‘Change’ by John Waite – Classic Hit or Miss

Waite was born in Lancaster, England. He first came to attention as the lead singer and bassist of The Babys, a British group which had moderate chart success, including two pop hits that both coincidentally peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Isn't It Time" (1977) and "Everytime I Think Of You" (1979),and a solid following for 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 broke up.

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 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 pulsating track was written by Holly Knight (The song was originally recorded in 1981 by Knight's band Spider) and in 1985 was included on the Platinum selling Vision Quest soundtrack. (The single was reissued and this time it reached the Top 50 on the Hot 100.) "Going To The Top" was released as the original follow-up single to "Change".

#54 back in 1985 - how about today?