From READ MY LIPS
Written by David Foster, Steve Lukather & Fee Waybill
“Read My Lips” was Fee Waybill’s debut solo work. The former Tubes’ lead singer left the band in 1983 after the poor sales of their “Love Bomb” record. He teamed up again with David Foster who, hot from his triumph with Chicago , was also responsible for The Tubes most successful albums. They chose to team up again with Toto guitarist (who co-wrote “Talk To Ya Later” and “She’s A Beauty”) Steve Lukather and the three of them composed the bulk of “Read My Lips.” The result were ten strong rock songs where you can clearly hear some Toto influence well mixed with David Foster’s clean and refined production, arrangements and sounds plus Waybill’s classic rock voice and personal lyrics.
The best rockers, driven by the pyrotechnic guitars of Lukather and Mike Landau, the energetic drums of John Robinson and Jeff Porcaro (Toto) along with Foster’s great keyboards work, came up with an eclectic mix of music; the funky/rock “Nobody’s Perfect” with one infectious refrain, “You’re Still Laughing” with a mood close to some of Van Halen’s best work, “Who Said Life Would Be Pretty” with great keyboard sounds, guitars and chorus very close to those created by Foster on Chicago 17. This week we have picked the most elegant track on the album, “Caribbean Sunsets.” It showcases a great vocal performance by Waybill, some excellent guitar work by Lukather, one smooth refrain and the outstanding drumming of Jeff Porcaro. Unfortunately, this record had a brief and troubled life and never got the support it deserved from the record label. Although a well-kept secret still today, after twenty years it still remains a favorite among musicians and fans. Fee Waybill had some very nice things to say about that certain producer and the role he played in his career: “ I love David Foster. He’s probably the best producer in the whole world, the best producer WE ever worked with for sure. He changed our whole career! If it hadn’t have been for David Foster, we would have been DONE in 1980, after we got released from A&M. That would have been it. It would have been over…. so we met with David Foster and worked on the tunes together and his ability to arrange stuff and to make SENSE of all these ideas that we would try to cram together – that 1st record with David Foster (“The Completion Backwards Principal”) was the best record THE TUBES ever made.” Amen!
Listen
[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/archives/clips/caribbean_sunsets.mp3|titles=Caribbean sunsets|artists=Fee Waybill]
Lead Vocal: Fee Waybill
Keyboards: David Foster
Keyboards Programming: Steve Porcaro
Bass: Larry Klein
Drums: Jeff Porcaro
Guitar: Steve Lukather & Mike Landau
Percussion: Paulinho DaCosta
Background Vocals: Fee Waybill, Richard Marx, David Foster
Produced & Arranged by David Foster
Lyrics
Hearts that were lost
paths that never had crossed
lonely but free
wandering aimlessly
two separate lives
colliding like clouds in the sky
Cautious at first
afraid of repeating the hurt
parts that were torn
drawn like the surf to the shore
helpless to run
stronger than rays of the sun
I will return
I can’t forget Caribbean sunsets
I will return
then to retrace
the footprints we made as the tide
was getting low
hoping we’d never go home
Drifting in dreams
through islands lost in the stream
waking to find
only the memories of mine
counting the days
waiting for something to take me away