To say Huey Lewis And The News were hot would be an understatement, they had an identifiable sound that had huge appeal, an image that endeared them to a wide audience and huge selling albums like ‘Fore!’
Written by: Jeffrey343
ARTIST: Huey Lewis And The News
ALBUM: Fore!
LABEL: Chrysalis
SERIAL: OV 41534
YEAR: 1986
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue list
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
LINEUP: Huey Lewis – lead vocals, harmonica * Chris Hayes – guitar, backing vocals * Johnny Colla – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals * Sean Hopper – keyboards, backing vocals * Mario Cipollina – bass * Bill Gibson – drums, backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Jacobs Ladder * 02 Stuck With You * 03 Whole Lotta Lovin’ * 04 Doin’ It (All For My Baby) * 05 Hip To Be Square * 06 I Know What I Like * 07 I Never Walk Alone * 08 The Power Of Love * 09 Forest For The Trees * 10 Naturally * 11 Simple As That
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Huey Lewis And The News had struck gold (actually multi-platinum) with ‘Sports’ in 1983. It spawned four singles that hit the U.S. top ten, and sales of the album exceeded seven million. It is truly one of the albums that epitomizes the 80’s.
And they recorded two songs used in the smash 1985 movie ‘Back To The Future’, with ‘The Power Of Love’ reaching number one on the U.S. charts and ‘Back In Time’ becoming a hit despite not being formally released as a single.
To say Huey Lewis And The News were hot would be an understatement. They had an identifiable sound that had huge appeal, and an image that endeared them to a wide audience. Their sound was a perfect blend of rock and pop, guitars and keyboards, and those incredible harmonies. Throw in some saxophone (as well as the occasional horn section), and you have a pretty darn good mix.
The Songs
‘Jacob’s Ladder’ starts things off with a song that rocks a little harder than anything on their past two albums, and the lyrics are more on the serious side for these guys. As a single (the third one released), it made it all the way to number one in the U.S.
‘Stuck With You’ was the first single and also a number one hit. It’s a perfect breezy and catchy tune. The video was also one of the better ones I ever saw on MTV. The band showcases those tight vocal harmonies at the beginning of ‘Whole Lotta Lovin” before it turns into an energetic shuffle.
‘Doing It All For My Baby’ was single number five – and the fifth U.S. top ten hit from the album. The Tower Of Power horn section is used to great effect on this song.
‘Hip To Be Square’ is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the yuppie lifestyle of the mid-80’s. It was the second single. While it wasn’t their biggest chart hit, it’s probably the most identifiable song from this album.
‘I Know What I Like’ was single number four. It peaked at number nine, making it the lowest-charting of the five singles (not a bad feat). It’s not quite as catchy or poppy as the other singles, it leans more towards the rocky end of the band’s spectrum, but I never had any problems with it when I heard it on the radio.
I’ve always really enjoyed ‘I Never Walk Alone’, an upbeat song about the importance of having a good group of friends. ‘Forest For The Trees’ takes the previous song and does it one better, another winner.
The guys go Acappella with ‘Naturally’, showcasing their impressive harmonies. These kinds of songs don’t always work, as I wouldn’t want a whole album of it, but it is a catchy song that is placed at the right spot in the tracklisting.
It leads perfectly to ‘Simple As That’, another song that has long been a favourite of mine. A nice mellow ending that is as well-written as any of their big hits.
In Summary
I’d forgotten over the years just how great this album is. Sure, I’d frequently hear the big hits still on radio, but there is very little dropoff between the number one hits and the rest of the songs.
This album didn’t have quite the sales success of ‘Sports’, even though it had more hit singles that went even higher on the charts. And I consider it to be even stronger overall than ‘Sports’, which is pretty high praise. But it still sold around four million copies. One of the best albums to emerge from the 80’s.
Huey Lewis And The News on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
