Recorded 6th - 16th April, 31st May - 10th June, and 24th June into July 1982 at Ringo's "Startling Studios" in Ascot.

The album was initially titled "It Beats Sleep".

The front cover photograph (it says on the sleeve) was, "taken in a photo booth somewhere in Northern England".
The back cover photograph was by Ron Slenzak.
The cover co-ordinator was Jeff Alexander, with the cover direction by Jeff Lancaster for "Art Hotel".

I have been in contact with Jeff Lancaster and he told me his memories of the making of "Old Wave" ...

"I worked with Ringo and Barbara on this release in a design capacity.
I think I got the first message on my answering machine and thought it was a joke, but it was legit. I then met up with Ringo and Barbara in Santa Barbara. I rang their room and was told to wait, after an hour I was asked to go up. Upon entering the room I saw that both Barbara and Ringo were in bed watching "Custers last stand". Ringo turned to me and said ironicly, "How's this thing turn out mate ?".
From then it was a fun project to work on... they were a blast.
The photo on the front cover was from a photo booth strip that he had had a while from before hooking up with the Beatles. Joe Walsh was definitely a presence..the credits you list say it was recorded in Ascot, but I personally saw much of it recorded in Joe's studio there in Santa Barbara (downtown)."