Waite was born in Lancaster, and was educated at Lancaster Art College (The Storey Institute).
Waite first came to attention as the lead singer and bassist of The Babys, a British rock band which had moderate chart success, including two pop hits that both coincidentally peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Isn't It Time" (1977) and "Everytime I Think of You" (1979), and a solid following of their concert tours. Over the course of five years, the band produced five albums ending with the final album On the Edge in October 1980, after which the group disbanded.
Waite subsequently launched his solo career with his 1982 debut album Ignition, which produced the hit single "Change". The Chrysalis 45 failed to chart on Billboard's Hot 100 during its initial release (June 1982) but was a top track on AOR radio stations, as well as a very popular music video on MTV as the 'new' cable channel celebrated its first full year of operation. The song was originally recorded in 1981 by another band, and in 1985 was included on the platinum selling Vision Quest soundtrack. When the single was reissued, it reached the Top 50 on the Hot 100. "Going to the Top" was released as the original follow-up single to "Change".
His next album, No Brakes, resulted in international attention. It was a Top 10 Billboard album in the US due to the smash hit "Missing You" which went to No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.[4] It knocked Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It?" out of No. 1. For that very reason, Turner later recorded and released Waite's smash song herself. (Turner's single peaked at No. 84 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1996.) "Missing You" also hit No. 1 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks as well as the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. No Brakes sold over a million and a half US copies yet has never been certified above the RIAA Gold standard (a record company must apply to the RIAA for such certification). Two more singles from No Brakes followed, including "Tears" which was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.
The next album Mask of Smiles followed in 1985 featuring the hit single "Every Step of the Way". Another single, "If Anybody Had a Heart", was released from the soundtrack of the 1986 film About Last Night.... In 1987, Rover's Return was released with the single "These Times Are Hard For Lovers". Waite would have another soundtrack appearance in 1990 from Days of Thunder with "Deal for Life"
In 1988, Waite joined former Babys bandmates Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips, along with Neal Schon from Journey and drummer Deen Castronovo, to form the supergroup Bad English. In 1989, the Bad English ballad "When I See You Smile" (penned by Diane Warren) went to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and earned a Gold-certified single. Its parent album reached Billboard's Top Five and sold nearly two million copies in the United States alone. Bad English released two albums before tensions amongst the members led to the band's dissolution by 1992.
Waite returned to solo work. He released the album Rough And Tumble. He has continued to tour, such as in 2003 with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
In 2006, "Missing You" was released as a duet with Alison Krauss and reached the Top 40 on the Country Charts in the United States. Waite appeared with Krauss on The Tonight Show on 5 February 2007 to perform the song. Waite's songs have reappeared in other media as well: 2013 saw "Missing You" featured heavily in the movie Warm Bodies, and "Change" is on the soundtrack of the US movie Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
In 2008 he recorded a guest vocal on the track "In God's Shadow" from the Keith Reid Project's The Common Thread.
Waite appears as himself and performs two songs in the 2010 feature film, New Day, from L'Oiseau Blanc Films.
In 2011 the title track from his tenth solo album Rough and Tumble went number one on Classic Rock radio.
A longtime resident of New York City, Waite now lives in Santa Monica, California. John Waite is divorced.
Love Collision
John Waite Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't it make you feel complete
It comes into your life
Then sweeps you right off your feet
Time stands still for two lovers
And it's intangible
But it hits like steel
Makes my private world unsealed
A crashed car
A communication failsafe
We could share this vision
In fact we've got no choice
Into the arena of love
Speaking with one voice
Ain't it something else
Like skydiving into Shangri-la
And the clearest cool is the zeal-blue heaven
And you can't quite put your finger on it
And you could be anywhere
Anytime anyplace in your lover's arms
Could be paradise or walkin' on thin ice
We can share this vision
We're on some one-way street
Exchanging cigarettes and glances
We both feel the heat
It's a love collision
Love collision
There's no decision
It's a love collision
If I close my eyes
Visualizing you and I somewhere in this city
And moments of desire
The steady the silent gaze of lovers transfixed
We could share this vision
In fact we've got no choice
Into the arena of love
Speaking with one voice
It's a love collision
Love collision
And there's no decision
It's a love collision
Love collision
Love collision
Love collision
Love collision
Love collision
Love collision
Oh no
Love collision
Love collision
Love collision
The song Love Collision by John Waite talks about the intense feeling two people who are in love experience. The first verse describes the beauty and completeness one feels when in love. The second and third verses explain the overwhelming feeling and power love has. The song mentions how love can feel like you're skydiving into Shangri-La or walking on thin ice. The song continues by saying that there is no decision when it comes to love; it's a collision.
The song's chorus emphasizes that love is a collision that happens without any prior decision-making. The lyrics suggest that when two people fall in love, there is no controlling it. It's an unstoppable collision of love that makes everything else disappear.
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't it beautiful
Isn't it lovely?
Don't it make you feel complete
Doesn't it give you a sense of fulfillment?
It comes into your life
Love enters your life
Then sweeps you right off your feet
It's overwhelming, it takes over you
Time stands still for two lovers
For lovers, time seems to stop and everything else fades away
And it's intangible
It's a feeling that can't be touched
But it hits like steel
But it impacts you with the strength of metal
It stops me in my tracks
It immobilizes me
Makes my private world unsealed
My innermost thoughts and feelings are exposed
A crashed car
An accident
A communication failsafe
A backup plan in case of communication failure
We could share this vision
We can experience this together
In fact we've got no choice
We have no other option
Into the arena of love
Entering love's domain
Speaking with one voice
United in our thoughts and feelings
Ain't it something else
Isn't it incredible?
Like skydiving into Shangri-la
Like taking a leap of faith into a perfect world
And the clearest cool is the zeal-blue heaven
And the most vivid sense of calm is the bright blue sky
And you can't quite put your finger on it
It's hard to fully understand
And you could be anywhere
It doesn't matter where you are
Anytime anyplace in your lover's arms
Anytime, anywhere, as long as you're with your lover
Could be paradise or walkin' on thin ice
It could be blissful or risky, but it's still love
We can share this vision
We can share this moment
We're on some one-way street
We're moving forward without any turning back
Exchanging cigarettes and glances
Sharing small moments of intimacy
We both feel the heat
We both feel the passion
It's a love collision
It's an intense love affair or attraction
There's no decision
We can't decide or stop this love
If I close my eyes
When I visualize
Visualizing you and I somewhere in this city
Imagining us together in this town
And moments of desire
Passionate instances
The steady the silent gaze of lovers transfixed
The concentrated and quiet stare of attracted individuals
We could share this vision
We can experience this together
In fact we've got no choice
We have no other option
Into the arena of love
Entering the world of love
Speaking with one voice
On the same page about love
It's a love collision
An intense attraction
And there's no decision
And we can't decide or stop it
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Oh no
Uh oh
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Love collision
Intense attraction
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CURLY SMITH, DONNIE NOSSOV, GARY MYRICK, JOHN CHARLES WAITE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind