Lewis was born in New York City and raised in Marin County, California, att… Read Full Bio ↴Lewis was born in New York City and raised in Marin County, California, attending Strawberry Point Elementary School (where he skipped second grade) and Edna Maguire Junior High School in Mill Valley. His mother, Magda Cregg, was a Polish refugee[1] and the girlfriend of poet Lew Welch, and his maternal grandfather had gained some success as the inventor of the red wax protective sealant used on certain varieties of cheese. When he was 13, his parents divorced and he was sent to an East Coast prep school instead of going to Tamalpais High School with his classmates. He graduated from Lawrenceville School, New Jersey, in 1967 with a perfect score of 800 on the math portion of the SAT.[2] Lewis applied to and was accepted by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In an interview with David Letterman,[3] Lewis talked about hitchhiking across the country to New York and how he learned to play the harmonica while waiting for rides. He talked about hanging out at the airport for three days until he stowed away on a plane to Europe. In Madrid, Spain, Lewis became an accomplished blues player and he hitchhiked around and supported himself by busking with his harmonica. He gave his first concerts in Madrid, earning enough money to buy a plane ticket back to the USA.
On his return, Lewis entered Cornell University, joining the engineering program. While there, he made friends with Lance and Larry Hoppen, who later played with Orleans and King Harvest. Initially being an active student and a member of the fraternity Eta Lambda Nu, Lewis soon lost interest in college. He signed up with a band called Slippery Elm, and in December 1969, during his junior year, he dropped out of Cornell, moving back to the San Francisco area. His aim was to continue playing music, but along the way he also tried other fields of work including landscaping, carpentry and natural foods.
In 1971, Lewis joined the Bay Area band Clover. Around this time he took the name Huey Lewis. The Lewis is for his mother Magda Cregg's boyfriend, Beat Generation poet Lew(is) Welch, whom he considered his stepfather. Sean Hopper joined the band in 1972; other members of the band were John McFee, Alex Call, John Ciambotti, Mitch Howie, Mickey Shine and Marcus David. Lewis played harmonica with the band and only sang lead vocals on a few tunes. Clover's main rival band (which developed into a friendly rivalry) was Soundhole (Johnny Colla, Mario Cipollina, and Bill Gibson were band members).
In 1976, after playing in the Bay Area with limited success, Clover went to Los Angeles. They had their "big break" in a club there when their act was caught by Nick Lowe, who convinced Clover to travel to Britain with him. However, Clover was not successful in Britain, and the band arrived just as their folk-rock sound (known as pub rock in Britain) was being replaced by punk rock. They recorded two albums for the British Phonogram label; both albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, but neither were successful.
While Huey went on vacation, the rest of Clover backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim is True. The band returned to California, McFee joined the Doobie Brothers, and Clover disbanded.
Huey Lewis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy's 1978 landmark album Live and Dangerous. That same year, Lewis was playing at Uncle Charlie's, a club in Corte Madera, California, doing the 'Monday Night Live' spot, along with future members of the News. After recording the song "Exo-Disco" (a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus), Huey landed a 'singles contract' from Phonogram Records, and Bob Brown became his manager. Huey Lewis and the American Express formed in 1979, with the same line-up as the News. The band played a few gigs (including an opening for Van Morrison), but on Brown's advice, they changed their name again. Huey Lewis and the News became their moniker.
After a failed self-titled debut in 1980, the band finally broke through to Top 40 success with the gold album Picture This (1982) riding to #13 on the Albums chart thanks to the Mutt Lange-penned "Do You Believe In Love" (#7), which became the band's first hit.
The band's third LP, the #1 Sports (1983), is one of the best-selling pop releases of all time. It has sold ten million copies in the US alone.[4] It was followed up by Fore! (1986), another #1 multi-platinum smash.
in 1995, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. over similarities between Parker's theme for the 1984 movie Ghostbusters and Lewis' own "I Want A New Drug". The case was settled out of court, with both parties agreeing to keep the settlement secret. Mr. Parker sued Mr. Lewis in 2001, alleging that Mr. Lewis violated the agreement in a "VH1- Behind the Music" Episode, when he stated that Mr. Parker paid some amount to settle the case.[5]
Lewis produced Nick Lowe's 1985 cover of "I Knew The Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)". Huey Lewis and the News provided backup vocals and played on the song. He and his bandmates also performed on USA for Africa's 1985 fund-raising single "We Are the World", and spent the remainder of the 1980s and early 1990s adding to an impressive string of 14 Top-20 Billboard Hot 100 hits and releasing two more hit albums: Small World (1988) #11 and Hard At Play (1991) #27. By the time the band released their critically-acclaimed album of cover songs Four Chords & Several Years Ago (1994) #55, their chosen lower profile and lack of promotion from new label Elektra saw their Top 40 appeal dip for good, yet they have endured as one of America's top drawing live acts[citation needed] and have continued to have the occasional hit on adult contemporary radio.
As well as singing lead vocals and playing harmonica with the band, Lewis also writes or co-writes many of the band's songs.
Huey Lewis has sung with Umphrey's McGee at several shows beginning with the 2005 Jammys and is featured on two tracks of their album Safety In Numbers.
The band, now in self-proclaimed semi-retirement, still plays 80+ U.S. dates a year, with an occasional European tour. The average fee for Huey Lewis & The News to play a private college-sized show is around US$200,000.
On February 13, 2007, Huey was interviewed on the podcast series "Stuck in the 80s," during which he revealed that the band has written several new songs that they plan to record next year, though he states that, given how much the industry has changed since their last album, he's unsure at this point how they will sell the new material.[6]
During a show at the California State Fair on August 21, 2007, Huey was named Sacramento's "Musician of the Year" by the fair's General Manager and presented with a gold statue of the California state bear.
Huey has also recorded a duet version of "Workin' For A Livin'" with Garth Brooks, which was included in Brooks' 3-Disc set The Ultimate Hits, in late-2007.
Huey Lewis's real name is "Hugh Cregg"
On his return, Lewis entered Cornell University, joining the engineering program. While there, he made friends with Lance and Larry Hoppen, who later played with Orleans and King Harvest. Initially being an active student and a member of the fraternity Eta Lambda Nu, Lewis soon lost interest in college. He signed up with a band called Slippery Elm, and in December 1969, during his junior year, he dropped out of Cornell, moving back to the San Francisco area. His aim was to continue playing music, but along the way he also tried other fields of work including landscaping, carpentry and natural foods.
In 1971, Lewis joined the Bay Area band Clover. Around this time he took the name Huey Lewis. The Lewis is for his mother Magda Cregg's boyfriend, Beat Generation poet Lew(is) Welch, whom he considered his stepfather. Sean Hopper joined the band in 1972; other members of the band were John McFee, Alex Call, John Ciambotti, Mitch Howie, Mickey Shine and Marcus David. Lewis played harmonica with the band and only sang lead vocals on a few tunes. Clover's main rival band (which developed into a friendly rivalry) was Soundhole (Johnny Colla, Mario Cipollina, and Bill Gibson were band members).
In 1976, after playing in the Bay Area with limited success, Clover went to Los Angeles. They had their "big break" in a club there when their act was caught by Nick Lowe, who convinced Clover to travel to Britain with him. However, Clover was not successful in Britain, and the band arrived just as their folk-rock sound (known as pub rock in Britain) was being replaced by punk rock. They recorded two albums for the British Phonogram label; both albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, but neither were successful.
While Huey went on vacation, the rest of Clover backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim is True. The band returned to California, McFee joined the Doobie Brothers, and Clover disbanded.
Huey Lewis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy's 1978 landmark album Live and Dangerous. That same year, Lewis was playing at Uncle Charlie's, a club in Corte Madera, California, doing the 'Monday Night Live' spot, along with future members of the News. After recording the song "Exo-Disco" (a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus), Huey landed a 'singles contract' from Phonogram Records, and Bob Brown became his manager. Huey Lewis and the American Express formed in 1979, with the same line-up as the News. The band played a few gigs (including an opening for Van Morrison), but on Brown's advice, they changed their name again. Huey Lewis and the News became their moniker.
After a failed self-titled debut in 1980, the band finally broke through to Top 40 success with the gold album Picture This (1982) riding to #13 on the Albums chart thanks to the Mutt Lange-penned "Do You Believe In Love" (#7), which became the band's first hit.
The band's third LP, the #1 Sports (1983), is one of the best-selling pop releases of all time. It has sold ten million copies in the US alone.[4] It was followed up by Fore! (1986), another #1 multi-platinum smash.
in 1995, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker, Jr. over similarities between Parker's theme for the 1984 movie Ghostbusters and Lewis' own "I Want A New Drug". The case was settled out of court, with both parties agreeing to keep the settlement secret. Mr. Parker sued Mr. Lewis in 2001, alleging that Mr. Lewis violated the agreement in a "VH1- Behind the Music" Episode, when he stated that Mr. Parker paid some amount to settle the case.[5]
Lewis produced Nick Lowe's 1985 cover of "I Knew The Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)". Huey Lewis and the News provided backup vocals and played on the song. He and his bandmates also performed on USA for Africa's 1985 fund-raising single "We Are the World", and spent the remainder of the 1980s and early 1990s adding to an impressive string of 14 Top-20 Billboard Hot 100 hits and releasing two more hit albums: Small World (1988) #11 and Hard At Play (1991) #27. By the time the band released their critically-acclaimed album of cover songs Four Chords & Several Years Ago (1994) #55, their chosen lower profile and lack of promotion from new label Elektra saw their Top 40 appeal dip for good, yet they have endured as one of America's top drawing live acts[citation needed] and have continued to have the occasional hit on adult contemporary radio.
As well as singing lead vocals and playing harmonica with the band, Lewis also writes or co-writes many of the band's songs.
Huey Lewis has sung with Umphrey's McGee at several shows beginning with the 2005 Jammys and is featured on two tracks of their album Safety In Numbers.
The band, now in self-proclaimed semi-retirement, still plays 80+ U.S. dates a year, with an occasional European tour. The average fee for Huey Lewis & The News to play a private college-sized show is around US$200,000.
On February 13, 2007, Huey was interviewed on the podcast series "Stuck in the 80s," during which he revealed that the band has written several new songs that they plan to record next year, though he states that, given how much the industry has changed since their last album, he's unsure at this point how they will sell the new material.[6]
During a show at the California State Fair on August 21, 2007, Huey was named Sacramento's "Musician of the Year" by the fair's General Manager and presented with a gold statue of the California state bear.
Huey has also recorded a duet version of "Workin' For A Livin'" with Garth Brooks, which was included in Brooks' 3-Disc set The Ultimate Hits, in late-2007.
Huey Lewis's real name is "Hugh Cregg"
Back in Time
Huey Lewis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me, doctor, where are we going this time
Is this the 50's, or 1999
All I wanted to do, was play my guitar and sing
So take me away, I don't mind
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time
Gotta get back in time
Don't bet your future, on one roll of the dice
Better remember, lightning never strikes twice
Please don't drive at eighty eight, don't want to be late again
So take me away, I don't mind
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get me back in time
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get back, get back
Get back Marty
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get back, get back
Is this the 50's, or 1999
All I wanted to do, was play my guitar and sing
So take me away, I don't mind
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time
Gotta get back in time
Better remember, lightning never strikes twice
Please don't drive at eighty eight, don't want to be late again
So take me away, I don't mind
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get me back in time
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get back, get back
Get back Marty
Gotta get back in time
Gotta get back in time
Get back, get back
The song "Back in Time" by Huey Lewis & The News takes us on a journey, asking the "doctor" where they are going, if it's the 50's or 1999. The lyrics suggest a desire to escape this world and go back to a simpler time where all they wanted to do was play their guitar and sing. The doctor is instructed to take them away, but with a promise that they will be back in time–simply put back in their world.
However, there is an underlying warning. It cautions against betting one's future on one roll of the dice and warns that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. The fear of being late again subtly underscores the anxiety they feel while being taken away from their world.
Overall, the song has a nostalgic theme. It yearns for a simpler and innocent time that is easy to access, and it also acknowledges the dangers of time travel. It is a song that celebrates the spirit of music, reminding us that creativity can transport us to any place or time.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell me, doctor, where are we going this time
Asking the time travel specialist about their destination.
Is this the 50's, or 1999
Checking if they have traveled to the past or future.
All I wanted to do, was play my guitar and sing
Expressing a simple desire to just make music.
So take me away, I don't mind
Being open to the time travel experience.
But you better promise me, I'll be back in time
Requesting assurance that they will come back to their own time period.
Gotta get back in time
Emphasizing the importance of returning to the present.
Don't bet your future, on one roll of the dice
Warning against relying solely on chance for success.
Better remember, lightning never strikes twice
Reminding that certain opportunities may only happen once.
Please don't drive at eighty eight, don't want to be late again
Making a reference to the movie's time travel method, and being cautious not to miss their window of opportunity.
Get back Marty
Addressing a character by name and urging them to return to their proper time.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER JOHN HAYES, HUEY LEWIS, JOHN VICTOR COLLA, SEAN THOMAS HOPPER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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