Artist: Dave Dobbyn, Th’ Dudes & DD Smash

Label: Festival Records (New Zealand)

Release: 1992

Format: CD, 1 disc

Catalogue: D30733

Genre: New Zealand Rock / Pop Rock

Running time: Approximately 57 minutes

The Dave Dobbyn Collection is a very good early-career retrospective, covering Dobbyn's music from his beginnings with Th’ Dudes, through DD Smash, and into his successful solo career. It was released in 1992 and reached No. 4 on the New Zealand albums chart.

Track highlights

The collection includes:

Th’ Dudes – “Be Mine Tonight”

DD Smash – “Devil You Know”

“Solo”

“Repetition”

“Outlook for Thursday”

“Magic”

“Whaling”

“Guilty”

Dave Dobbyn – “Lipstick Power”

“Slice of Heaven”

“Oughta Be in Love”

“Loyal”

“Love You Like I Should”

“Stay”

It's particularly useful because it isn't simply a Dave Dobbyn solo greatest-hits album. It tells the story of his development from the late-1970s New Zealand pub-rock scene with Th’ Dudes, through the harder-edged DD Smash period, and into his more polished solo work.

“Slice of Heaven” is the obvious major hit, but tracks such as “Be Mine Tonight,” “Devil You Know,” “Magic” and “Loyal” make this a much more rounded overview of his career up to 1988.

Overall: An excellent early Dave Dobbyn compilation, and arguably more interesting historically than later collections because it shows the progression from Th’ Dudes → DD Smash → solo artist. If you're cataloguing the CD for eBay, the Festival D30733 1992 edition is the key identification detail.