article

Huey Lewis & the News, formerly known as Huey Lewis & the American Express, are a popular U.S. rock band based in San Francisco, California whose greatest success was in the 1980s, when they were one of the most popular music acts of the decade. The band is known for writing simple, light-hearted songs from a working-class perspective and typically appealed to yuppies and baby boomers of the 80s. Combining a rock (and sometimes, a "blues-rock") backing with harmony vocals and Lewis's voice, Huey Lewis & the News had numerous hit songs during the 1980s and early 1990s, including "The Power of Love", "I Want a New Drug", "Doin' it all (For my Baby)", "Do You Believe in Love?" "Hip to Be Square", "Stuck With You", and "Jacob's Ladder".

Career

History

In 1972, singer and harmonica player Huey Lewis and keyboardist Sean Hopper joined the Bay Area jazz-funk band Clover, who would eventually become the original backing band for Elvis Costello's first album "My Aim Is True", before he attracted The Attractions. Clover's main competition in the Bay Area jazz-funk scene had been a band called Soundhole, whose members included drummer Bill Gibson, saxophonist/guitarist Johnny Colla, and bassist Mario Cipollina (younger brother of John Cipollina). Like Clover, Soundhole had spent time backing a famous singer, Van Morrison. After getting a singles contract from Phonogram Records in 1979, Huey Lewis united his former bandmate and three of his former rivals to form "Huey Lewis & the American Express". The group would release a single "Exo-Disco" (a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus) that was largely ignored. In 1980, the band would woo guitarist Chris Hayes and move to Chrysalis Records, changing their name to "Huey Lewis & the News".

Later in 1980, the band would release their first album, a self-titled LP that was released with little attention and would go largely unnoticed. However, in 1982, Lewis reunited with former Clover producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and the band released Picture This. Shortly thereafter, the album turned gold, fueled by the breakout success of hit single "Do You Believe in Love". Largely because of the single, the album remained on the Billboard charts for 35 weeks and peaked at #13. Several other singles from Picture This would follow, but with only limited success.

Due to record label delays on the release of their third album Sports, Huey Lewis & the News was back to square one in late 1983, touring small clubs in a bus to promote the record.It initially hit #6 in the U.S.when first released. However, the album slowly became a number-one hit in 1984 and multi-platinum success in 1985, thanks to the band's frequent touring and a series of clever, funny videos that received heavy MTV airplay. Four singles from the album would reach the Billboard Top Ten: "Heart and Soul", "I Want a New Drug", "The Heart of Rock & Roll", and "If This Is It".

Their song "The Power of Love" was a number-one U.S. hit and featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future, with which they also recorded the theme song "Back In Time". Huey Lewis has a cameo appearance in the film as the teacher who rejects Marty McFly's band's audition for the school's "Battle of the Bands" contest—ironically, the piece the band plays is an instrumental version of "The Power of Love". "The Power of Love" was also nominated for an Academy Award.

Ghostbusters

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 refused, 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.http://www.answers.com/topic/ray-parker-jr 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. ... *t's not for sale. ... In the end, I suppose they were right. I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it."http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1442127/03232001/lewis_huey.jhtml 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.

Current

Huey Lewis & the News continues to tour to this day; however, the lineup has changed significantly since the band's heyday. Mario Cipollina left the band shortly after 1994's Four Chords and Several Years Ago album and tour. His replacement since that time has been bassist John Pierce. The Tower of Power, which served as the band's horn section from the early 80's, also ceased their work with the band in 1994. Hornists Marvin McFadden, Ron Stallings, and Rob Sudduth have joined the group in their place. In early 2000, Chris Hayes decided to leave "The News" to spend more time with his growing family, though he performed on their 2001 album "Plan B," as much of it had been laid out before he left. Afterwards, Stef Burns replaced him, although guitarist Tal Morris has also filled in when Stef has had to leave due to other commitments. Chris has occasionally appeared with the band when playing in the San Francisco Bay Area and is known to play some shows with other performers and friends in the San Francisco area.

The most recent album of Huey Lewis & the News is 2005's Live At 25, a live recording of a December 2004 concert at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA. Drummer Bill Gibson (on the band's message board) and Huey Lewis (in recent 2006 interviews) have both stated that a new album is in the works, but there's been no mention of a potential release date. Work was expected to begin in early-2006 after Lewis finished his performance in the stage musical Chicago.

The band is in the middle of a summer 2006 US tour with Chicago. Highlights of this tour include Chicago's Bill Champlin playing with the band, and members of Huey Lewis & the News playing on Chicago's percussion-laden hit, "I'm A Man." Huey Lewis also sings the lead on Chicago's Colour My World.

"The News"

Old News

New News

  • John Pierce - Bass (1996- )
  • Stef Burns - Guitar/Vocals (2001- )
  • Tal Morris - Guitar/Vocals (occasional fill-in)
  • Marvin McFadden - Hornist (1994- )
  • Ron Stallings - Hornist (1994- )
  • Rob Sudduth - Hornist (1994- )

Discography

Albums

Hit Singles

All told Huey Lewis and the News has scored 19 top ten hits over Billboards Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock Charts - only the band's most notable hits appear below:

  • "Do You Believe In Love" (1982) #7 US
  • "Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do" (1982) #36 US
  • "Workin' For A Livin'" (1982) #41 US
  • "Heart And Soul" (1983) #8 US
  • "I Want A New Drug" (1984) #6 US
  • "The Heart Of Rock 'N Roll" (1984) #6 US
  • "If This Is It" (1984) #6 US
  • "Walking On A Thin Line" (1984) #18 US
  • "The Power Of Love" (1985) #1 US - 2 weeks
  • "Back In Time" (1985) #3 US Mainstream Rock Chart only
  • "Stuck With You" (1986) #1 US - 3 weeks
  • "Hip To Be Square" (1986) #3 US
  • "Jacob's Ladder" (1987) #1 US - 1 week
  • "I Know What I Like" (1987) #9 US
  • "Doin' It (All For My Baby)" (1987) #6 US
  • "Perfect World" (1988) #3 US
  • "Small World" (1988) #25 US
  • "Give Me The Keys" (1989) #47 US
  • "Couple Days Off" (1991) #11 US
  • "It Hit Me Like A Hammer" (1991) #21 US
  • "It's Alright"(acapella) (1993) #6 US Adult Contemporary Chart only
  • "Some Kind Of Wonderful" (1994) #44 US
  • "But It's Alright" (1994) #54 US
  • "100 Years From Now" (1996) #10 US Adult Contemporary Chart only
  • "Let Her Go and Start Over (2001) #23 US Adult Contemporary Chart only

Notes

See also

External links

American musical groups | Rock music groups | American dance musicians | Dance/Club music artists | Back to the Future

Huey Lewis & the News | ヒューイ・ルイス&ザ・ニュース | Huey Lewis and the News

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Huey Lewis & the News".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world