FEE WAYBILL – Read My Lips [BGO Records Digitally Remastered]

As requested, here’s the only remastered version done by BGO Records of FEE WAYBILL‘s solo debut album “Read My Lips“. It was 1984, and the radio friendly, lite AOR music was the order of the day.
And to launch The Tubes frontman solo career Capitol Records put everithing at his service: the best songwriters you can get, namely Steve Lukather, David Foster, Michael Landau, Humberto Gatica just name a few, the cream of LA Session musicians – the aforementioned plus Jeff Porcaro, JR Robinson, Tom Keane, Richard Marx, Bobby Kimball & more, and a big production from the era, also handled by Foster / Lukather.

While The Tubes already flirted with radio-friendly AOR on their excellent ’83 album, Waybill definitely turn things in that direction here, spiced with touch of smooth LA West Coast and a bit of Hi-Tech.

Many called this “Read My Lips” as a ‘missing Toto album’, as the overall sound & style here are in the vein of Isolation or Fahrenheit. It isn’t a surprise, as Steve Lukather co-wrote most the songs with Waybill and play here alongside the Toto crew including Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro and Bobby Kimball, the latter contributing backing vocals.
But also top ‘cats’ like David Foster, Mike Landau, Paul Jackson, Jr., Jerry Marotta, Michael Boddicker, Bill Champlin, Tom Keane and Richard Marx (also involved into songwriting)… as you see, an AOR dream-team.

Just check the punchy, guitar driven numbers such as the title track, the flamboyant and quite heavy ‘Thrill Of The Kill’, or the killer ‘Saved My Life’ (my favorite), mixed with the dynamic ‘Nobodys Perfect’, the slightly funky ‘Who Loves You Baby’ (very Toto-ish) and the superb power ballad ‘I Don’t Even Know Your Name’, again with a Toto feel.
More in a West Coast trait yet plenty of AOR there’s ‘Caribbean Sunsets’, a terrific tune akin Player / Toto and where you can hear David Foster’s touch and Lukather in its full potential, then the elegant ‘I Could’ve Been Somebody’ closes this really good 80s album.

Despite its unattractive cover artwork, Fee Waybill’s “Read My Lips” packs inside some of the finest AOR / musicianship you could find in any ’80s record. Great songs co-written by the likes of Lukather, David Foster, Richard Marx, etc. guarantee quality and varied material, a great vocalsit in Waybill, top notch performances by the who’s who in the genre, and a huge mid-Eighties production.
This BGO remastered edition – the only available – sounds million bucks.
Highly Recommended

01 – You’re Still Laughing
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

02 – Nobody’s Perfect
D. Foster, F. Waybill, Humberto Gatica, Michael Landau

03 – Who Loves You Baby
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Richard Marx

04 – I Don’t Even Know Your Name
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

05 – Who Said Life Would Be Pretty
Fee Waybill, Mark Goldenberg

06 – Thrill Of The Kill
Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

07 – Saved My Life
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

08 – Caribean Sunsets
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

09 – Star Or The Show
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Steve Lukather

10 – I Could’ve Been Somebody
David Foster, Fee Waybill, Tom Keane

Fee Waybill – vocals
Steve Lukather, Mike Landau, Paul Jackson, Jr – guitars
David Foster – keyboards, backing vocals
Michael Boddicker, Erich Bulling – keyboards
Steve Porcaro – keyboards, synthesizers
Tom Keane – keyboards, backing vocals
Larry Klein – bass
Jeff Porcaro, Jerry Marotta, Tris Imboden, JR Robinson – drums
Paulinho Da Costa – percussion
Humberto Gatica – percussion overdub
Larry Williams, Marc Russo, Gary Grant – horns
Richard Marx, Bill Champlin, Bobby Kimball – backing vocals

BUY IT
www.amazon.com/Read-My-Lips-Fee-Waybill/dp/B0000011OB
www.bgo-records.com/product/bgocd283-read-my-lips/