The Queen of Hits

March 26, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

JUICE NEWTON AND EXILE TEAM UP

The Queen of Hits

111This was the case with her crossover 1981 hit “Queen of Hearts,” which required her persistence with a producer to record.

“I knew that song was a hit the minute I heard it,” said Newton, calling from San Diego. “I had to convince Richard Landis, my producer, who didn’t actually hear the song, if you know what I mean.

“I said, ‘You have to see this and really listen to this tune.’ I played it for a cold audience back then, and it was immediate. It’s a very infectious song. It’s a great song.”

Fans of Newton will get a chance to hear “Queen of Hearts” as well as all of her hits and the music of Exile when their co-headlining bill comes to Warren tonight for a concert at Packard Music Hall.

“We’ve done shows off and on for a couple of years,” Newton said. “I started on the pop side, and they started on the pop side, too. We’ve been able to combine it. So we put together this show, and it works fine.

“In this configuration, they’re my backing band. They do some of their material, then I come out. Assuming there’s an encore, we come back together.”

During the ’80s, Newton was a recording powerhouse winning Grammy Awards and selling more than 10 million records buoyed by the success of her 15 top-10 hits, which include “Angel of the Morning,” “Queen of Hearts” and No. 1 “The Sweetest Thing [I’ve Ever Known].” The latter track spent 18 weeks in the top 40.

In recent years she’s been focusing on not only the tours with Exile but also live dates with her own band and even a trio that plays out occasionally.

Something else that’s on Newton’s radar is a new album due out later this year or early next year. The songwriter said she’ll have original material on the project, as well as songs by other songwriters. She learned a long time ago not to be picky.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to get great songs like ‘Queen of Hearts’ or ‘Love’s Been a Little Bit Hard on Me,’” Newton said. “I didn’t write those songs. You have to be able to be honest about it. All records should have a personality, even if you’ve written songs, that don’t fit possibly the personality of the record.

“I think someone is making a mistake by forcing certain tunes on their projects just for the publishing money.”

Speaking of money, Newton said she’s embracing the new business model of employing a funding platform for the upcoming album. That’s right, the ’80s singer is putting together a Kickstarter campaign, which will be unveiled in the next week or so.

When asked if she thinks her audience will support her efforts, Newton said, “I hope so. Just on my Facebook page I have over 18,000 followers. And then just this week we created a Twitter feed; although, I’m kind of busy. It’s not like I carry around my phone tweeting or twerking.”

While not sure how she’d twerk her Twitter account, we couldn’t resist the notion of her embracing modern technology but not modern dance moves. Just to confirm, Newton won’t be twerking at her upcoming show in Warren.

“No,” Newton said, laughing. “I’m a good dancer, but I won’t be twerking. That doesn’t seem to fit my MO.”