Huey Lewis & The News - Sports
Listen to a condensed audio version of this review by Greg
On September 15th, 1983 the Rock & Roll blues band from San Francisco, Huey Lewis & the Newsreleased their third studio album, Sports. I am reviewing this album today my friends because, Sports was my very, very first album purchase. I was a little kid and had heard the group on the radio. When Sports was released, I took my own money from doing yard work, went to the record store and purchased it. I still have my original copy today. It still reeks of basement mildew. But it is so special to me. This was my platform into the music world.
Huey Lewis formed his first band, “Clover” in 1972. The band achieved mild success, recording several albums in the 1970s but never crossing over into the mainstream. The members of Clover, minus Lewis, relocated to Britain to join the local pub scene there. During this time Huey teamed up with Phil Lynott, bassist and lead singer for the famed 70s band, Thin Lizzy.
Clover returned to the US and the Bay Area in the late 1970s, and Lewis convinced several of the band members to form a new group, which they called, Huey Lewis & The American Express. A year later they would shorten the name to just, American Express. They signed a record deal with Chrysalis who convinced them to change their name, citing obvious copywrite and trademark issues between their band name and the credit card company with the same name. So, in 1979, Huey Lewis and The News was born.
Along with Michael Jackson’s, Thriller and Bruce Springsteen’s, Born in the USA,… Sports was a staple in everyone’s household in the early 1980s. Huey Lewis and The News achieved some modest success with their first and second records. That would change in the 1980s when MTV was invented. The band recorded this album between December 1982 and June 1983. Due to contract disagreements between the band’s management and Chrysalis, the band withheld the master tapes of Sports and did not turn them over to their label until the issues were resolved. During their wait in 1983, they showcased their new music the old-fashioned way, on the road. Playing small venues around the US, they were able to expose their fans to the new music. When their management resolved their issues with Chrysalis months later, Sports was officially released on September 15th, 1983.
The album kicks off with Heart of Rock & Roll. The track begins with a heartbeat sound that fades in, getting louder and louder until the 80s bluesy groove with a clap kicks in. This is the 80s baby! The sing along chorus is catchy and like most songs on this album, they are all between 3 and 5 minutes long. Saxophone is a key instrument in this song and on this entire album. If you listened to music from the 80s, sax was a staple. A staple I tell you!
As the tracks roll on, so many memories come flushing back like a tidal wave over me. With the theme here being women. Getting them, loving them and keeping them.
Heart & Soul is another catchy number. This was the lead single off the record. In the early days, every album was released with a single. That song could sometimes make or break the success of the album. This track does not disappoint. It is not technically challenging, but that is okay. It scratches that itch when things were simpler. It gets right to the point.
This album had six singles released on the radio and MTV. With exception to Finally Found a Home, which reached #41 on the Top 200 Billboard Singles Chart, the other five singles broke the top 20, with Heart & Soul and I Want a New Drug both reaching number 1.
Other strong tracks on Sports include Walking On a Thin Line and If This Is It. “Walking” just reeks of the 80s, with its dark keyboard opening. But as the beat kicks in, I am back in my room, sitting on the floor staring at the lyrics inside the album. I am singing along to the chorus with my eyes shut, wondering how I can achieve this success, putting me where they are.
It certainly helped when I saw the Sports album cover poster above Marty McFly’s bed in Back to the Future. As the phone call to get over to the Twin Pines Mall comes in from Dr. Brown and awakes Marty from his slumber, I could not help but notice the poster of my very first album in the background, further building my love for that movie and this band. Huey also has a cameo in this film which is hilarious. As Marty’s band is playing Power of Love at an audition, which is also a “News” song, it is Huey who interrupts telling them they are “just too darn loud”. McFly and his band sulk away in disappointment as they are turned down for the gig.
It’s a shame Power of Love is not on this album. For it is a very strong track. But you can find it on the Back to the Future Soundtrack. I can remember refusing to dance at a wedding I attended one summer, only to throw my tuxedo jacket up in the air the moment the DJ surprised us with this song. Racing out onto the dancefloor, I practically pulled my wife’s arm out of its socket while she gave me her best, “Oh, now you want to dance?”, face.
If you had your eyes glued to MTV in the 1980s, you probably remember the video for If This Is It. This is a classic, cheesy video featuring the band on a beach with so many 80s staples like Orange Crush, cassette tapes, giant D batteries in a gray boom box, and tight Lacoste collared golf shirts. These videos were pure entertainment and a genius marketing tactic.
Despite the simplicity in the song writing, it is not easy to write continuous radio hits over and over. This is indeed a skill The News had. No one can forget the imitation car horn sound made by guitarist Chris Hayesat the beginning of Heart of Rock & Roll or Sean Hopper’s classic 80s keyboard playing at the beginning of You Crack Me Up. This song could easily fit into an episode of “Stranger Things” or any night driving around in your Corvette after just having left “Fun & Games”. This track is a solid 80s hit, despite never being released as a single.
Bassist Mario Cipollina and drummer Bill Gibson work as a team to keep a steady beat. Again, nothing in the ballpark of a Peart – Geddy Lee combo, but that is not needed here. The foundation is solid and precise. Johnny Colla, the band’s sixth member and rhythm guitar player, fills the gaps to provide depth in background. It is important to mention, The News were skilled at providing vocal harmony. This contributed to their success and added diversity to their blues-rock style that was different from a lot of the early 80s music which contained computerized synth that drowned out many rock guitars. Sports is a perfect party album. For the primary theme, as always is sports and women, a perfect formula for its time.
To date, this album, Sports has sold over 7 million copies, certifying it 7 times platinum. It hit #1 in 1984 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. Huey Lewis & The News will always hold a special place in my heart. I still gaze at my vinyl copy with affection, for it was my first ticket into the world of music. Although it led me to a deeper catalog, it reminds you of what your first love felt like. I think many of us remember our first love. In some ways, it shaped us into who we are. These memories are the building blocks of our past and contribute to the timeline that make us who we are today. And although we grow, we do not forget our roots. They are a part of our DNA.