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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZLEWIS, Huey, and the NewsUS pop/rock band formed '79 in San Francisco by singer Lewis (b Hugh Anthony Cregg III, 5 July '50, NYC), keyboardist Sean Hopper when Clover disbanded. Clover had been formed '68 by guitarist Alex Call and John McFee, bassist John Ciambotti, others; they made legendary LPs Clover '70 and Forty-Niner '71 on Fantasy (repackaged as Chronicle '79); with Lewis and Hopper they worked in London, recorded for Vertigo UK/Mercury USA '77: Clover on Mercury, Unavailable on Vertigo may be similar; Love On The Wire on both labels. Without Lewis they also backed Elvis Costello on his debut My Aim Is True '77, disbanded '79 after their good-time country rock had kept them together more than ten years. McFee joined Doobie Bros; Ciambotti turned songwriter (wrote Tommy Tutone hit '8675309/Jenny'); Lewis and Hopper jammed in SF bars, calling themselves American Express; did a disco version of 'Exodus' for laughs; 'Exo-disco' was heard by Phonogram in London, where Lewis had gone to session with Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe; he returned to SF with a cash advance and recruited a new lineup with Hopper, guitarist Chris Hayes, three members of San Francisco band Soundhole: Johnny Colla, guitar and sax; Billy Gibson, drums; bassist Mario Cipollina (brother of Quicksilver Messenger Service's John). LPs for Chrysalis: Huey Lewis And The News '80 did little; Picture This '82 incl. top 40 hits incl. 'Do You Believe In Love', top ten USA; self-produced albums purveyed a more rockish, hook-laden sound than Clover but with characteristic Lewis good humour; then came Sports '83 and years of hard live work paid off: no. 1 LP eventually yielded six top ten hits in 'Heart And Soul', 'I Want A New Drug', 'The Heart Of Rock And Roll', 'Walking On A Thin Line', 'Bad Is Bad', 'If This Is It', the latter also their first UK hit at no. 7. 'Power Of Love' written by Lewis/Hopper/Colla, used in soundtrack of hit Spielberg film Back To The Future: no. 1 hit USA '85, entered UK charts twice (first released two months before film); a lawsuit caused by similarity of title theme from Ghostbusters (no. 1 hit '84 by Ray Parker Jr, former session guitarist for Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, etc) settled out of court (Parker was the 'guilty' party). They also contributed 'Trouble In Paradise' to USA For Africa LP. Lewis deserves credit for long- serving commitment to live music, retaining sense of humour in 20 years on the road. He is also a nifty harmonica player: learned it hitching around Europe as a teenager; played it on sessions with Edmunds, others. Fore '86 incl. no. 1 US hit 'Stuck With You', followed by Small World '88; Hard At Play '91 was on EMI, Four Chords And Several Years Ago '94 on Elektra. |