Sunday Afternoon Listening Cafe #11

Huey Lewis and the News, Sports

It’s a shame this band has been pretty much forgotten. This album is legend. Released in 1983, it had four top 10 hits, 6 (!) singles, and the album itself hit #1, spending 160 weeks (!) on the Billboard chart.

Back in the day you wanted your albums to have a theme, and Sports' theme was really a collection of singles ... It was really a record for its time. In the 80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any more records. That was it, period. So our priority was to come up with hit singles. Every tune we aimed for radio 'cause we didn't know which one was going to be a hit. We just knew we needed a frickin' hit, period. And fortunately we got 'em.

—Huey Lewis; Billboard magazine, 2013

For the 30th anniversary, did a few interviews as they released a deluxe version of the album. Besides the article that is quoted from above, Lewis talked to Rolling Stone about the process of making the album. And he did a track by track breakdown for Billboard - you can watch the 8 minute video here. (You have to turn off your ad-block though!)

Here’s the craziest thing. A musical of their music hits Broadway in the spring.

Since Huey has broken down the songs better than I could, I’m not going to do a breakdown. I highly recommend the video. Bad is Bad is my favourite, a classic blues song updated with contemporary sound. If This Is It is a close second, its lyrics reflecting my own relationship woes at the time. Seriously, instead of ghosting, how about this?

Don't lie and tell me that you need me
Don't cry and tell me nothing's wrong
I'll be all right one way or another
So let me go or make me want to stay
If this is it please let me know
If this ain't love you'd better let me go
If this is it I want to know
If this ain't love, baby just say so

Enjoy this week’s café!