Huey Lewis & the News
Sports

THE REVIEW

Born in the Big Apple, raised in California, dimple on the chin, crooked and sly smile, an amiable heartbreaker demeanor, Huey Lewis, born Hugh Antony Cregg III (class of 1950), looks at us with "sports" eyes (as Umberto Saba would say) from the cover, with his faithful News behind him, an American bar, and a decade of experience as a bluesman with an easy harmonica.

In the '70s, he played in Clover, an American rhythm'n'blues band, where he met keyboardist Sean Hopper and later founded his personal band: Huey Lewis & The News. During the early days in 1980, he performed Rock'n'Roll with Hard and Pop enhancements, and with "Picture This" in 1982, he began the race to success with the single "Do You Believe In Love," always under the banner of melodic touches and catchy strokes that traveled through American radios. "Sports" exploded in the U.S. charts in the biennium 1983/84 without rewriting the Rock'n'Roll rulebook but utilizing various aspects of it, from the appealing vocal blend, to the lively sax, from the robust rock runway to the keyboard background, never leaning towards syrupy or overly elaborate notes. Huey Lewis had never experienced the thrill of high charts so strongly and never thought that his sound mixture could conquer such a wide audience.

In his favor, he has a band of cohesive and experienced musicians, from the never intrusive drummer Bill Gibson to the lively bassist Mario Cipollina, brother of John from Quicksilver Messenger Service, the aforementioned keyboardist, never over the top, Sean Hopper, rhythmic guitarist and saxophonist Johnny Colla, to the young and virtuoso guitarist Chris Hayes, comfortable with both hard phrases and delicate accompaniments. The album is opened by the beats of the Yankee musical heart, with the taste of American streets leading to the musical cities listed in the song "The Heart Of Rock'n Roll," a lively track with an insistent rhythm where harmonica passages alternate with sax parades and energetic guitar riffs, in a really vibrant mix that enters the Top 10 of U.S. singles along with "Heart And Soul," where Hayes' guitar dominates without stifling other instruments but combines with the keyboard in the main riff.

However, the peak of the album is "I Want A New Drug," which shoots to the top of the singles chart, certainly one of the band's heaviest tracks, featuring a nice interlocking riff between guitar and keyboards and a long guitar pilgrimage that fascinates and keeps the listener on track, serving as a counterbalance to an overly 80s bass, quite rubbery and electronic, which is the small flaw of this album. Truly pleasant "Finally I Found Home," still standard rock, effective chorus, and heartfelt voice, whereas "Walking On A Thin Line" is an anthemic and Springsteen-like track, the fifth single extracted with stanzas sung by Huey in a Phil Lynott (his friend and major musical influence) style, and "If This Is" is a sugary song, unpretentious (yet still in the Top 10 singles, and there are four!), contrary to "You Crack Me Up" a rousing fast-paced rock track, with a frenetic rhythm, where the singing is more excited. On a lower plane remains the whimsical Blues-Doo Wop of "Bad Is Bad," which is just a nice piece, and the fun cover "Honky Tonk Blues" which bends its DNA from the title and throws us into a barrelhouse atmosphere, as the Led Zeppelin did with "Hot Dog," perhaps with less clarity. Just fun and nothing more.

The intent of Huey Lewis & The News is to entertain and enjoy themselves, talk about everyday life without growling or burning out, as evidenced by the videos supporting the singles extracted from the album, but also to rediscover the initial spirit of Rock'n Roll, of live performances: rock notes and fans' hands reaching towards the stage. A magic that the group will face for three years before the next album, letting the commercial success of "Sports" take its course.