Waysted – Won’t Get Out Alive 1983-1986 (4CD clamshell box set)
Waysted, as many a British rock fan will know, were an 80s rock band that should have made it big but, through constant line-up changes, business hassles and poor management, were destined not to.
Led by ex UFO bassist Pete Way (hence the band name) the group had a relatively short initial run before disbanding in 1987.
Their output over that 80s period, contained within this 4CD retrospective (which comes with a 24 page booklet) highlight Pete Way’s move to shake off the shackles of a UFO he felt were becoming too commercialised; hence his departure from the band in 1982 and a brief foray in Fastway with ex Motörhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke.
The results were a tougher and leaner band that retained the melodic sensibilities (albeit far less pronounced) of UFO but influenced by heavy rock and roll and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.
Debut album Vices, released in 1983 and featuring Way, raspy voiced Scottish singer Fin Muir, lead guitarist Ronnie Kayfield, Way’s ex-UFO buddy Paul Raymond (keys, rhythm guitar) and early Def Leppard drummer Frank Noon, is the perfect case in harder-edged point.
From brash, big beat opener 'Love Loaded' and Ozzy-esque 'Women in Chains' (Way had a short stint touring with Ozzy Osbourne prior to forming Waysted) to a raucous cover of Jefferson Airplane’s 'Somebody To Love,' Vices mixes stripped down, rawer UFO ('Toy With The Passion') with NWOBHM ('Sleazy').
This edition also includes alternative mixes of six of the album tracks.
After a tour supporting Dio however, record label Chrysalis dropped the band with Kayfield, Raymond and Noon leaving shortly thereafter (the first of what became constant line-up changes, with Way eventually becoming the only ever-present).
The re-tooled band delivered a self-titled, hard blues rock 'n' roll 5-track EP on Music For Nations in 1984, of which the punky, riff-rugged 'Won’t Get Out Alive' and tempo-changing 'Cinderella Boys' are highlights.
But grabbing more attention was the new line-up, which now featured Pete Way’s ex-UFO colleagues, guitarist Paul "Tonka" Chapman (replacing Neil Shepard, who appeared on the EP) and drummer Andy Parker.
UFO with a different singer? Hardly. This was a different, more rawk orientated beast, one that showed they could cut the rawer rock and roll mustard with live album You Won’t Get Out Alive, recorded in Cardiff while supporting Iron Maiden.
The live album features three songs from the EP, two from Vices and UFO nuggets 'Only You Can Rock Me' and 'Too Hot To Handle,' stripped back to their rugged, keyboard-less basics.
Supporting Iron Maiden in 1984 didn’t do Waysted any harm, but by the time they headed to the studio the following year further line-up changes had taken place; ex Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley (who had also been in Fastway) replaced Andy Parker and the services of keyboardist/ guitarist Jimmy Dilella were added (neither were ever cited as official members however, and only featured on one album).
1985’s The Good The Bad The Waysted was a step up from Vices; it mixed weighty blues rock ('Hang ‘Em High'), the vibe of AC/DC with heavy melodic rock ('Hi Ho My Baby') and an AOR-rock moment in 'Heaven Tonight' (ironically the very sort of song style that had seen Way depart UFO – but the musical times, they were melodically changing).
Just as it seemed Waysted were making progress Fin Muir jumped ship to work with ex Stampede and Grand Slam guitarist Laurence Archer.
Pete Way & Paul Chapman, determined to show they still had something to offer under the Waysted banner, recruited then unknown American singer Danny Vaughn, who had previously worked with Chapman in DOA (as had Jimmy Dilella), a band that never got past demo stage.
A deal with E.M.I saw the Vaughn fronted Waysted, with Johnny Dee Diteodoro now behind the kit, deliver their finest hour (well, 50 minutes) with Save Your Prayers in 1986.
With Vaughn in fine rock tenor voice and Paul Chapman in inspired six-string form, Save Your Prayers (here with three bonus tracks) is retrospectively, and rightly, seen and heard as mid-80s rock classic, from its impacting opener 'Walls Fall Down' and melodic power of 'Black & Blue' to the Dio-esque 'Hell Comes Home' and melodic rock ballad 'So Long.'
However, even with significant supports such as a second tour with Iron Maiden, this time in the US (where Save Your Prayers dented the Billboard #200) ongoing management issues, which had plagued the band from Day One, saw the departure of Paul Chapman.
Another guitarist was quickly brought in but E.M.I dropped Waysted a month later, effectively ending the band.
Won’t Get Out Alive 1983-1986 documents Waysted’s rock and rollercoaster ride through those years and reminds of the Could Have Been’s for a band that would try again in the early 2000s with a Way-Muir reunion.
But that‘s a whole other retrospective.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Led by ex UFO bassist Pete Way (hence the band name) the group had a relatively short initial run before disbanding in 1987.
Their output over that 80s period, contained within this 4CD retrospective (which comes with a 24 page booklet) highlight Pete Way’s move to shake off the shackles of a UFO he felt were becoming too commercialised; hence his departure from the band in 1982 and a brief foray in Fastway with ex Motörhead guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke.
The results were a tougher and leaner band that retained the melodic sensibilities (albeit far less pronounced) of UFO but influenced by heavy rock and roll and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.
Debut album Vices, released in 1983 and featuring Way, raspy voiced Scottish singer Fin Muir, lead guitarist Ronnie Kayfield, Way’s ex-UFO buddy Paul Raymond (keys, rhythm guitar) and early Def Leppard drummer Frank Noon, is the perfect case in harder-edged point.
From brash, big beat opener 'Love Loaded' and Ozzy-esque 'Women in Chains' (Way had a short stint touring with Ozzy Osbourne prior to forming Waysted) to a raucous cover of Jefferson Airplane’s 'Somebody To Love,' Vices mixes stripped down, rawer UFO ('Toy With The Passion') with NWOBHM ('Sleazy').
This edition also includes alternative mixes of six of the album tracks.
After a tour supporting Dio however, record label Chrysalis dropped the band with Kayfield, Raymond and Noon leaving shortly thereafter (the first of what became constant line-up changes, with Way eventually becoming the only ever-present).
The re-tooled band delivered a self-titled, hard blues rock 'n' roll 5-track EP on Music For Nations in 1984, of which the punky, riff-rugged 'Won’t Get Out Alive' and tempo-changing 'Cinderella Boys' are highlights.
But grabbing more attention was the new line-up, which now featured Pete Way’s ex-UFO colleagues, guitarist Paul "Tonka" Chapman (replacing Neil Shepard, who appeared on the EP) and drummer Andy Parker.
UFO with a different singer? Hardly. This was a different, more rawk orientated beast, one that showed they could cut the rawer rock and roll mustard with live album You Won’t Get Out Alive, recorded in Cardiff while supporting Iron Maiden.
The live album features three songs from the EP, two from Vices and UFO nuggets 'Only You Can Rock Me' and 'Too Hot To Handle,' stripped back to their rugged, keyboard-less basics.
Supporting Iron Maiden in 1984 didn’t do Waysted any harm, but by the time they headed to the studio the following year further line-up changes had taken place; ex Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley (who had also been in Fastway) replaced Andy Parker and the services of keyboardist/ guitarist Jimmy Dilella were added (neither were ever cited as official members however, and only featured on one album).
1985’s The Good The Bad The Waysted was a step up from Vices; it mixed weighty blues rock ('Hang ‘Em High'), the vibe of AC/DC with heavy melodic rock ('Hi Ho My Baby') and an AOR-rock moment in 'Heaven Tonight' (ironically the very sort of song style that had seen Way depart UFO – but the musical times, they were melodically changing).
Just as it seemed Waysted were making progress Fin Muir jumped ship to work with ex Stampede and Grand Slam guitarist Laurence Archer.
Pete Way & Paul Chapman, determined to show they still had something to offer under the Waysted banner, recruited then unknown American singer Danny Vaughn, who had previously worked with Chapman in DOA (as had Jimmy Dilella), a band that never got past demo stage.
A deal with E.M.I saw the Vaughn fronted Waysted, with Johnny Dee Diteodoro now behind the kit, deliver their finest hour (well, 50 minutes) with Save Your Prayers in 1986.
With Vaughn in fine rock tenor voice and Paul Chapman in inspired six-string form, Save Your Prayers (here with three bonus tracks) is retrospectively, and rightly, seen and heard as mid-80s rock classic, from its impacting opener 'Walls Fall Down' and melodic power of 'Black & Blue' to the Dio-esque 'Hell Comes Home' and melodic rock ballad 'So Long.'
However, even with significant supports such as a second tour with Iron Maiden, this time in the US (where Save Your Prayers dented the Billboard #200) ongoing management issues, which had plagued the band from Day One, saw the departure of Paul Chapman.
Another guitarist was quickly brought in but E.M.I dropped Waysted a month later, effectively ending the band.
Won’t Get Out Alive 1983-1986 documents Waysted’s rock and rollercoaster ride through those years and reminds of the Could Have Been’s for a band that would try again in the early 2000s with a Way-Muir reunion.
But that‘s a whole other retrospective.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ