Johnny Dee in Waysted w/ Pete Way

Johnny Dee, born John DiTeodoro Jr. in Philadelphia in 1963, got his first real break on the international stage when he joined Waysted in the mid‑1980s. Waysted was the British hard rock band formed by former UFO bassist Pete Way, who had already built a reputation as one of hard rock’s most charismatic and volatile figures through years of touring and recording with UFO. Dee flew to the UK at around 22 years old to take the gig, and his first show with Waysted was at London’s Marquee Club, showcasing for EMI. That lineup, with Pete Way on bass, ex‑UFO guitarist Paul Chapman, vocalist Danny Vaughn, and Dee on drums, recorded the 1986 album *Save Your Prayers* for EMI, a record that later gained a reputation among melodic rock fans as a cult classic.

Playing with Pete Way was a crash course in real touring and big‑room rock for Dee. Way brought his UFO‑honed sense of song arrangement and stage presence into Waysted, and the band quickly moved from clubs to major support slots, including dates on Iron Maiden’s *Somewhere in Time* tour across Europe, the Eastern Bloc, the US, and Canada. For Johnny, that period meant learning how to hold down a rock‑solid, groove‑oriented drum chair in front of massive crowds while sharing the stage with players he had once only seen in magazines, something he later credited as foundational for everything that came after, from Britny Fox to his long tenure with Doro. When Waysted folded in 1987, he returned to Philadelphia, took over the drum spot in Britny Fox, and used everything he had absorbed under Pete Way to drive the arena‑rock anthems that would become his calling card.