Huey Lewis & The News

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Huey Lewis & The News
Huey Lewis & The News in the music video for "Don't Ever Tell Me That You Love Me" in 1980.
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genre(s)	Rock Pop rock Blue-eyed soul Soul rock
Years active	1979[1]–present
Label(s)	Chrysalis Records EMI America Records Elektra Records
Members
Huey Lewis John Pierce Stef Burns Tal Morris Marvin McFadden Ron Stallings Rob Sudduth Sean Hopper Bill Gibson Johnny Colla
Former members
Mario Cipollina Chris Hayes

Huey Lewis & The News is a Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated American rock band based in San Francisco, California. Their 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. Combining a rock (and sometimes, a "blues rock") backing with soul and doowop-influenced harmony vocals and Lewis's voice, they reached enormous success and had numerous hit songs during the 1980s and early 1990s.

[edit] Career

[edit] History

In 1972, singer/harmonica player Huey Lewis and keyboardist Sean Hopper joined the Bay Area jazz-funk band Clover. Clover would record several albums in the 1970s, and in the middle of the decade transplanted themselves to England to become part of the UK pub rock scene for a time. Without Lewis (but with Hopper), they eventually became the original backing band for Elvis Costello's first album My Aim Is True. The band returned to the Bay Area by the end of the 1970s.

Clover's main competition in the Bay Area jazz-funk scene was 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 1978, Huey Lewis united his former bandmate and three of his former rivals to form a new group, Huey Lewis & The American Express. In 1979 they recorded and released a single, "Exo-Disco" (a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus), that was largely ignored. In 1979, the band would woo guitarist Chris Hayes and move to Chrysalis Records. After the credit card organization American Express complained, in January 1980 they changed their name to Huey Lewis & the News.

Later in 1980, the band issued their first album, a self-titled LP Huey Lewis and the News. It went largely unnoticed. In 1982, the band released their second album, the self-produced Picture This. The album turned gold, fueled by the breakout success of the hit single "Do You Believe in Love", written by former Clover producer Mutt Lange. Largely because of the single, the album remained on the Billboard charts for 35 weeks and peaked at #13. Follow-up singles from Picture This followed with limited success, though the video for "Workin' For a Livin'" received considerable airplay on MTV and HBO's Video Jukebox.

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" (U.S. #8), "I Want a New Drug" (U.S. #6), "The Heart of Rock & Roll" (U.S. #6), and "If This Is It" (U.S. #6).

Their song "The Power Of Love" was a number-one U.S. hit and featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future, for which they also recorded the theme song "Back In Time". Huey Lewis has a cameo appearance in the film as a faculty member 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" (Lewis's response: "Sorry, fellas... I'm afraid you're just too darn loud"). "The Power of Love" was also nominated for an Academy Award. Lewis also appears later in the film, as a Fedora-wearing man giving a passing glimpse to Marty McFly as he enters 1955 Hill Valley.

Following the success of "The Power of Love" and Back to the Future, Huey Lewis and The News released Fore! in 1986. Fore! was the band's second number-one album on the Billboard 200. The album had widespread success, spawning two number-one singles, "Jacob's Ladder" and "Stuck with You". Fore! is also known for the Mainstream Rock number-one hit "Hip To Be Square". All told, the album had five top-ten singles and was certified triple platinum.

The band continued to tour throughout 1987, and released Small World in 1988. After two mega-hit, multi-platinum albums, Small World was a commercial disappointment, stalling at #11 and only going platinum. The album, which was more jazz and less rock than their previous albums, had one hit single, "Perfect World", which reached #3 on the pop charts.

By the end of the 1980s it was clear that Huey Lewis and The News were no longer going to have the mainstream success that they enjoyed in the mid-1980s, and in 1991 they released Hard at Play on their new label EMI. The album went back to the rock sound that listeners expected of them, and the band was able to crank out four singles, two of which had decent success ("Couple Days Off", "It Hit Me Like A Hammer"), but the album only went gold.

The band, realizing that their chart-topping days were over, released a covers album in 1994 called Four Chords & Several Years Ago featuring doo-wop and rock songs from the 1950s and '60s. This was the last album released with bassist Mario Cipollina, who left the band after the Four Chords & Several Years Ago tour ended. The album charted on the Billboard 200 and had a couple of adult contempory hits.

The band's next album with all new material didn't come until 2001, with Plan B, which was the last album with lead guitarist Chris Hayes on it. The album was a collection of songs which the band enjoyed playing and didn't focus on trying to hit the charts, however a single from the album was able to make the Adult Contemporary charts. Since 2001, no album containing new material has been released, but the band continues to tour. In 2007, Garth Brooks released a duet with Huey Lewis, with a cover of "Workin' For a Living" to feature as a new track on Brooks' The Ultimate Hits set. The single reached the top 25 on the Billboard Country chart.

[edit] 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 decided not to, and Ray Parker Jr. was instead signed to develop the theme. Later that year, the band sued Parker, 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.^[2] 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 statement, Ray Parker Jr. has filed a suit against Huey Lewis, claiming he violated the settlement's confidentiality agreement and seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages as well as attorney fees. The lawsuit is ongoing.

[edit] 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. 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 guitarists Tal Morris and James Harrah have 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 by 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, California. Drummer Bill Gibson (on the band's message board) and Huey Lewis (in 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.

In 2005, the band performed at the July 4th music event in Dublin, Ohio. In the summer of 2006, the band co-headlined a US tour with Chicago. Highlights of the tour included 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 sang the lead on Chicago's "Colour My World."

On February 13, 2007, Huey was interviewed on the podcast series "Stuck in the 80s," during which he revealed that the band has written several new songs that they plan to record next year, though he states that, given how much the industry has changed since their last album, he's unsure at this point how they will sell the new material.^[4] As of January 2008, the band is still in the process of writing new songs and has no timeframe for release according to drummer Bill Gibson.^[5]

On August 21, 2007, the band played a show at the California State Fair. The show was notable because original bassist Mario Cipollina made a special appearance to play with the band during the four-song encore, his first on stage performance with the group in over ten years. It was an emotional reunion as Mario shared many hugs with his band mates.

The hit single "The Power Of Love" has recently been covered by UK guitar indie band The Pigeon Detectives. The track has been included on the BBC Radio One compilation CD 'Radio 1, Est. 1967.'

Huey Lewis & The News have recorded a theme song to actor/writer Seth Rogen's upcoming action-comedy film, The Pineapple Express. Reports say that the new song is reminiscent of "Power of Love" and will indeed be titled "Pineapple Express" itself. The film will see a release on August 8, 2008.^[6][7]

Huey Lewis & The News will be performing at the 28^th annual presentation of A Capitol Fourth in Washington, DC on Friday, July 4, 2008.^[8]

[edit] Huey Lewis & The News members

[edit] Original News

• Huey Lewis - (born Hugh Anthony Cregg, III on July 5, 1950 Marin County, California) lead vocals, harmonica (1979 - present day)
• Sean Hopper - (born Sean Thomas Hopper, March 31, 1953, in San Francisco, California) - keyboards, backing vocals (1979 - present day)
• Bill Gibson - (born William Scott Gibson, November 13, 1951, in Sacramento, California) - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1979 - present day)
• Johnny Colla - (born John Victor Colla, July 2, 1952, in Sacramento, California) - saxophone, guitar, backing vocals (1979 - present day)
• Mario Cipollina - (born November 10, 1954, in San Rafael, California) - bass guitar (1979 - 1995)
• Chris Hayes - (born Christopher John Hayes, November 24, 1957, in Sacramento, California) - guitar, backing vocals (1980 - 2001)

[edit] Newer News

• John Pierce - bass guitar (1996- )
• Stef Burns - guitar, backing vocals (2001- )
• Tal Morris - guitar, backing vocals (occasional fill-in)
• Marvin McFadden - trumpet, percussion, backing vocals (1994- )
• Ron Stallings - saxophone (1994- )
• Rob Sudduth - saxophone, backing vocals (1994- )

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

• Huey Lewis and the News (1980)
• Picture This (1982) #13 US Gold
• Sports (1983) #1 US 7x Platinum
• Fore! (1986) #1 US 3x Platinum
• Small World (1988) #11 US Platinum
• Hard at Play (1991) #27 US Gold
• Four Chords & Several Years Ago (1994) #55 US
• Plan B (2001) #165 US (#19 Billboard Top Internet Albums)

[edit] Live albums

• Live at 25 (2005)

[edit] Compilation albums

• The Heart of Rock & Roll - The Best of Huey Lewis and The News (1992) U.K. release
• Time Flies... The Best of Huey Lewis & the News (1996) #185 US
• Greatest Hits & Videos (2006) #70 US

[edit] Soundtrack contributions

• Back to the Future Soundtrack (1985) #12 US Gold

[edit] Singles

All told Huey Lewis & The News has scored 19 top ten hits over Billboards Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock Charts:

• ¹ Re-released and peaked at #49 in U.K. in 1986
• ² Original version on Huey Lewis and the News (1980).

[edit] Awards

• The band has won two Grammy Awards, both in 1986:
  • Best Music Video, Long Form - The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll
  • Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal - "We Are the World" performed by USA for Africa (in which Huey Lewis & The News were participants)
• The songs "The Heart of Rock & Roll" and "The Power of Love" were nominated for Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, in 1985 and 1986, respectively.
• "The Power of Love" (from the film Back to the Future), was nominated for an Academy Award in 1986.
• The band received the award for Best International Group at the 1986 British Music Awards.
• Huey Lewis and The News are the recipients of 30 Californian (formerly Bay Area Music) Awards.
• All five albums released by the band between 1982 and 1991 reached the Top 30 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and have been certified either gold, platinum, or multi-platinum.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

[edit] External links

• HLN Today- The official website of Huey Lewis and the News
• Website dedicated to Clover - a band Huey and Sean belonged to
• A Huey Lewis biography
• BTTF.com Back to the Future