Lewis, Huey & The News Sports/Small World CD - Import

This collection presents two 1980s albums by the pop/rock group Huey Lewis & the News, and includes favorites such as "I Want a New Drug," "If This Is It," and "Perfect World."

This budget packaging of Huey Lewis and the News' Sports and Small World is a convenient way to compare the group's two most diametrically opposed albums. Released in 1983 to little fanfare, Sports eventually racked up three Top Ten hits with "Heart of Rock and Roll," "I Want a New Drug," and the blue-eyed soul ballad "If This Is It." This album and its equally successful follow-up, Fore, best demonstrate the band's unique ability to mix a skinny-tied new wave sensibility à la the Cars with their own brand of barroom soul. Conversely, Huey Lewis and the News played out the "me" decade on a flat note, releasing the somber Small World in 1988. Hoping to expand the emotional range of his songwriting, Lewis included some socially conscious lyrics and less accessible melodies. What resulted is a less than memorable album, made all the more forgettable by the success of its forebears. ~ Matt Collar

Digitally remastered edition that combines the tracks of 2 original LP's on to a single compact disc. The third and fourth albums from the San Francisco based band became their best sellers and lifted the group to superstardom in the 1980's. Includes the hits "I Want A New Drug", "The Heart Of Rock N Roll", "Heart & Soul", "Bad Is Bad", "If This Is It", "Perfect World" and many more.

Personnel: Johnny Colla (vocals, guitar, saxophone); Chris Hayes (vocals, guitar); Sean Hopper (vocals, keyboards); Bill Gibson (vocals, drums, percussion); Bruce Hornsby (accordion, background vocals); Emilio Castillo (tenor saxophone); Stephen Kupka (baritone saxophone); Lee Thornberg (trumpet); Tower of Power Horn Section (horns); Michael Duke, Peter Michael (percussion); Dwight Clark, David Fredericks, Ralph Arista, Jim "Watts" Vereecke, Riki Ellison, Ronnie Lott, Jim Moran (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Bob Missbach; Bob Clearmountain.

Liner Note Authors: Huey Lewis; Alan Robinson.

Recording information: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, CA; Plant Studios, Sausalito, CA; Studio D, Sausalito, CA; The Automatt, San Francisco, CA.