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Huey Lewis and the News ’80s pop kingpins still workin’ for a livin’
By John Benson
It was exactly 30 years ago that Huey Lewis and the News were at the height of their pop rock success.
To illustrate the San Francisco band’s popularity, just tune into any adult contemporary station playing ’80s music and odds are within an hour you’ll hear one of the group’s Top 10 hits — “Heart of Rock & Roll,” “Stuck With You,” “I Want A New Drug,” “If This Is It,” “Hip To Be Square,” “Do You Believe In Love” and “Workin’ For A Livin.”
There was always something down-home and regular about the MTV-era band that sold more than 20 million albums.
Fans can reconnect with the outfit when Huey Lewis and the News return to Northeast Ohio for a Tuesday show at Packard Music Hall in Warren.
Here are 10 things you might not have known about Huey Lewis and the News:
Lewis started out playing in jazz-funk band Clover. Other members of The News were in rival Bay Area band Soundhole. Eventually, they joined forces.
Clover decided to move to England in the mid-’70s. Members of the group actually performed as Elvis Costello’s backing band for his first album, “My Aim Is True.”
Lewis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy tune “Baby Drives Me Crazy.”
The band successfully sued Ray Parker Jr. for ripping off “I Want a New Drug” when he wrote the theme song to the 1984 feature film “Ghostbusters.”
The group also wrote and performed “The Power of Love” and “Back in Time” for the hit film “Back To The Future.” The former, which was nominated for an Academy Award, went to No. 1 on Billboard’s singles chart.
In 1985, at the height of their popularity, Huey Lewis & The News questioned how the money raised from charity album “USA for Africa” was going to reach the needy. That’s why the band turned down an offer to play “Live Aid.”
In the 2000 feature film “American Psycho,” deranged killer and astute music lover Patrick Bateman famously touted Huey Lewis and the News’ 1983 album “Sports” as allowing the band to come into its own both commercially and artistically.
Lewis wrote the theme song to the 2008 comedy “Pineapple Express.”
The band’s last studio effort came in 2010. “Soulsville” was a tribute to Stax Records artists.
The group is currently covering J.J. Jackson’s “But It’s Alright” in concert. Even though it would be apropos if Jackson was the former MTV VJ, that’s actually not him. Instead, Jackson is a respected soul/R&B singer-songwriter.