It’s time for another installment of “David’s Records,” wherein I reach into my crates and pull out one of my Uncle’s records at random to revisit. Today, I’m talking about SPORTS, the third album by Huey Lewis & The News. Released in the fall of 1983, the album slowly climbed the charts thanks to the band’s tenacious touring, and in June 1984, SPORTS took the top spot on the Billboard 200. I don’t hear people talk too much about Huey Lewis & The News these days, and to be honest, I didn’t own any of their records until I inherited David’s collection. 

Weirdly, Huey Lewis’ cultural cache these days mostly seems to come from several high-profile films: Lewis, of course, has a famous cameo in the Robert Zemeckis classic Back to the Future, and the band contributed the songs “Back in Time” and “The Power of Love” to the film’s soundtrack. The film was a massive success and helped propel “The Power of Love” to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, the first time the band charted that high in the United States. The band was also immortalized in Mary Harron’s film adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, in which the murderous main character argues that SPORTS is the album where the band “came into their own.” And while I might agree with taking an axe to Jared Leto (creep), I’m not sure I agree with Bateman’s assessment that the band was “too New Wave before SPORTS.”

Though it was the band’s third album, SPORTS was the second to be produced by the band. Maybe because of their song “Working For A Living,” but Huey Lewis & The News has always struck me as pretty down-to-earth, hardworking dudes. The jump in quality that SPORTS represented feels like the result of the band honing their craft and improving while at the same time taking control of their sound in the studio. Listening to SPORTS back-to-back with the band’s previous record, 1982’s PICTURE THIS, one is immediately struck by how much bigger the production on SPORTS sounds. The majority of SPORTS is drenched in horns, keyboards, and wailing guitars. The songwriting is more confident on SPORTS, and there are fewer covers of other artists’ material. Unlike their earlier albums, SPORTS has the perfect balance of Blues, R&B, and New Wave. 

The album opener, “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” might be the last good song to refer to rock music as “rock and roll.” That this became a huge hit shouldn’t be too shocking; besides being catchy as hell (Huey’s stuttery delivery of “they say” is so genius it belongs in a museum), it’s one of those songs that name-checks a ton of cities. People love that; they love hearing their city mentioned in a song. Genius. 

The other big single on SPORTS, “I Want A New Drug,” leans a bit more into New Wave and features some sweet, super-crisp sounding horns. The guitar is also crazy on this track, which isn’t surprising as Lewis co-wrote it with the band’s lead guitarist, Chris Hayes. I don’t associate Huey Lewis & The News with guitar hero antics, but during my listen, I couldn’t help but notice how Hayes is wailing away on nearly every track on the record. It’s almost comical how over-the-top this guitar work is on some of these songs, but it all works. If you walk away with no other take from this post, let it be this: I believe Chris Hayes is the MVP of this record. 

My favorite song on the record, “Heart and Soul,” was the lead single, which I find unbelievable because it’s a cover! The song was written and initially recorded by a Kentucky band named Exile in 1981. They put it on an album called HEART AND SOUL! And boy, does it sound…weird. I may be biased because I heard the faster (better) Huey Lewis & The News cover first, but the Exile version is very subdued and features some slightly unhinged-sounding vocals. I can’t accurately describe it; you’ll just have to check it out yourself. That said, those guys in Exile sure did know how to write ‘em. Chris Hayes rips all over this song, too. 

SPORTS contains three more singles that, while lesser-known today, did pretty well at the time: “If This Is It,” “Finally Found A Home,” and “Walking on a Thin Line.” Of the three, “If This Is It” did the best, which makes sense because it’s a doo-wop song, and 1950s nostalgia was all the rage in the 80s. It’s also the only one of the final three singles about typical boy/girl/romance stuff. “Finally Found A Home” is about the band making it in the music industry, and “Walking On a Thin Line” is about Vietnam veterans with PTSD (of all things). 

“Walking On a Thin Line” opens with brooding keyboards before blossoming, like a flower, into a tight, standard-issue New Wave track. The lyrical hook is super-catchy, and while the subject matter is not exactly hidden, it wasn’t until I got the lyric sheet out that it became obvious that the track was about more than just the typical pop stuff. I think that “Walking On a Thin Line” is the best-case scenario for a song like this–it’s damn catchy, and even if you’re only half paying attention (guilty as charged), you can tell it’s about something important. I’m not sure if it completely succeeds as a message song, but the fact that they tried to write a commercial song about more than the typical rock/pop standards of love, heartbreak, etc., is commendable. 

Speaking of not-typical rock/pop stuff, SPORTS has some weird deep cuts. “Bad is Bad” is another track with strong doo-wop roots, but unlike the more straightforward doo-wop of “If This Is It,” this track is also super-bluesy. It’s a fun track that doesn’t seem to be about anything other than the then-current trend of the word “bad” being used as a synonym for “good.” Another weird one, “You Crack Me Up,” is about someone (a woman?) who’s older but insists on not acting their age. This is the weakest song of the bunch and honestly feels like album filler. But even the filler on SPORTS is super-polished and catchy. 

Lastly, the album closer “Honky Tonk Blues” is a…Hank Williams cover from 1952! The News play this one pretty straightforwardly, and I dig it. As crazy as it might sound, I could have done with a full album of classic country covers. SPORTS only blew up because Huey Lewis & The News were serious road dogs who toured like madmen. At first blush, “Honky Tonk Blues” might seem like a strange choice, but it makes sense that these guys would like this song. Huey, if you’re reading this, do a country record. 

After listening to SPORTS a few times, I realized I’ve taken these guys for granted. No doubt the ubiquity of the album’s singles, both in pop culture in general but certainly on classic rock radio, had a lot to do with that. SPORTS isn’t a concept album, and hearing these tracks in sequence isn’t exactly essential, but I think hearing the bigger tracks with the stuff you don’t hear on classic rock radio gives context for who Huey Lewis & The News were in 1983. They were a hungry young band firing on all cylinders for the first time. I don’t give ratings, but I will say that this is a SCC (Stone Cold Classic).

Now, the most important question is: Why is it called SPORTS? It’s just a silly play on the band’s name, “The News.” So why are they in a bar on the album cover?  I’d always assumed they were in a bar because they were known as a bar band. However, in a 2020 interview with Pitchfork (which is delightful to watch), Lewis explains that the band is in a bar on the album cover because that’s where they figured most people sat and watched sports. God, I miss how simple things used to be.