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Perfect World (Huey Lewis and the News song)

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"Perfect World"
Single by Huey Lewis and the News
from the album Small World
B-side"Slammin'"
ReleasedJune 1988
GenreRock
Length4:07
LabelChrysalis Records
Songwriter(s)Alex Call
Producer(s)Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News singles chronology
"Doing It All for My Baby"
(1987) 		"Perfect World"
(1988) 		"Small World (Part One)"
(1988)

"Perfect World" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News and released as the first single from the album Small World in late June 1988. The single peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #48 on the UK Singles Chart.

History

The song was written by Alex Call, a former bandmate of Lewis and Sean Hopper from the band, Clover.[1] Call had previously co-written the hit song "867-5309/Jenny" for Tommy Tutone. Huey Lewis gave the song a reggae flavor.[2] The song is an optimistic commentary on a human being's hopes and dreams,[3] as well as our private thoughts.[2] The song tells the person to "keep on dreaming," because there will never be a perfect world.[1] The song admits that life isn't perfect, but tells the listener to use the power of positive dreaming to cope with the reality.[4] The B-side to the single was an instrumental album track, "Slammin'".[5]

Music video

The music video features the band playing on a stage in a garbage dump field, with various pieces of garbage flying in the air, hitting various members of the band. Throughout the video, Huey Lewis dances and strolls through a pathway as work is done by garbage trucks behind him. At the end of the video, the band is seen posing by more garbage. The video received heavy rotation on MTV and peaked at #3 on the channel's Top 20 Video Countdown.[6] Lewis has said that the video is one of his favorites that he's done, and considered it one of the more "relaxed" videos the band ever filmed "The early [videos] were fun, but we had so much to do with limited budget that we had to work to exhaustion".[7] Lewis felt the video was a "creative idea" and he enjoyed that it all took place in one location and was "fairly easy" to do.[8]

Reception

Reception for the song was mostly positive. Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune said that the song was "Wry," and it seemed "destined" to be another top ten single from the band.[3] According to Martin Moynihan of the Albany Times Union, the song was "a pop music mix of Lewis' usual musical optimism tempered with an element of reserve"[9] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said of the song, "None of the musical diversions work as well as the bouncy Top Ten hit 'Perfect World.'" Erlewine also believed that the song ranked "with the group's best material."[10] Jerry Spangler of Deseret News said that the song was a "captivating rocker."[11] New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden considers the song a "companion piece" to the first song off of the Small World album, "Small World, Part One".[12]

Chart performance

"Perfect World" was the first single released from the album Small World. Originally to be released in mid-June,[13][14] the single's release was held off until later in the month.[15] It was the last top-ten hit for the band, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100[16] and was prevented from moving further up the chart by Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine", and Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible".[17]

Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Kent Report[5] 22
Canadian RPM Top Singles 1
Dutch Singles Chart 64
Finnish Singles Chart[18] 11
French Singles Chart[19] 44
New Zealand Singles Chart 43
South African Singles Chart[20] 14
UK Singles Chart 48
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 3
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[16] 2
US Billboard Album Rock Tracks 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1988) Position
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[21][22] 64

References

  1. ^ a b Morse, Steve (28 July 1988). "Huey Lewis Broadens Sound on 'Small World'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  2. ^ a b Sullivan, Jim (3 September 1988). "A Tantalizing Taste of the Deeper Huey Lewis". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  3. ^ a b Matre, Lynn Van (7 August 1988). "World of Difference: Huey Lewis and the News Expand Its Horizons". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  4. ^ Boehm, Mike (31 July 1988). "There's Only Good News From Huey Lewis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  5. ^ a b "ultratop.be - Huey Lewis And The News - Perfect World". ultratop.be. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Video Top Ten". Miami Herald. 26 August 1988. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  7. ^ http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038 Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine Huey Lewis Fan Q&A: November 16, 2015
  8. ^ http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038 Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine Huey Lewis Fan Q&A: December 16, 2018
  9. ^ Martin, Moynihan (28 August 1988). "From Huey: Some New Different Music Styles Permeate Group's Latest Album". The Albany Times Union.
  10. ^ "allmusic ((( Small World > Overview )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  11. ^ Spangler, Jerry (29 August 1988). "Keep Dreaming, Huey, of the Perfect Record". Deseret News. Retrieved 25 April 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ Holden, Stephen (10 August 1988). "The Pop Life". New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  13. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (15 May 1988). "Pop Eye". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  14. ^ "'Edwin Drood' Producers Search for Actor to Replace George Rose". Dallas Morning News. 7 May 1988. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  15. ^ Britt, Bruce (16 June 1988). "Billboard Lends Weight to 'Oldies' Release". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  16. ^ a b c "Chart Success Summary - HLNWiki". hln.org. Archived from the original on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  17. ^ DeKnock, Jan (16 September 1988). "All's Quiet on Music Chart Front". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "InfoDisc : Bilan des Ventes par Artiste".
  20. ^ ""Perfect World" on the South African Singles Chart". Springbok Radio. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  21. ^ "1988 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 100 (52): Y-20. December 24, 1988.
  22. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1988". Retrieved January 11, 2020.
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