Eighties harbinger to such early Nineties pop radio juggernauts as Hooty & the Blowfish and The Spin Doctors, Huey Lewis & the News was one of the first groups to break out of the “bar band” ghetto and attain stadium-sized stature through major label marketing and multimedia sponsorship. Their first few albums for Chrysalis faltered under uneven production and occasionally faulty song-smithing, but the formula hit stride on this, their third effort. Lewis and his pals took time-tested principles of yacht and blues-rock and integrated more timely elements of “Greed Decade” bachelor pride. Huey was the charismatic front man, his chiseled good looks, pinstripe suits and well-coiffed mullet fitting right in with the band’s calculated yuppie urbanity. On stage and in video the affable, aw-shucks persona provided a balanced blend of eye candy for the ladies and backslapping, high-fiving masculinity for the guys. The twin guitars of Johnny Colla and Chris Hayes worked as a tandem riff machine on most numbers, but Sean Hopper’s synths also factored heavily into the band’s hook-laden, radio friendly book. FM anthems like “Heart of Rock & Roll” and “I Want a New Drug” (a ditty that divulged much about the decade’s pharmaceutical excesses while retaining a public friendly candy coating) showcased the straighforwardness of the sound. Power ballads were also prime fodder, as the polished doo-woppy strains of “If This is It” made crystal clear. None of the tracks would match the Billboard performance of later colossal hits like “The Power of Love” or “Stuck With You”, but as a whole, this set still stands as their most artistically satisfying album before massive stardom and worldwide record sales signaled an inevitable creative wane.
Posted by derek on April 1, 2007 3:54 PMAw hell, I'm getting nastalgic, although you failed to mention "Bad is Bad," my favorite track, cuz of that harmonica solo! Ah, the memories!! Everybody: "But there's a strange pair a shoes ... underneath the bed ..."
Posted by: marc at April 1, 2007 8:52 PMInteresting choice, but I feel pound for pound, track for track, Fore! is a better record. First of all, it brilliantly expands on the sports metaphor with its cleverly punned title. And then there's "Power of Love", their most successful song ever with the great non sequitur riddled chorus:
"You dont need money, dont take fame
Dont need no credit card to ride this train
It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
Thats the power of love
Thats the power of love..."
When's the reunion tour (coming soon to a casino near you!)?
Posted by: Jeff Olson at April 2, 2007 5:15 AMI've often suspected Derek of secretly being Patrick Bateman - confirmation at last!
Posted by: pdf at April 2, 2007 10:11 AMMan, April Fool's is a Day, not a Week!
Sheesh...
Posted by: clifford at April 2, 2007 7:24 PMApril whose?
Points for the Bateman reference, I'd forgotten that little Bret Easton Ellis bon mot.
Posted by: derek at April 2, 2007 8:46 PMWho finally won that legal battle between Huey Lewis and Ray Parker Jr (over the similarities between I Want A New Drug and Ghostbusters, wasn't it?)
Posted by: Dan Warburton at April 2, 2007 10:06 PMFrom the almighty Wikipedia:
In 1984, Huey Lewis & the News were contacted by the producers of Ghostbusters in regards to developing the theme song for the film. The band decided not to, and Ray Parker Jr. was instead signed to develop the theme. Later that year, the band sued Parker Jr., citing the similarities between the Ghostbusters theme song and their earlier hit "I Want a New Drug". According to Huey Lewis and the News, this was especially damaging to them since the Ghostbusters theme song was so popular, rising to #1 on the charts for three weeks. Parker and Lewis later settled out of court. Huey Lewis has stated that his experiences with the producers of Ghostbusters may have been indirectly responsible for getting his band involved with the movie Back to the Future.
On his 2001 Behind the Music special, Huey Lewis stated: "The offensive part was not so much that Ray Parker Jr. had ripped this song off, it was kind of symbolic of an industry that wants something — they wanted our wave, and they wanted to buy it. ... [I]t's not for sale. ... In the end, I suppose they were right. I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it."[3] As a result of this quote, Ray Parker Jr. has filed a suit against Huey Lewis, claiming he had violated the lawsuit's confidentiality agreement and seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages as well as lawyer's fees. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Posted by: derek at April 3, 2007 5:00 AMIs Huey still kicking about?
I mean, playing the bar circuit?
From what I recall, it was because of their videos that these guys broke out big....just about every other song on this record had a video attached to it. MTV started out a few years before this album was issued and people probably cared more about the image than the music itself...
I think there was talk of a 2006 reunion tour, but I'm not sure if actually happened. At least the News aren't nearly as inherently contentious as Van Halen, those guys have had more aborted tour attempts than Guns 'N Roses.
Huey's "acting" turn in Altman's Short Cuts still offers one of the great surreal shots of the film: his penis in full view as he unintentionally urinates on a female dead body.
Posted by: derek at April 3, 2007 5:19 AMSomeone please confirm for me that this was an April Fools prank? Please?
Posted by: Richard Pinnell at April 3, 2007 7:15 AM"Is Huey still kicking about?"
Is BRETT EASTON ELLIS still kicking about?!
Derek, thanks for the reminder.
I have to re-watch Short Cuts...that must've been a life-defining role for the guy, no?
I'm surprised only Altman saw him as a fit actor...
By the way - is this an April Fool's joke?
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at April 3, 2007 9:19 AMbret easton ellis is still around and getting better and better. glamorama is one of the great underrated masterpieces of are time. all the repitition becomes
like a piece of entrancing music, like a terry riley type thing. plus its funny as fuck.
I did my best to ignore Huey and Co waybackintheday but I had a bizarre Huey Lewis and the News moment at the Osaka airport in 1990.
My wife ( OK, wife to be ) were sitting in the departure lounge waiting to board our plane. First class was called and suddenly a crowd of the most seedy, hungover mutherfuckers you could imagine paraded by. The looked vaguely familiar. The last of the bunch turned and made eye contact with me. I realized it was Huey Lewis.
He didn't look anything like he did on MTV.....
Posted by: Dohol at April 3, 2007 10:43 AMI meant " my wife and I " by the way..
Posted by: Dohol at April 3, 2007 10:45 AMI remember hearing an interview about that "Short Cuts" scene - The urinating penis is prosthetic. Altman wanted to Lewis to wizz for real, but reportedly he couldn't perform on cue/on camera, so they rigged something up. Still a pretty weird sight though, especially the first time one sees the film and doesn't know this bit of backstory... "Christ, is that Huey Lewis' dong?!?! AND he's taking a leak!?!? I figured I could get through life without ever seeing that!"
So what's next here at Bags, a re-appraisal of Loverboy's magnum opus "Get Lucky" (a quintessential 80's album)? Somebody get Alan Licht on this!
Posted by: Rob Cambre at April 3, 2007 2:37 PMDamn, if someone wants to re-appraise Loverboy, maybe they should be grouping in other classic Canadian-metal like Lee Aaron, Helix or Thor.
Posted by: Tom Sekowski at April 3, 2007 5:55 PMHilarious anecdotes, Rob & Dohol. I'd wager Huey probably did his weight in coke several times over during the News' heyday. I hesitate to call his turn in Short Cuts acting given he seems to be basically playing a pre-fame version of himself. His other SAG credits include a bit part in a made-for-TV movie and voice work on a Humpty-Dumpty animated feature... hmmm.
I'm steering clear of Loverboy for the time being, but mayhaps a Foreigner pick is in the future? 4 is still a *great* record & a fond relic of my rollerskating youth (not to mention it beats Huey's similar titling strategy by a good five years).
Posted by: derek at April 3, 2007 8:40 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................