HUEY TUESDAY – a weekly dig through the archives of the only 80s band more interested in workin’ for a livin’ than being hip. But for every monster pop single, there was a deep album detour into new wave, ska, blues, reggae, a capella and instrumentals. Hip to be square, indeed! Have you really heard the News?
The idea of Small World was to get away from the pre-fab pop-rock that had grown tired by 1988 – not just for the band, but the rest of the industry, which had pivoted to hair band metal and girl-group soul.
It would be tempting to track down the full 9-minute version of the jazzy title track, which was only released once … on the B-side of the “Small World” 45 single.
Inexplicably, the song was broken into two halves on the album! The first half is the single that went to #21 on the Billboard chart; and “Small World (Part Two)” is the half with jazz legend Stan Getz’ playful saxophone solo.
But we decided to go with this live version instead. Come for the song, stay for the tasty guitar work from departed lead strummer Chris Hayes (don’t worry, he’s still alive but left the band in 2000), and the smokin’ drum solo by Bill Gibson, which gets moving at the 4:30 mark.
You know how the News have a reputation for being a great live band? Here’s an example!
