A select group of well-known rock artists got together in the spring of 1982 to write a song. The fact that nearly no one has heard of the song, as well as the fact that Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, John Entwistle, and Joe Walsh all wound up in the same studio, is incredible. The song was never released in the United States because no record label would discuss terms with Ringo, a Beatle, at the time.
While preparing for Ringo’s next solo album, the band did record the frantic instrumental ‘Everybody’s In A Hurry But Me. It was made in Tittenhurst Park, John Lennon’s home in Ascot, England, where he had previously made his album Imagine in 1971 before selling the house to Ringo two years later.
In any other period of history, a band consisting of a Beatle, a Cream, a Who, and an Eagle would cause a sensation in the music industry, with fans eagerly anticipating the first rarefied, mystical notes. But for Ringo, early 1982 was a long cry from early 1970. So what took place?
Interestingly, of all the Fab Four, Ringo—who had written two songs during the Beatles’ tenure—had the highest success on the record charts immediately following the band’s separation. From 1970 to 1975, Ringo charted eight consecutive songs in the US top 10 along with two albums, including two number-one successes. Lennon congratulated Starr in a telegram that he sent to Starr. . “How dare you? And please write me a hit song.”
Soon, Ringo’s private life was dealt a series of catastrophic blows. Professionally, strong content was dwindling. Even a Beatle with gold-certified solo albums would suffer in a music world where punk in the bars and disco on the radio are taking control. Starr and Maureen, his wife of 10 years, got divorced in 1975. Then, several people close to Ringo passed away. Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans passed away in 1976, and Marc Bolan of T. Rex passed away in 1977, while Keith Moon, who Starr reportedly referred to as “my best friend” and who served as Zak’s godfather, passed away in 1978.
The assassination of John Lennon in December 1980 was more tragic. Ringo would be devastated by the loss of one of his closest and oldest friends, but the two were also scheduled to collaborate in order to advance Ringo’s career. Lennon had provided Starr a demo for the song “Nobody Told Me” for Ringo to record two weeks before he passed away, and they scheduled a session for January 14, 1981, to make it happen. After John Lennon passed away, Starr instead went back to reside at Tittenhurst Park in his native England.“I stopped making albums for two years, and got crazy for a while,” on The Tomorrow Show in 1981, the drummer revealed this to Tom Snyder. “And I stopped that, too – just getting drunk and crazy every night. After a couple years it gets boring,” he added.
In retrospect, the song was indeed a nice experience of historic proportions, but it wasn’t as significant in 1982. Additionally, it wasn’t enough to save the entire Old Wave record. Starr struggled to find a label because of a string of disappointing sales. By the time it was released on RCA Canada in June 1983, Old Wave was the closest to receiving an American release. Despite receiving scant praise, it was also released in Germany, South America, and Japan.
It would be Ringo’s final record in more than a decade. With the release of the album, Time Takes Time in 1992, he and his career made a strong comeback after becoming sober, and he was already working on the All-Starr Band tour package that would be a hit for the next 30 years and counting.