Let’s face it, 1983’s Sports was about as perfect a pop-rock album that was ever released. It was almost a done deal that Huey and the boys would try and duplicate the template – and the mixed result was 1986’s Fore.
But by 1988, just about every bit of the musical landscape had changed around them and upon the first listen of Small World, you could almost hear Huey say “Fuck it, boys. Let’s just do what we want. It ain’t gonna matter.”
And that’s why 1988 is known as the year of the heavy metal hair band, and the News had songs like “Bobo Tempo” on their album.
Mostly a reggae-fueled instrumental, with lyrics like “No, I ain’t joking, the best shit they are smoking … strange cosmic forces, naked girls on horses…” this was about as far away from “The Power of Love” as you could get. It’s as if Huey and Sean Hopper set out to write the ultimate pot-smoking jam session they could.
Not a surprise, considering they also did the theme for The Pineapple Express.
