John Waite FAQ--Bad English

Jon, John, Deen, Ricky, Neal

4.01
Q. Who were the members of Bad English?

A. John Waite (vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards), and Ricky Phillips (bass) from The Babys, Neal Schon (guitar) from Journey (in which Jon Cain was also a member) and newcomer Deen Castronovo (drums). Deen had been in bands such as Wild Dogs, Armageddon, Enemy, and the Tony McAlpine Band before being asked to join Bad English by Neal Schon.

Scan courtesy of Ed Sturm. Thanks, ED!

A. Jonathan Cain was reading a book on pool strategies. He was trying to teach the other guys the shots he was reading about. There was right english and left english. But when Neal Schon hit the ball it went in the total opposite direction of what the book said. Thus Jonathan Cain coined the term "bad english."

A. This explanation was given by bass player Ricky Phillips in an interview with Andrew McNeice:

"Too many cooks. Nobody was willing to bend anymore. Everyone forget what the beauty of being in a band was all about, and at some point there has to be some degree of a democracy, or all the parties have to agree that one person is the dictator. It can't be both, and er, when you've got four great writers in one band, somebody's got to give. The first record we all kind of pitched in and did our job. First off I was really involved in the songwriting, then Neal came into the situation, and I pushed him forward. He would come over to my house and I would record his ideas one after another, cause they were so brilliant. But after awhile everyone forgot what the chemistry was, everyone was fighting for their ideas, instead of finding where the most natural flow was.

"And people started keeping score, and that's where the dissatisfaction started cropping up. Quite frankly Jonathan Cain and John Waite tried to take over during the second record, and run it, and that's when Neal Schon and I basically said at one point - Let's finish this record, but this is not really what I'm here for. And slowly but surely I didn't change, it got worse and we really fell apart and split up during the making of that second record. It was at that point he record company kinda lost interest in putting anything behind it. Which is a shame, because there are some really classy pieces of music on that record. You could feel that tension, which in a way is kinda cool, I mean I can really feel the tension in the recording of those songs, and I like that."

[Thanks to Andrew for agreeing to our use of the above quote. This interview was originally published on Andrew's web site.]

John himself doesn't speak too much about the breakup of Bad English, but he was quoted in a rock magazine saying this on the subject:

"It's all down to ego really, but I can't sing stuff I don't think is right. The buck stops with me. I wrote or co-wrote everything on 'Backlash,' which didn't go down too well. Certain parties wanted more songs on the record. And the producer [Ron Nevison] basically picked the songs. He decided what was going to make it and what wasn't."

Andrew McNeice interviewed John in August '97 and Bad English's demise was one of the subjects covered. Click here to link to that interview.

4.05
Q. I've seen mentioned CDs called "Bad English: Greatest Hits" and "Bad English and Friends." I don't have these in my collection--am I missing out on something?

A. Not really. Both titles refer to the same CD, a collection of cuts from Bad English's debut and their Backlash album. There are no new tracks on the CD, though there is a "remix" of "Price of Love" which really doesn't sound much different from the original. If you already have both the debut and Backlash, save your money.

4.06
Q. Has there ever been a videotape compilation of Bad English videos released for sale?

A. Yes! The band released a videotape of videos from their debut album. The tape contains short introductions by the bandmembers and five music videos:

Best of What I Got ~ When I See You Smile ~ Heaven is a 4 Letter Word ~ Price of Love ~ Forget Me Not

Unfortunately, this videotape is out of print, but you may have luck finding a copy up for auction on e-bay.

If you are wondering about videos for the Backlash album, According to bass player Ricky Phillips, the band did make three videos for that album: "Straight To Your Heart," "Time Stood Still," and "The Time Alone with You." The only one I've ever seen, tho, is the video for "Straight To Your Heart." No Backlash videos have ever been available on a commercial release. There has also never been a Bad English live video commercially released.

Bad English bass player Ricky Phillips has been very busy, both with producing and with starting a new band. Spring 2001 saw Ricky release a new CD called "Elements of Friction." Two of the songs on the CD were co-written by John Waite. For the latest on Ricky, check out his official website.