Song of the Week: “Dark Side of the Sun”
So everybody knows John Waite’s ballad “Missing You”, #1 on the pop charts in 1985 and covered by Tina Turner in her Leggs pantyhose campaign. A few of you might know that Mr. Waite became the lead singer of the 80s arena rock super group Bad English (they who gave us the wedding ballad staple “When I See You Smile”). But only a few other sad souls like myself have been with JW since his early days as the lead singer of the British proto-boy band The Babys, own not only The Essential John Waite but a few of the long-out-of-print studio albums from his solo career and may even check up on The John Waite Worldwide Consortium from time to time.
If you aren’t in group #3, count your blessings. But if you’ve ever thought “Hey that I-Ain’t-Missing-You-At-All song was pretty dang good. What happened to that guy?” I offer up “Dark Side of the Sun”, the song immediately following Missing You on Waite’s 1985 album No Brakes. It has the same pleading vocals and heavy-handed metaphors jambed into a conventional pop framework. But lay over a nice sing-songy keyboard/guitar combo, an addictive little chorus and a handful of “whoah whoahs” taking you home and you’ve got my favorite John Waite song.
Have a download. You’ll be goofily pleased when it pops up on your iPod.