Hiatt was picked up by the MCA label in 1979. He released two albums for the label – "Slug Line" (1979) and "Two Bit Monsters" (1980) – neither of which met with commercial success. He received a few good reviews for these albums by critics in the Netherlands. He performed at Paradiso in Amsterdam for the first time in 1979 (opening for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes) and came back often and built a solid fan base. In 1982, "Across the Borderline", written by Hiatt with Ry Cooder and Jim Dickinson, appeared on the soundtrack to the motion picture "The Border", sung by country star Freddy Fender. The song later was covered on albums by Willie Nelson, Paul Young, Rubén Blades and Willy DeVille, among others, as well as by Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan in concert. Hiatt was signed in 1982 to Geffen (which later absorbed MCA), where he recorded three diverse albums from 1982 to 1985. The first, "All of a Sudden", was produced by Tony Visconti, and featured use of keyboards and synthesizers; his future albums combined country and soul influences. "Riding with the King" appeared in 1983, produced by Scott Mathews, Ron Nagle and Nick Lowe. Hiatt began making "critics choice" lists and building a large European following. The title track of "Riding with the King" (taken from an odd dream Scott Mathews had) was re-recorded two decades later by Eric Clapton and B. B. King and went double platinum.