Album Yea or Nay?: Huey Lewis & The News - Sports

Intentional, well-crafted pop. Some monster hits on that album. I was a kid when this stuff came out and i enjoyed it. I don't actively listen to this band but I will listen and smile when i do hear it.

he did WTF recently, great interview and a pretty cool dude.
 
yabba said:
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.
Click to expand...

that's the song that popped into my head when I first saw the thread title...and it's back again.
 
yabba said:
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.
Click to expand...

Lets compare lyrical content and wordsmithing:

I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment, and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
'Cause I can tell what's going on
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV
I'm working out 'most everyday and watching what I eat
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care
I know that it's crazy
I know that it's nowhere
But there is no denying that
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

It's not too hard to figure out
you see it everyday
And those that were the farthest out have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway
It don't look like a lot of fun
But don't you try to fight it
And an idea who's time has come

Don't tell me that I'm crazy
Don't tell me I'm nowhere
Take it from me
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

vs

Nice girls, not one with a defect
Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal legs
She looks so good that he gets down and begs

She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Long shot at that jumping sign
Invisible shivers running down my spine
Cut to baby taking off her clothes
Close-up of the sign that says "We never close"
He snatches at you and you match his cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake

She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
Oh when they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it
Now fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
Someone's scratching at the window, I wonder who is it?
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay
It only took my little fingers to blow you away

Just like watching the detectives
Don't get cute
Just like watching the detectives
I get so angry when the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Watching the detectives
It's just like watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives

Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
They're watching the detectives
Watching the detectives



just the bolded part above is superior to anything Huey ever wrote.
 
335clone said:
Lets compare lyrical content and wordsmithing:

I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment, and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
'Cause I can tell what's going on
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV
I'm working out 'most everyday and watching what I eat
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care
I know that it's crazy
I know that it's nowhere
But there is no denying that
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

It's not too hard to figure out
you see it everyday
And those that were the farthest out have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway
It don't look like a lot of fun
But don't you try to fight it
And an idea who's time has come

Don't tell me that I'm crazy
Don't tell me I'm nowhere
Take it from me
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square
It's hip to be square

vs

Nice girls, not one with a defect
Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct
Red dogs under illegal x
She looks so good that he gets down and begs

She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Long shot at that jumping sign
Invisible shivers running down my spine
Cut to baby taking off her clothes
Close-up of the sign that says "We never close"
He snatches at you and you match his cigarette
She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet
I don't know how much more of this I can take
She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake

She is watching the detectives
"Ooh, he's so cute"
She is watching the detectives
Oh when they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
They beat him up until the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

You think you're alone until you realize you're in it
Now fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit
They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit
Someone's scratching at the window, I wonder who is it?
The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents
Who are ready to hear the worst about their daughter's disappearance
Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay
It only took my little fingers to blow you away

Just like watching the detectives
Don't get cute
Just like watching the detectives
I get so angry when the teardrops start
But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart

Watching the detectives
It's just like watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives

Watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
They're watching the detectives
Watching the detectives
Click to expand...
try getting a reservation at Dorsia now!
 
BTW, just for grins, I put on that first album (not Sports) on youtube while I am working. Total time trip. I kind of enjoy going back and listening to this early years power pop-ish sound. On the down side, the sax that appears in some of the songs sounds very, very dated. I keep looking for Rob Lowe to pop out with a headband around his head, and a shirt with the sleeves ripped off, doing his aging brat pack thing from St. Elmo's Fire (though that movie is a few years later).
 
Ok, I know this about the other album, but I have to post this as I listen to the first album at work.

This was the Huey I liked at the time, with the rockabilly licks, fast tempo, isolated drum beats for emphasis, and other early 80's cliches, including the fast girls theme.
 
You guys do know that half of 'The News' was part of Elvis Costello's backing band on EC's first album?
 
My bad. After looking it up it was just the keyboard player, Sean Hopper, that played with Elvis Costello. But his backing band was Huey Lewis old band from San Francisco (including Hopper).

from wikipedia: "Without Lewis (but with Hopper), they eventually became the original backing band forElvis Costello's first album My Aim Is True."
 
I love all the singles, but the album doesn't really hang together for me. Not that it should. I imagine it was conceived as a way to string together a bunch of singles with some filler.
 
I enjoyed it when it was released.
I don't mind the songs that come up on radio.
I'm not about to replace the cassette that I had way back when.
 
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