''Mask of Smiles'' is the third solo album by

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

singer-songwriter

John Waite John Charles Waite (born 4 July 1952) is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single " Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top ten on ...

. It was released in mid-1985. The previous year, Waite's "

Missing You Missing You, Missin' You, or Missing U may refer to: Film and television * ''Missing You'' (2008 film), a Singaporean film * ''Missing You'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Missing U'' (film), a 2013 short animated film by Brooke Wagstaff ...

" was a No. 1 hit. There were two singles released from this disc. The first, "Every Step of the Way", was a No. 25 hit on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's Hot 100, aided by a popular music video. The other single, "Welcome to Paradise", fared less well, peaking at No. 85 Pop. The album itself peaked at No. 36 on the

album chart.

Track listing

# "Every Step of the Way" (John Waite,

Ivan Král Ivan Kral (12 May 1948 – 2 February 2020) was a Czech Americans, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, guitarist, record producer, bassist, and singer-songwriter. He worked across genres including pop music, punk rock, garage rock, rock, ja ...

) – 4:09 # "Laydown" (Waite) – 3:30 # "Welcome to Paradise" (Waite) – 3:55 # "Lust for Life" (Waite,

John McCurry John McCurry (born June 24, 1957) is an American musician and composer, a guitarist, songwriter and singer based in New York City. He has worked with many well-known musical artists, including Chicago, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Joel, David Bowie, Ali ...

) – 3:02 # "

Ain't That Peculiar "Ain't That Peculiar" is a 1965 song recorded by American soul musician Marvin Gaye for the Tamla (Motown) label. Background The single was produced by Smokey Robinson, and written by Robinson, and fellow Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moo ...

" (

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

, Pete Moore,

Marv Tarplin Marvin Tarplin (June 13, 1941 – September 30, 2011) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s. He was one of the group's original members and co-wrote several of their bigges ...

Ronald White Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'', Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English '' Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised form of ...

) – 3:07 # "Just Like Lovers" (Waite,

Tommy Mandel Tommy Mandel (born June 2, 1949) is a keyboardist most notable for playing with Bryan Adams from 1981 to 1998, starting with the album ''You Want It You Got It''. Life and career Prior to joining Bryan Adams' band, Mandel released a self-titled ...

) – 4:29 # "The Choice" (Waite) – 4:25 # "You're the One" (Waite, Chuck Kentis) – 3:18 # "No Brakes" (Waite) – 3:14

Personnel

* John Waite – lead vocals *

– keyboards, synthesizers * Chuck Kentis – electric piano *

– lead guitars * "Bingo" – guitars, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Ritchie Fliegler – 12-string guitar *

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with ...

– guitars (10) * Donnie Nossov – bass, backing vocals *

Carmine Rojas Carmine Rojas (February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B/funk, and jazz. Music career Early years, as sideman Born in Brooklyn, Rojas toured the world with David Bowie ...

– bass * Joey Vasta – bass * Alan Childs – drums, percussion *

Frankie LaRocka Frankie LaRocka (April 17, 1954 – May 12, 2005), born Frank LaRocca, was an American rock musician and producer. He was a member of Scandal, playing drums on their debut EP, and, at various stages, played the drums with Bon Jovi, David Johanse ...

– drums, percussion * The Borneo Horns (Steve Elson and

Stan Harrison Stan Harrison (born December 8, 1953) is an American saxophonist who is also accomplished in playing other woodwind instruments, namely the horn, flute and clarinet. He has also written music for television. Harrison released his first solo album ...

) – horns *

Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...

– tenor sax solo (6) * Melanie X (Melanie Burkett) – backing vocals (5)

Production

* John Waite – producer, mixing * Stephen Galfas – producer, engineer, mixing * Bingo – engineer (2-4) * Gary Hellman – engineer (2-4) * Gene Curtis – assistant engineer (2-4) * Chris Isca – assistant engineer (2-4) * John Luongo – remixing (2-4) * Frederick Galfas – studio assistant * Tony Recascino – studio assistant *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY). * Henry Marquez – art direction * Mick Haggerty – artwork, design * Noriski Yokosuka – photography * Maxine Van-Cliffe Arakawa – fashion coordinator * Kansai Man – clothing * AMI (Stephen Machat and Rick Smith) – management * All Songs Published By House Of Cards (adm. Walk On Moon Music).

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums EMI Records albums John Waite albums