Small World (Huey Lewis and the News album)

Small World
Studio album by Huey Lewis and the News
Released	June 10, 1988
Recorded	1987–1988
Studio	Studio D Recording, Sausalito, California
Genre	Rock pop rock
Length	45:20
Label	Chrysalis
Producer	Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News chronology
Fore! (1986) Small World (1988) Hard at Play (1991)
Singles from Small World
"Perfect World" Released: June 1988 "Small World (Part One)" Released: 1988 "Give Me the Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)" Released: January 1989 "World to Me" Released: 1989 "Walking with the Kid" Released: 1989

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Village Voice	C−[2]

Small World is the fifth studio album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1988. It was the band's last album release on Chrysalis Records in the United States.

Although it reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Small World did not sell as well as the band's previous albums, Sports and Fore!. However, Huey Lewis himself stated in a Behind the Music interview that the recording process for Small World had the most favorable working conditions.^{[citation needed]}

Recording

The album track "Slammin'" was written for the purpose of being used for highlights for the San Francisco 49ers NFL football team, which the band and especially Lewis are big fans of.^[3] "We thought it'd be a cool idea to have an instrumental on the record. Very old school," Lewis recalled.^[3] Lewis joked that the song should've just been called "49er Highlights".^[3] The team used the song for game highlights.^[3]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Small World (Part One)"	Chris Hayes Huey Lewis	3:55
2.	"Old Antone's"	Johnny Colla H. Lewis	4:47
3.	"Perfect World"	Alex Call	4:07
4.	"Bobo Tempo"	John Ciambotti Sean Hopper H. Lewis	4:39
5.	"Small World (Part Two)"	Hayes H. Lewis	4:06

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Walking with the Kid"	Hayes H. Lewis Geoffrey Palmer	3:59
2.	"World to Me"	Hayes H. Lewis	5:21
3.	"Better Be True"	Colla H. Lewis	5:19
4.	"Give Me the Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)"	Bill Gibson H. Lewis Steve Lewis	4:35
5.	"Slammin'" (Instrumental)	Greg Adams Hayes Palmer	4:32
Total length:			45:36

Personnel

Huey Lewis and the News

• Huey Lewis – lead vocals, harmonica
• Johnny Colla – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals
• Chris Hayes – guitar, backing vocals
• Mario Cipollina – bass
• Sean Hopper – keyboards, backing vocals
• Bill Gibson – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• The Tower of Power Horns – horns (1, 3, 5, 9, 10):
  • Emilio Castillo – tenor saxophone
  • Steve Grove – tenor saxophone
  • Stephen "Doc" Kupka – baritone saxophone
  • Greg Adams – trumpet, horn arrangements
  • Lee Thornburg – trumpet
• Bruce Hornsby – accordion (2), backing vocals (2)
• Peter Michael – percussion (1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10)
• Stan Getz – tenor saxophone (1, 5)
• Ralph Arista – backing vocals (4, 6)
• Michael Duke – backing vocals (4, 7)
• Jerome Fletcher – backing vocals (4)
• Joel Jaffe – backing vocals (4)
• Jim Moran – backing vocals (4, 6)
• David Tolmie – backing vocals (4)
• Dwight Clark – backing vocals (6)
• Riki Ellison – backing vocals (6)
• Ronnie Lott – backing vocals (6)
• Joe Montana – backing vocals (6)
• Jim "Watts" Vereecke – backing vocals (6)
• David Fredericks – backing vocals (7)

Production

• Huey Lewis and the News – producers
• Bob Brown – executive producer
• Robert Missbach – engineer, mixing
• Jeffrey "Nik" Norman – additional engineer
• Michael Rosen – assistant engineer
• Tom Size – assistant engineer
• Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering
• Ralph Arista – guitar technician
• Jerry Daniels – keyboard technician
• Carl Ciasulli – drum technician
• Terry Persons – production manager
• Craig Frazier – art direction, design
• Jock McDonald – photography
• Roger Ressmeyer – cover photography
• Chris Welch – liner notes

Studios

• Recorded at Studio D Recording (Sausalito, California).
• Mixed at Fantasy Studios (Berkeley, California).
• Mastered at Masterdisk (New York, NY).

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[4]	21
Belgian Albums (BEA)[5]	4
Canadian Albums (RPM)[6]	7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7]	55
European Top 100 Albums[8]	11
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9]	5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10]	8
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[11]	9
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12]	17
Japanese International Albums (Oricon)[13]	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14]	28
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15]	12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16]	14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[17]	10
UK Albums (OCC)[18]	12
US Billboard 200[19]	11

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)	Position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[20]	43
US Billboard 200[21]	88

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1988	"Perfect World"	Billboard Hot 100	3
		Adult Contemporary	2
		Album Rock Tracks	5
	"Small World, Pt. 1"	Billboard Hot 100	25
		Adult Contemporary	19
		Album Rock Tracks	28
1989	"Give Me the Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)"	Billboard Hot 100	47

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[22]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[23]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Small World – Huey Lewis & the News". AllMusic. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
2. Christgau, Robert (November 29, 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
3. Huey Lewis Fan Q&A: August 12, 2019
4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, NSW. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
5. "Billboard Magazine". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
6. "RPM: Huey Lewis and the News (albums)". RPM Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Huey Lewis and the News – Small World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
8. "Billboard". books.google.com. 28 December 1989. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
9. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
10. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
11. "Tonlist Top 40". DV. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
12. "Oricon Archive - Huey Lewis and the News". Oricon. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
13. "Oricon Archive - Huey Lewis and the News". Oricon. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
14. "Charts.nz – Huey Lewis and the News – Small World". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
15. "Norwegiancharts.com – Huey Lewis and the News – Small World". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
16. "Swedishcharts.com – Huey Lewis and the News – Small World". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
17. "Swisscharts.com – Huey Lewis and the News – Small World". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
18. "Huey Lewis and the News Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
19. "Huey Lewis and the News US Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
20. "Top 100 Albums of '88" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49, no. 10. 24 December 1988. p. 13. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
21. "Billboard.BIZ – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1988". billboard.biz. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
22. "British album certifications – Huey Lewis & the News – Small World". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
23. "American album certifications – Huey Lewis & the News – Small World". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 25, 2012.