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"
I Need A New Drug
Huey Lewis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I want a new drug, one that won't make me sick
One that won't make me crash my car
Or make me feel feet, feet, feet thick
I want a new drug, one that won't hurt my head
One that won't make my mouth too dry
Or make my eyes too red
Wonderin' what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you
When I'm alone with you
I want a new drug, one that won't spill
One that don't cost too much
Or come in a pill
I want a new drug, one that won't go away
One that won't keep me up all night
One that won't make me sleep all day
One that won't make me nervous
Wonderin' what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you
I'm alone with you
I'm alone with you, baby
I want a new drug, one that does what it should
One that won't make me feel too bad
One that won't make me feel too good
I want a new drug, one with no doubt
One that won't make me talk to much
Or make my face break out
One that won't make me nervous
Wonderin' what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you
I'm alone with you
I'm alone with you, yeah, yeah
Huey Lewis's "I Want a New Drug" is about wanting to find a new drug that won't have any negative side effects. The song was a hit for the band in the mid-1980s and was used extensively in films and TV shows. In the lyrics, Lewis expresses his desire for a drug that won't make him sick, won't make him crash his car, won't make him feel too thick, and won't hurt his head. He also wants a drug that won't make him nervous, won't keep him up all night, and won't make him sleep all day.
A new drug in the song can be interpreted as something that changes the way he feels, as with many drug use. However, he wants a new drug that won't make him feel terrible or have negative consequences. In some ways, the song can be seen as a reflection of the anxieties around drug use and experimentation in the 1980s. It's also reasonable to see it as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the utopian hopes of modern pharmacology, and the desire of people in general to alleviate their troubles without causing more. The phrase "I'm alone with you" suggests that it might not be an addictive drug, but a person with whom he can be comfortable or at ease.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh
Exclamation to introduce the desire for a new drug.
I want a new drug, one that won't make me sick
The desire for a drug that doesn't have negative physical effects.
One that won't make me crash my car
The desire for a drug that won't impair driving abilities.
Or make me feel feet, feet, feet thick
The desire for a drug that won't make the body feel heavy or sluggish.
One that won't hurt my head
The desire for a drug that doesn't cause headaches or migraines.
One that won't make my mouth too dry
The desire for a drug that doesn't cause excessive dryness in the mouth.
Or make my eyes too red
The desire for a drug that won't cause redness or other noticeable changes to the eyes.
One that won't make me nervous
The desire for a drug that doesn't cause anxiety or nervousness.
Wonderin' what to do
The desire to know what to do without being excessively stimulated by the drug.
One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you
The desire for a drug that makes the user feel the same way as when they are around their romantic partner.
When I'm alone with you
The desire to feel the same way as when the user is alone with their romantic partner while taking the drug.
I want a new drug, one that won't spill
The desire for a drug that isn't messy or difficult to handle.
One that don't cost too much
The desire for a drug that isn't too expensive to obtain.
Or come in a pill
The desire for a drug that doesn't have to be taken in pill form.
One that won't go away
The desire for a drug that has lasting effects, rather than wearing off quickly.
One that won't keep me up all night
The desire for a drug that doesn't keep the user awake or disturb their sleep cycle.
One that won't make me sleep all day
The desire for a drug that doesn't cause excessive drowsiness or lethargy.
One that does what it should
The desire for a drug that has consistent, reliable effects.
One that won't make me feel too bad
The desire for a drug that doesn't have severe negative effects.
One that won't make me feel too good
The desire for a drug that doesn't induce excessive euphoria or mania.
One with no doubt
The desire for a drug with no uncertainty or risk.
One that won't make me talk to much
The desire for a drug that won't cause excessive chattiness or a loss of filter in conversation.
Or make my face break out
The desire for a drug that doesn't cause acne or other skin irritation.
I'm alone with you
The desire to feel the same way as when the user is alone with their romantic partner while taking the drug.
I'm alone with you, yeah, yeah
Reiteration of the desire to feel the same way as when the user is alone with their romantic partner while taking the drug.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER JOHN HAYES, HUEY LEWIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@AbhNormal
I think with this album, they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.
@curtisfoy6735
The whole album has a clear, crisp sound
@brokefolkfabrication
do you like Phil Collins?
@ReservoirPunk
It's a laugh-riot
@MegaSammy70
That's because Huey Lewis And The News started producing their own records after their first album flopped.
@iluvtiits
Is this from American psycho?
@ckatheman
Is it just me or has Huey Lewis always been 45 years old?
@tedskins
I think he was mid 30s here
@shawnd980
lol so true
@brotheldan2009
yes but hes always been the man