The Tubes - The Best of The Tubes 1981-1987 (1991)

The title of this CD puzzles me. They list the years as 1981-1987 when all the songs come from 1981-1983. Nothing from the band's 1985 release Love Bomb is included here. The years 1981-83 could be known as 'The David Foster/Toto Years' because Foster's slick pop production and songwriting is all over these songs and the band is mostly replaced by the session musicians of Toto (Foster did the same thing with Chicago around the same time). By this time, the group had definitely abandoned their glam/punk roots in search of commercial success. I borrowed a friend's copy of 1981's The Completion Backward Principle and dubbed a tape of it before buying my own vinyl copy, then bought a copy of 1983's Outside Inside on LP. I was also aware of the group from their appearance on the fabulous Xanadu soundtrack.

Tracks: The first 6 tracks are from The Completion Backward Principle and, except for Amnesia, they're all good and bring back great memories of riding around in my car singing Sushi Girl at the top of my lungs with my windows down. I'm sure I was the most entertaining mobile show in my little hometown, circa 1982. Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman isn't a great song, but the lyrics make up for the lack of good music. The ballad Don't Want To Wait Anymore is classic Foster and seems like it should have been included in a cheesy '80s summer movie as the love theme.

The next 3 tracks are from Outside Inside. She's A Beauty was the band's biggest hit and contains many of the group's trademark double entendre lyrics. The final track is Sports Fans, a 1982 single-only released produced by Bobby Columby of Blood, Sweat & Tears. I could complain about this song few have heard being included in a Best Of collection, but could I expect anything less from a CD bought in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart? I would have preferred Wild Women Of Wongo to Sports Fans, but whatever.

Song	Hot 100	Rock
Talk To Ya Later	101	7
Sushi Girl	-	-
Amnesia	-	-
Attack Of The Fifty Foor Woman	-	-
Don't Want To Wait Anymore	35	22
Let's Make Some Noise	-	-
She's A Beauty	10	1
The Monkey Time	68	16
Tip Of My Tongue	52	-
Sports Fans	-	-

It should also be noted that the version of Monkey Time included on this CD has guest vocals from Michele Gray. The original cut on the Outside Inside album had vocals from Martha Davis of The Motels.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I've mentioned my vocal contributions to the community (above), but this music also makes me think of working at Burger King. I seem to remember staying late after we had closed (fast food places closed at 9 PM back then) and played poker with some co-workers. It seems that The Tubes was background music during that game.