite's solo debut after The Babys broke up in 1981. The album was produced by Pat Benetar's guitarist/husband Neil Geraldo and while the album doesn't quite live up to the pedigree, it starts off with a fantastic one-two punch of this rocker followed by Waite's cover of Spider's "Change."
Lyrically, it's about a 16 year old kid picking up a hooker and while I can't publicly endorse such shenanigans, I will admit that those thoughts crossed this writer's mind when he was 16. As such, this thing got a lot of playing time on the Markmobile's much-abused Pioneer deck back at that time.
Heckuva 45, too, with "Change" on the A-side and "White Heat" on the B-side.
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