This album may have never happened, if not for Stax Records splitting with Atlantic Records in 1968, losing their back catalog in the process. Stax was looking for new artists, desperate to fill the content void. Hayes, having already been a songwriter for the label (he co-wrote Sam and Dave's "Soul Man"), and released a solo album to little notice, agreed to cut a second one as long as he had creative control. The end result was an unconventional smash hit. There are only four tracks, and three of them are covers. The lead-off "Walk On By" is definitive in so many ways, not just for Hayes' career but for music in general. Like everything else on the album (and future ones), it’s unapologetically over-the-top, running the gamut of emotions throughout 12 minutes of run-time. He further pushes the emotional envelope with an 18-plus minute exploration of Jimmy Webb's "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", which also introduces his penchant for spoken-word sections. But levity comes in the form of "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic", a funky jam boosted by nonsensical lyrics and an intimate piano solo. Probably the only thing that seems a bit out of place is the relatively short cover of "One Woman" which was also adult contemporary in nature, but that is splitting hairs. Even the cover is iconic in a timeless manner. Hayes recorded the album in Memphis using The Bar-Kays as his backing band, and the orchestral flourishes were added later in the process.

Not likely to mess with a proven formula, Fore! is essentially Sports part 2, but the bite is sorely lacking. This, despite another helping of hit singles - five of them in all, including "Hip to Be Square" which immediately defined the yuppie 80's.

One thing about Huey Lewis & The News (along with a lot of other acts) is that people seemed to think they were strictly an 80's phenomenon, when the actual truth was, their origins stretched far back to the early 1970's. The group was essentially the joining of two Bay Area rock bands (Clover and Soundhole) - both of whom have their own convoluted histories, but whatever the case, eventually what became known to us as Huey Lewis & The News released their first album in 1980. Picture This followed in early 1982, and buffeted by the smash single "Do You Believe In Love?", went gold, and established the group as pop stars. The album itself is a mixed bag, wavering between California-friendly soft rock and punchy pop-rock on the fringes of New Wave. The aforementioned "Do You Believe In Love" has more in common with the former genre, while "Workin' For A Livin" is really the only solid indication of the rock-solid sound they got to on Sports.

First off, this is the CBB record with the first massive hit single – the thump-thumping super-funky U.S. tour diatribe “Couldn’t Get It Right” – which honestly comes off a bit like a thicker, smokier version of an early Average White Band hit tune, rendered even more authentic by Cooper’s growls. “Couldn’t Get It Right” is pretty much a matter of record, and certainly the most shining example of the band’s ability to perfect the blues/funk hybrid, but there are other spots worthy of hearing as well. “Rollin’ Home” and “Sav’ry Gravy” are a couple of blues-themed tunes which nearly remind me of the old days! Only they have updated production values and gimmicks. But especially “Gravy” is a gas to hear, showing the group hasn’t lost its’ quirky sense of humor. “Chasing Change” is a nice little funk-rock exercise, too. Nothing too special, but the way the band works in the harmonies with the main groove is pleasant enough. “Berlin Blues” is more on the epic side, feeling a bit like the old prog-blues pieces which Haycock used to go to town on, but it’s a bit too much atmosphere to hold my attention. “Together and Free” and “Mighty Fire” open the album on a mainly positive note, giving you a burst of energy, but otherwise, there is nothing all the special in these two tracks, either. Overall, Gold Plated is a tweener album from a tweener era, which is its’ charm and its’ problem, all at once. And I do not think the one hit song makes much of a difference here.

Despite the somewhat scuzzy album cover this album for CBB shows the band going in a more mainstream direction. To these ears, CBB has toned down the ugliness that marked their earlier works and that is not a good development. Overall, it feels like the band is cutting a cleaned-up take on a Ten Years After record from the same time frame. The opening tracks on both sides, for me, are the best and brightest works, with the title track functioning as a decent anti-war, class commentary piece. “Shake Your Love”, meanwhile, shows off their love for all things Bo Diddley, but it’s fun while it’s on. The rest of the first side veers to well-played but pedestrian blues (“You Make Me Sick”) and/or folk-rock (“Mole on the Dole”). There is a bit more depth to the tracks on the second side, including a throwback with the last song (the weary-sounding “Don’t you Mind People Grinning in Your Face”), but on the whole, there is nothing special about any of this. Weirdly enough – despite the jazzy and fun cover – pretty much this is a disappointing step back from the disturbing depths the previous albums explored. It is, in the very least, listenable on the average.