Ringo Starr
Old Wave

THE REVIEW

Ringo Starr's solo career has been dismissed by many critics who probably never understood the true spirit with which the former Beatle approached it. His works cannot be judged like those of his three friends; you can't use the same criteria. It makes no sense because Starkey has never taken himself too seriously and has always preferred to have fun recording his music rather than trying to create a masterpiece album. With this spirit, the notable "Ringo" ('73), "Goodnight Vienna" ('74), and even "Stop And Smell The Roses" ('81) were born. 

In 1983, in crisis with his record company and deep into alcoholism, Ringo managed to put together a new LP thanks to Joe Walsh. "Old Wave" is considered by many as a product lost in some corner by official critics and dismissed as "just another Ringo album". It deserves to be listened to because, although at the time it was released only in a few countries (excluding the USA and UK), it follows the path set by the previous "Stop And Smell The Roses": quality songs recorded with a lighthearted spirit. As Ringo says, it's the "old wave" in contrast with the contemporary New Wave, with no electronics, just a few keyboard concessions. It starts with the pleasant "In My Car" by Starkey-Walsh and continues with a series of successful pop-rock tracks with a touch of originality in the choice of songs, like "Picture Show Life", a real little gem, and the melancholic "As Far As We Can Go"; it closes with two excellent instrumental pieces, energetic, performed with various friends including Eric Clapton and John Entwistle. 

Worth mentioning is Ringo's consistently excellent performance as a drummer, clean and perfect as always. Recently, I read that someone analyzed all of the Beatles' studio sessions and discovered that the four of them stopped less than twelve times during their entire career due to a mistake by Starr. This demonstrates once again why in the music world he is known as "the metronome" and the reason why his colleagues always wanted him on their records. 

After the release of "Old Wave", Ringo decided to seriously address his alcohol dependency problem, and together with his wife, Barbara Bach, he retreated to a specialized clinic. He emerged clean and with new energy that spurred him to return in better shape than ever to tackle the rest of his career.