the album was originally titled "it beats sleep". the portrait on the album cover was shot in a booth in northern england. as starr's rca contract had been cancelled, he needed to find a new label for "old wave". though it was just over a decade after the beatles' dissolution, no major uk or us record company was interested in signing him. starr would not accept that and was determined to have "old wave" released any way he could. the album was due to be released on the boardwalk label, but never appeared due to the death of the label's head, neil bogart. rca canada ended up distributing the album in june 1983 in canada, australia, new zealand, japan, the netherlands, mexico, and brazil; while in germany, the album and lone single pulled from it, both released on 16 june, appeared on the bellaphon label. the canadian release of the album occurred on 24 june. however, "old wave" failed to achieve success in any of these territories, and would be starr's last studio album until 1992's "time takes time". two singles were pulled from the album: one in germany, "in my car", backed with "as far as we can go", and the other in mexico ("i keep forgettin'" b/w "she's about a mover").