Forgotten Classic Video of the Week

I heard a Babys song on the radio the other day ("Head First") and it made me think of the numerous times I've been made fun of because of my fondness for John Waite. I still have no idea what is so cheesy about him. No, his music was never Earth-shattering, but it was certainly pleasant enough. The Babys were fun, and he had quite a string of radio-friendly tunes when he went solo, including one of my faves of the '80s, "Missing You." Of course, I absolutely loathed Bad English and that awful song that wouldn't go away, "When I See You Smile," but in a somewhat lengthy career, everyone is prone to a misstep or two. So, all you Waite-haiters can shove it.

Aside from his music, I think my liking of him has something to do with a slight resemblance to John Corbett, who is now and forever Aidan Shaw to me. *sigh* What woman doesn't love him? Note that I never said that Waite was Corbett's twin or anything. Corbett's a total stud and Waite is...uh, not. But, there's some similarity there. I bet if you teased Corbett's hair, slapped some eyeliner on him and didn't feed him for a few weeks, you'd swear they were brothers.

Speaking of celeb body doubles, when I re-watched this week's video, "Change," (from 1982's Ignition) I thought that the crazy chick on the ledge was Katherine Kelly Lang, a B-movie and soap actress whom I have never seen in anything yet somehow still know who she is. When I looked it up, I discovered that it was not her but someone named Tina Gullickson, who is now a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. I'm only mentioning this in case any of you plan on seeing Jimmy Buffett in the near future. I hope you will heckle Tina by yelling stupid things like, "don't jump!" and "it doesn't matter who you are!"



I will now mention that this song was also featured in the crappy Matthew Modine movie, Vision Quest, thereby sucking all of the opportunities for trivia-related comments right out of it. Ha!

Comments

Fran said…
Oh, MTV - the early days. So quaint, so cute.

BeckEye, you bring me down memory lane.
Anonymous said…
I love the early 80's sound. Heavy synth and just a hint of rock in the guitar. The guitars as almost leftover Springsteen sound.

Knot
I've got to be honest, I ain't missin' John Waite at all.
Red said…
I've never heard this song. I don't hate it...
Anonymous said…
I always liked this song. John Waite looks like he's entering a Colin Hay look-alike contest though. And he's going to win.
Malcolm said…
I played "Change" on my show not too long ago. When I posted that playlist, I also included the video to "Change". I don't know about you, but I can't help but point to the sky and sing the line "Change" during the chorus.

That's a good call by Fran in regards to John Waite's current appearance. One of my ex-girlfriends had a crush on John back in the "Missing You" era. When she saw how he looked circa 2006, you would have thought that she was a 4 yr old girl and someone had told her that Santa Claus didn't exist.
There's a reason it was a forgotten video, you know.
Ogun Sensei said…
Hey, don't pick on "Vision Quest". It may be cheezy, but it's not crappy! It's not "Rocky", but "Vision Quest" is to wrestlers what "Rocky" is to boxers...only crappier. OK, I guess you're right--but you don't have to pick on it. :)
Dr Zibbs said…
I worked 20 years to forget this vid. Now thanks to you it's back in my head.
Moderator said…
This is the greatest "Vision Quest"-related post I've read all year.
Cup said…
I wonder if he gets confused in bed when his ladies scream "John, wait!" Directive, or giddiness over a 1980s C-lister?
Moxie said…
Never saw Vision Quest but was a fan of the soundtrack. Makes me wanna look up that other Madonna song from the soundtrack - it was called "Gambler", I believe.