In 1984 I heard 'Missing you' on the radio and I was impressed by the voice of John Waite. I bought the single and also the album 'No brakes.' The next year I bought 'Mask of smiles' at Virgin in London, imported from Japan. In that period Virgin was the ideal shop for buying stuff from The Babys and John Waite. They sold almost everything, including the 12-inch 'For Japan Only.'

Sometimes I heard nothing on John for a very long time. There was no internet yet and European magazines hardly wrote about John. But every time a new record was released, I was impressed. When 'Bad English' became big, I bought quite a few magazines with stories on them. But after that, just silence. 'Temple Bar' was released but I couldn't find any European magazine with an article on John. Same story after 'When You Were Mine.'

In the summer of 1997 I saw this ad in 'Record Collector' from Kevin Scott: he had started a John Waite fanzine. I became a member, found a friend with access to the Internet and I was pleasantly surprised that so many people made an effort to write and talk about John's music. But, I was still wondering, when will a good magazine like maybe 'Record Collector' or 'Mojo' or 'Goldmine' write about John.

As this didn't seem very likely to happen, I decided to write a story on John myself. But, I more or less missed The Babys period and I had no clue how and where to start. Kevin introduced me to David Waite and as soon as I read David's 1988 'Goldmine' story on John, I knew that I had my perfect start. The outcome: MUSIC: The Art of John Waite.

My intentions?

1st: I would just like to see John's face in some music papers, make people aware he's still around and that he still makes excellent records and that it is a disgrace that 'When You Were Mine' was hardly promoted. (Dutch magazine 'Platenblad' will publish the lifestory this summer, in Dutch. This English version will be sent to various magazines and Par Derlow from Sweden will put the lifestory on the Internet).

2nd: America has been lucky: The Babys, John Waite and Bad English all performed there. But for European fans, their last chance to see John Waite live was in London in 1986. So the ultimate goal for European fans is a John Waite concert in Europe!

If this publication will add 1% to reach these goals, I'm happy.

Best wishes,
Adrian