Let's Talk About...I CAN'T WAIT
 

Still on the Rock A Little drive here, been listening to that album loads lately!

So what are everyone's thoughts on this track then? I know it's one of Stevie's most popular, or certainly seems to be. I love the Letterman story about how he played the video over and over until she appeared, and how she "fired" her managers who said she wouldn't do the show!

This is actually one of the tracks I know least about. All I know is that she wrote the words after Rick Nowels wrote one of the most "exciting" tracks she'd ever heard. That makes sense in relation the urgency of the lyrics etc but does anyone have any more info about their actual influence etc? It's definitely one of mer more frantid, dramatic lyrics.

Even though it was co-written with Rock Nowels, who is one of my favourite pop writers because of all the great songs he did with Ellen Shipley for Belinda Carlisle (I LOVE Belinda!) I've never actually been over keen on this song. I do love the loud wailing rock vocals at the start though. I know Stevie still likes this song, as shown by her kicking off Crystal Visions with it...even though I still think that that coompilation is downright weird! For that reason it's perhaps something of an oddity in her mid 80s output in that she still acknowledges it!

One other thing, in Crystal Visuions Stevie says that it was only ever performed live once and because it was so difficult it was a distsater and they never did it again. Now, we all know she did sooooo much coke in the 80s but didn't she perform it throughout the entire Rock A Little tour? She can't have forgotten all of them! Or was it really just the once?

Does anyone have a clue what some of the rushed, crazy lyrics are towards the end?

So, thoughts?

p.s: I'm already thinking about what my next track will be for this thread and I'm going to go for one that I actually have things to say about rather than just searching for info about ones I don't know much about! haha...

First, this song is catchy as hell. Sure the lyrics aren't Stevie's deepest, but it's catchy and has a good beat!

Second, the music video makes me smile. Especially the close ups, her facial expressions are just so cute!



P.S. You gotta love Mick too!

Question.
 

I read somewhere that I can't wait was recorded in just one take. I think she said it herself, they just went in the studio and did it. Perfect at once.

True/false?

It's a good song, a floorfiller at the clubs in Stockholm as I remember it.

But I like her voice better on The wild heart, one can hear on Rock a little that the drug's are on it's way to really damage it.

I heard that ot was Talk To Me she did in one take..maybe both of them?

Oh I do like the video...it's so random with Mick breaking her out of prison!

Stevie did this song the entire RAL tour. She forgot all the others I guess. I wonder what preformance of it she remembers? It was great. It was a mess - but it was a great mess. :D

I heard this song was done in one try. We don't have any other takes from it, so we have to take her word for it. (Maybe?)

I love the video for this song. It's actually my favorite solo video of Stevie's. Love the song itself too. I always thought it would be cool if Stevie opened with ICW and came down those large stairs at the start of every show.

I've heard the lyrics are about Joe Walsh.

I hadn't heard that, but the dark intensity of I Can't Wait does seem to channel what we know about their relationship.

Blame it on something at first sight
Put the blame on me, if you want to

She always said that with the two of them, it was either split up or die, and who can you blame when faced with that kind of love?

I don't think she did it the whole tour... for the first leg she did definitely. And the video is my favourite of Stevie's solo ones too!

I don't have a single live "I Can't Wait". Help, my kind Ledgies?? :)

she has said before that she would've given up everything if he (joe walsh) could've just been serious for 15 minutes - I'm paraphrasing but it was something close to that.

I think she couldn't wait on him. couldn't wait for him to be serious, settle down, commit? hell I don't know....but she couldn't F-ing wait lol


me either!

I think it is awful. I have thought it was a shlocky tacky mess since the first time I heard it. The way the melody of the chorus apes the synth note for note seems lazy as well.

"shlocky tacky mess"

you kind of just summed up the 80s.

Yeah, I don't dislike it, but I agree that it's lazy and gimmicky. I'd still rather she did a song like this in concert over Rock and Roll. I'd rather have her own hokey stuff than a cover.

Michele

I think she did I Can't Wait the whole tour in 1986.

I always liked the thing. It's a big, noisy contraption. It's all so obviously just a cheap pump-up -- but that's Rick Nowels to a T. I don't think Stevie herself had anything to do with the music track. I think Rick & the other musicians pulled all that together, & Stevie wrote some words tailored to the instrumental. In that sense, it was as much a collaboration as Nightbird or If Anyone Falls.

Before the 1986 tour started, I dreamt that Stevie opened her tour -- & her show -- in Japan with this song. It seems I was expecting a flashier high-tech Wild Heart show in 1986.

I Can't Wait always seemed like the obvious first single to me (because it is so obviously a radio song), so its exclusion from the singles market was weird.

All I can say about this song is that I love it and it's classic.

And it would make one hell of a concert opener!!!

If I were to pick a song of hers that has that typical 80's sound, this would be it. Still love it though!!!

Nope she really did do it the entire tour. From April all the way to the end of the tour in Aus. I Can't Wait is on all my RAL bootlegs.

And glad to see you over here at The Ledge. I like it here better. ;)

I have to say...I love it! Going along with what a few others have said, its so 80's...but that's what so fun about it. I think I also like it because its so different from the kinds of songs she is famous for (Rhiannon, Edge of 17, etc) Even Stand Back, which has its own 80's sound seems different to me. I'd love to see her do this live. :nod:

Oh how I loved this song when it came out. That was the year I graduated high school. I had a baby blue camaro with a killer stereo system. I seriously jammed this song back in the day.

You had to be there. :shrug:

Over-the-top '80s pop for sure, but still I love the vocal and she looked great in the video. The majority of the Talk to Me video was not flattering - her hair, make-up, clothing made her look pale & sickly, so the I Can't Wait video was a big sigh of relief.

I saw her perform this live three times(Worcester & Mansfield shows). The sound mix was a mess and her vocal was nearly inaudible, but she did have energy and lots of hair flipping.

Here is what I have for live performances.

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Popular Creek, 6-21-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/yjmdd0hxtdj

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Austin, 4-12-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/qzoiqtv25yy

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Worcester, 6-3-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/tqegyeoy5yz

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Worcester, 6-4-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/yz0z1ky0nh2

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Sydney, 9-24-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/1mqnezl2qj2

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Des Moines, 4-19-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/le5zyzxuzwm

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Melbourne, 9-30-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/uiiqwzhyk2n

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Oklahoma City, 4-16-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/z0mntyzntnh

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Mansfield, 7-30-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/m3zeiu2khx2

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Holmdel, 6-17-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jtmzlmmnzlm

REMIXES:

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (DT Remix).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/9xkg4e6ydy4

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Dub Version).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/82x1qm5e2jj

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Extended Rock Mix).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ddotycquy9m

Oh that must have ruled. Were you still on Long Island? Because, in 1986 on Long Island, if you had a Camaro with a killer stereo system (and cool, big hair) well then who was better than you? :thumbsup:

I loved I Can't Wait. When I heard it on the radio I flipped out, it surpassed all my expectations and I felt so much wild energy from her. The video was a complete suprise, it was so much fun. My head blew off my shoulders when I saw it!

Serves me right for trying to be a know it all. ;)
I was confused though, in my defence, because the bootleg I have from "Rock A Little" doesn't have "I Can't Wait" on, it's the Jones Beach one someone posted on here.

I thought I'd stop lurking and actually make an account. :p

There's just something perfect about the way she sings:

"Sometimes she talks to him, sometimes when she's only dreaming"
and
"She dances around in a circle, Well she's got that feeling now"

Which, in your opinion, is the best version vocally and/or quality wise?

Definitely still on LI- I lived there through my early twenties. I really need to scan some photos to show how spot on you are in your description. ;)

Did you ever practice the hand movements? lol

Hey, send me a PM regarding what we were talking about the other day...(update me).

I'd like to see her do it in concert with the video playing first. Then, when she breaks down the wall in the video, she can break onto the stage at the same time.

I remember seeing the Ice Capades as a child and Mary Poppins did this. First you had footage from the movie and then a human Mary Poppins emerged out of the screen flying. I was mesmerized. So, if it worked for Mary Poppins, I think it will work for Stevie:nod:.

Michele

Probably my least favorite of her top 20 Billboard solo hits.It's more of a product of studio wiziardy and over production rather than a song.Also as someone who actually attended numerous RAL tour shows IMO it did not work well as a live song.The tension of the song just seemed kind of false as compared to superior live songs like Stand Back or Edge.

I hate it. Stevie has plain lost it by this point. Just look at her frenetic shaking in the music video. Her range is so limited at this stage it's scary. The Red Rocks DVD says a lot, and not any of it good. But boy did she bounce back strong in 1996.

Actually she was great on the Street Angel tour... both vocally and performancewise..too bad not many people saw her on it.

In regard to sound quality:

This is by far the best recording/audio quality:

Stevie Nicks - I Can't Wait (Live in Popular Creek, 6-21-86).mp3
Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/yjmdd0hxtdj

Holmdel comes in a distant second, followed by Oklahoma. They'll give you idea of how I Can't Wait sounded live, but that's about it.

The other recordings are audience bootlegs - transfers from audio cassette to mp3. They're all poor quality, particularly Mansfield, Mass.

I love ICW! So much fun and energy!
The video is my favourite Stevie-video, I love how she isn't really "on point" during some scenes, she messing with her hair, she seems to be nearly cracking up by something happening behind the camera-guy and at one point she opens her mouth to start singing and then deceides not to and turns around again.

LOVE that line! Hahaha!! I may steal it, citing you corectly of course...

Alpine Valley (May 31) was recorded by the same guy who recorded Poplar Creek (June 21), using the same equipment. They're virtually identical in audio quality.

There's a two-minute sampling of the song on soundboard from one of the Australian shows in September. Have you heard that?

I just watched the video again because...well, I am writing case notes and sometimes I have to just *stop* and do something light-hearted for a moment. :o

For one thing. I think this video really illustrates the move from ethereal-soft Stevie to sexy rock chick Stevie. She was such a beautiful example of what we were all trying to achieve back then- lol.

Also, the scenes where she has just broken through and the light is shining down- so gorgeous. The hair! The moves!

Again, I guess you really just had to be there. :woohoo:

You could always read the Vivfox thread for some light-hearted fun.:]

Have you heard her live in the past ten years? :shocked: ;)

In that 9/30 Melbourne, she's forgetting words and everything.....

But the instruments are completely kick arse though. ;)

I'd rather hear her skip words and bleat out some inappropriate "wells" and "babys" in a hoarse holler, kohl dripping off her eyes, etc. She was a hot mess. It's fun, like watching some kind of wild drama unfolding. She was never closer to Janis, than during the '86 tour.