John Waite - Restless Heart

Long time readers of ERV will notice that this is the second John Waite video on the blog ("Change" was posted last August). Waite is another artist who fits in perfectly here, as he recorded a ton of great pop and rock songs, with some success, but never really became a big big star (as Counting Crows might say).

Case in point:  The Babys (Waite's band before he went solo) never had a top ten single or a top 20 album.  Case in point #2:  While Waite's breakout 1984 album No Brakes hit #10, and produced a #1 hit with the ever-present (in 1984) "Missing You," the other singles did not do that well.  "Tears" barely broke the top 40 (#37), and "Restless Heart," a solid song with a strong video peaked at #59.  Go figure.

At any rate, "Restless Heart," a well-crafted song with a black & white 'story' video, would be on my short list of the best lesser-known videos.  It is well worth a look.  By the way, we think the hat the Waite wears at the start of "Restless Heart" is an allusion to a similar hat that he wore in the "Change" video.  Or, maybe he just likes hats.

After No Brakes, Waite released two more studio albums in the 80s, and then joined Bad English, who released two albums before breaking up.  Waite then returned to his solo career and continues to record and tour as of this writing.