"Greatest Hits" by HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS - Twenty-One Tracks for 1982 to 2000 featuring Single and Albums Tracks from "Picture This" (January 1982), "Sports" (September 1983), "We Are The World (April 1985 Charity Compilation LP), "Back To The Future - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (July 1985), "Fore!" (August 1986), "Small World" (June 1988) and more (May 2006 UK Capitol Records 'CD Compilation' of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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This Review and 209 more are in my E-Book

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LET'S GO CRAZY - 80ts Music On CD

Your All-Genres Guide To Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters

Classic Albums, Compilations, 45s

All In-Depth Reviews from the Discs Themselves

Over 1,650 e-Pages of Info

(No Cut and Paste Crap)

"...Doing It All For My Baby..."

For such a hugely popular and successful American band (especially in the Eighties) - when you try to find 'affordable' remasters of their core albums ("Sports" September 1983, "Fore!" August 1986 and "Small World" (June 1988) - joy is not the word that jumps to mind. 

 

There are Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc versions of "Sports" (which you can't afford) and various Hits Compilations that don't boast decent sound (you don't want them either) - which is where this wildly unassuming and imaginatively titled "Greatest Hits" set comes Flux Capacitor shimming in. 

 

Originally issued Stateside in two variants - the CD and DVD together - the single CD boasts 21 Remastered Tracks from the original tapes, 17 Top Ten Hits, 6 US Number 1's and those all important one off stragglers on the "Back To The Future" soundtrack and the "We Are The World" charity album. It even throws in his year 2000 duet with Gwyneth Paltrow in the very cool "Duets" movie about Karoke Singers working the circuit as a way to make a living (also stars Paul Giamatti in a star-making role). But the big news is the audio that's available to you often for under three quid on auction sites. To the Power Of Love...

 

UK released May 2006 - "Greatest Hits" by HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS on Capitol 362 9962 - 09463-62996-2-4 (Barcode 094636299624) is a 21-Track CD Compilation of Remasters covering 1982 to 2000 that plays out as follows (79:17 minutes):

1. The Heart Of Rock & Roll (Single Edit, 4:05 minutes) 

2. I Want A New Drug (Single Edit, 3:32 minutes)

3. The Power Of Love (Single Edit, 3:55 minutes)

4. Jacob's Ladder (Single Remix, 3:29 minutes)

5. Stuck With You (Single Edit, 4:27 minutes)

6. Doing it All For My Baby (3:40 minutes)

7. If This Is It (3:52 minutes)

8. Do You Believe In Love (3:28 minutes)

9. Heart And Soul (4:11 minutes)

10. Back in Time (4:19 minutes)

11. Perfect World (Single Edit, 4:07 minutes)

12. I Know What I Like (Single Edit, 3:52 minutes)

13. Trouble In Paradise (4:39 minutes)

14. It's Alright (3:00 minutes)

15. Cruisin' (Edit) 

16. Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do (3:45 minutes)

17. Small World (Single Edit, 4:39 minutes)

18. Small World (Single Edit, 4:39 minutes)

19. But It's Alright (2:53 minutes)

20. Couple Days Off (Single Edit, 3:17 minutes)

21. Workin' For A Livin' (2:38 minutes)

NOTES:

Tracks 8, 16 and 21 from the their second studio album "Picture This", January 1982 on Chrysalis Records

Tracks1, 2, 7 and 9 original versions on their third studio album "Sports", September 1983 on Chrysalis Records

Track 13 from the April 1985 Various Artists All-Star Charity Album "We Are The World", April 1985 on Columbia Records

Tracks 3 and 10 from the July 1985 Soundtrack Album to "Back To The Future" on MCA Records

Tracks 4, 5, 6, 12 and 19 from their fourth studio album "Fore!", August 1986 on Chrysalis Records

Tracks 11 and 17 from their fifth studio album "Small World", June 1988 on Chrysalis 

Track 20 from their sixth studio album "Hard At Play", May 1991 on EMI Records

Track 14 from the album "People Get Ready: A Tribute To Curtis Mayfield", March 1993 on Shanachie Records 

Track 18 from their seventh studio album "Four Chords & Several Years Ago", a compilation of cover versions issued May 1994 on Elektra Records

Track 15 from the 2000 Soundtrack Album to "Duets" on Hollywood Records

 

The 16-page colour booklet is surprisingly comprehensive when it comes to track-by-track details, each song given all their Billboard chart-placings (Adult Contemporary, Rock, Pop etc) while PAUL LIBERATORE of Marin Independent Journal (March 2006 liner notes) does a fairly bang-up job of explaining the band's huge popularity in the Eighties - the fun they exuded - the way that radio embraced their bopping Rock & Roll. And of course his appearance in the "Back To The Future" movie and their anthem "The Power Of Love" that had everyone tripping out of cinemas with a big old cheesy grin on their faces in 1985 after seeing that truly brilliant little film - the kind of movie some say is the greatest ever made. There's tribute notes from chat show host and fan Jimmy Kimble and some words from the guttural singer himself Huey Lewis talking about his 25 years with the band. There's a collage page of picture sleeves and period memorabilia and it's all you need. 

 

The Remasters were done in-house by Capitol (no names provided), but every track is HUGE - full of life and muscle. You have only to hear "Hip To Be Square" or "The Heart Of Rock & Roll" to be impressed with the kick-ass clarity. For sure stuff like the overly rocky "Couple Days Off" from 1991 and the cover version "But It's Alright" from 1994's album of oldies revisited feel like the band has run out of ideas and is treading water. But you cannot deny the great nostalgia rush of songs like "The Power Of Love" and the fun of "I Want A New Drug" and the lovely possibly even sappy pop behind "Doing It All For My Baby" and "Stuck With You". 

You will notice from the track list above that 11 of the 21 are the 'Single' versions people would have heard on FM radio, and their truncated playing times allow the compilation to sneak in just under the 80-minute threshold. The rest are LP cuts, two from the fantastic "Back To The Future" movie soundtrack of 1985 and one live track ("Trouble In Paradise") from the wildly successful all-star charity album "We Are The World" (also 1985). Their entirely Acapella cover version of The Impressions 60ts classic "It's Alright" was featured on the all-star tribute album to Curtis Mayfield in 1993. There is also the surprise No.1 smash in September 2000 from the 'Duets' film where actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis covered the Smokey Robinson 70ts smoocher "Cruisin'" - a very cool winner and her singing shockingly good.  

 

Maybe the future holds a Clamshell Box Set with Mini LP Sleeves of their seven or eight albums, but until then this Huey Lewis & The News "Greatest Hits" is a very cool little reminder of why their tunes worked their way into so many hearts...