Juice is the sixth studio album and third solo album by American country rock singer Juice Newton. The album was released in February 1981 and was her first major international success.
Newton remade the 1968 Merrilee Rush hit at the suggestion of Steve Meyer, who promoted Capitol Records product to radio stations and felt it would be a strong candidate to attain airplay for Newton.[3]
The album features two #1 hits, "Angel of the Morning" and "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)". It also contains "Queen of Hearts," the biggest-selling single of Juice Newton's career, which peaked at #2 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts[4] ("Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie prevented the song from reaching #1). "Queen of Hearts" was a popular music video during the summer of MTV's debut. Newton would go on to have more hit songs and albums, but this remains the album for which she is best known.
In 1984, a fourth track from Juice, titled "Ride 'Em Cowboy", was released in support of Newton's first "Greatest Hits" album. The single reached #32 on the U.S. Billboard Country charts.
Two versions of the album exist. Early releases feature the original pedal steel guitar-heavy country version of "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)," subsequently replaced by the more pop-friendly remix that was issued as a single. Early editions have the artist's name in blue outlined letters on the front of the jacket. Later editions with this remix have the artists name with the lettering filled in with cream or off white.
Juice garnered Juice Newton two "Best Female Vocalist" Grammy Award nominations (in the Pop and Country categories, respectively) neither of which she won. But she did win her first Grammy for her follow-up album Quiet Lies.
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