DU Album of the Day: "Sports" Huey Lewis and the News

[gratuitous]

Just admit it, and you'll feel better. You bought this album. There. You said it. Once upon a time, you even liked it. See? That wasn't so bad. Put it down to being the early 1980s. Reagan and his minions were running rampant in the White House. Morning in America was turning dark and ugly. And an album full of big, dumb hooks and some pretty sweet harmonies (Wow, can you go that far? I knew you could!) was all right for listening. In fact, if you had a television that got MTV, you couldn't get away from it.

Lewis had a full, friendly face and a chin dimple that couldn't be beat, and his backing band provided not only a solid foundation for straight-ahead rock, but vocal harmonies that compared favorably to the best of the 1960s. "Sports" was a hit machine, with five top 20 singles, four of them making the Top 10. Yeah, yeah, we all know it's hip to be square nowadays, and Huey Lewis and the News are very old news indeed. But sometimes . . . bad isn't quite so bad.

1. "The Heart of Rock & Roll"
2. "Heart and Soul"
3. "Bad Is Bad"
4. "I Want a New Drug"
5. "Walking on a Thin Line"
6. "Finally Found a Home"
7. "If This Is It"
8. "You Crack Me Up"
9. "Honky Tonk Blues"

[geardaddy]

1. It's an awesome accompaniment to murder, as well

From Americn Psycho
Patrick Bateman: Do you like Huey Lewis and The News?
Paul Allen: They're OK.
Patrick Bateman: Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far much more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
Paul Allen: Hey Halberstram.
Patrick Bateman: Yes, Allen?
Paul Allen: Why are their copies of the style section all over the place, d-do you have a dog? A little chow or something?
Patrick Bateman: No, Allen.
Paul Allen: Is that a rain coat?
Patrick Bateman: Yes it is! In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
[raises axe above head]
Patrick Bateman: Hey Paul!
(he bashes Allen in the head with the axe, and blood splatters over him)
Patrick Bateman: TRY GETTING A RESERVATION AT DORSIA NOW YOU FUCKING STUPID BASTARD! YOU, FUCKING BASTARD!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

4. +1

[LynneSin]

5. I wonder what Patrick Bateman is doing these days

[gratuitous]

6. I thought you and he were an item

And your mom was hoping you could do better? Don't tell me I've been misinformed!

[LynneSin]

7. If he looked Christian Bale - no issue here

Except I'd want Bateman to talk with that sexy welsh accent!

[Tom Ripley]

2. Thanks, Patrick!

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

3. ...every time I think of Huey Lewis and the News I think of Christain Bale in American Psycho

But...Sports was one of my first albums I ever purchased. Played that cassette tape nearly to death.