John Waite FAQ--Solo

In the past, a fan's only option was to buy MOS on eBay, usually at an outrageously inflated price. Check this out...in January of 1999, a copy of Mask of Smiles on CD sold on eBay for an outlandish $338!!

The good news is that the days of not being able to buy a CD of MOS at retail price are now over! The year 2001 saw One Way records release John's 80s solo albums on CDs as "two-fers." You can get Ignition & No Brakes on one CD and Mask of Smiles and Rover's Return on another. Order both at CD Now!

3.03
Q. In the song "Downtown," John sings a line that says "Johnny Thunders' on the radio." Is Johnny Thunders a real guy or is John referring to himself?

A. Johnny Thunders was the guitarist for the 70s glam rock band The New York Dolls. He's one of John Waite's idols and played guitar for John on the song "No Brakes" off of Mask of Smiles. "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" was a song that Thunders wrote and recorded on the So Alone record of 1978.

A. There used to be a self-portrait of John hanging in the bar at the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago (pictured left). It's not there any more, tho.

That's the only item I've ever known about. If you know of any others, please e-mail me.

A. Yes. Temple Bar is in Greenwich Village in New York City. It's at 332 Lafeyette Street (between Bleeker and Houston). For information, call (212) 925-4242.

Drinking at this bar ain't cheap, tho. I had a simple glass of wine there and it cost me $7! Click here to read the story of my visit.

A. (Feb 2005) "These days," John is a busy guy! He's out playing live gigs with a band AND doing acoustic sets with autograph signings at various Borders Bookstores.

3.08
Q. John turned down the role later taken by John Lydon in "Cop Killer," and did act in "Paper Dolls." Are these the only acting roles he's taken?

A. "Paper Dolls" is the only thing John has acted in, though there have been rumours of his involvement in other projects. In interviews during the mid-80's (before Bad English), John said he was working on a remake of the 1960s film, "Privilege." He had put together three songs for the project, but couldn't close the deal on the rights, so the film never happened. There is also speculation John had a bit-part in a New Zealand movie called "Starlight Hotel."

John said in an interview with No Brakes (the International John Waite fanzine) that he would like to act again, but only in a movie, not on a TV show.

3.09
Q. Has John ever performed on another artist's album, or contributed a song to a movie soundtrack that didn't appear on any of this own releases??

A. Yes. John performs "Invisible Man" on the compilation album "Requiem for the Americas" by Jonathan Elias; "If Anybody Had a Heart" on the soundtrack to the movie "About Last Night"; and "Deal for Life" on the soundtrack to the movie "Days of Thunder."

hear a clip!

In 1986, John was a guest vocalist for a Japanese band called Casiopea. He sang one song for them, "Something's Wrong" (written by Carlos Alomar). This can be found on their CD "Sun Sun," which is still available in Japan. (Thanks go to Patrick Kiley for the sound clip. Thanks to Cyndi Hackerott for the Casiopea CD.)

Several other John Waite/Bad English songs have been used in movies, but all are available on JW/BE releases.

In 1999, John showed up as a guest vocalist on an Ian McDonald CD. Click here for more info on that project.

A. Yes. In the mid 80s, John and his song "Missing You" appeared in a TV commercial for Sparkomatic car stereos. John was also featured in a print ad for that brand.

In 1987, John sung a radio jingle for Coca-Cola. To download a sound clip of this jingle, follow this link.

3.11
Q. In the song "Sometimes," what does John want played in the line before the blue shadows fall? Is it "Joe Jackson" or "Chuck Jackson"?

A. According to John, it's "Chuck Jackson.....He had an old song that has the lyric 'let those blue shadow fall.'"

3.12
Q. What's up with the "FREE TIBET" mention in the liner notes of "Falling Backwards"?

A. John read the book "Seven Years In Tibet" and is very interested in the plight of Tibet and the Dalai Lama. It's a show of support.

A. Imago ran into some big financial problems and thus was not able to promote Temple Bar properly.

3.14
Q. Why did John only get to do one number in his 1984 Saturday Night Live performance? All other musical guests on that show get two.

A. The producers of SNL wanted John to sing his big hit, "Missing You." John thought that song had had enough exposure, so he wanted to sing something else. The producers basically told him, "No, we want to hear 'Missing You.' Sing it first." Well, John was determined to do his own thing, so he came out and performed the song "Saturday Night." The producers got pissed and punished John by pulling his second number. A bit of trivia--if John would have been allowed to play his second number, he would have sang "Restless Heart."

A. There is a long running soap opera in England called "Coronation Street." On that show is a pub called "Rover's Return." John is a fan of that show and named his fourth solo album after that pub.

3.16
Q. Has there ever been a videotape compilation of John's solo videos released for sale?

A. Sadly, no. And it's not for lack of videos...John produced a ton of music videos in the 80s. But alas, the only John Waite *video compilation* ever commercially released was for Bad English. The only John Waite *solo videotape* ever released was a concert one...No Brakes Live (left) in 1985. MTV also showed this concert in the mid 80s as part of their "Saturday Night Concert" series. The track list is as follows:

Saturday Night ~ Tears ~ Dark Side of the Sun ~ The Choice ~ Dreamtime/Shake it Up ~ Missing You ~ Change ~ Euroshima ~ For Your Love ~ Midnight Rendezvous ~ Head First

Unfortunately, this videotape is out of print but you may be able to occasionally find one up for auction on e-bay.

A. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm going to be much help here. I'm not a guitar player myself, nor do I seem to know any big JW fans who also play guitar. There are no guitar tabs here on Net Waite. There was a website that used to list a ton of tabs (http://www.olga.net/) but it "is no longer functioning due to legal action by the National Music Publisher's Association." OK, so...what now? You may want to try stopping by the usenet group rec.music.makers.guitar.tablature and ask...perhaps someone there could point you in the right direction.