Huey Lewis and The News: Like finding an old friend

By Mike Gange 

In the 1980’s, when I was a poor-and-all-but-broke grad student, I spent 50 bucks on tickets to see Huey Lewis and the News in concert.  Unfortunately, I never made it to the concert.

I loved Huey Lewis and The News from the first time I heard them. They were different, they were hip, they had great guitar solos and that saxophone break that reinforced the whole sound. And front man Huey Lewis had this aura about him, as well as that incredible voice. I think I first saw them on a music video. As soon as I could scrape together 7 dollars, I went out and bought their cassette tape.

Amongst my friends, there was always a rumor that there was more than just a similarity between the band’s song, “I Want a New Drug” and the Ghostbusters theme “Who Ya Gonna Call?” Speculation had it that the music for the 1984 hit movie theme was actually the same song as the one that helped popularize The News. I was never able to substantiate the rumor until the days of the Internet. Trying to decide if the rumor was true, however, allowed for many interesting hours of intense listening and lengthy discussions.

Eventually time passed, and Huey Lewis and The News faded, both from the radio play lists and my own taste. When I started to exchange my cassette collection for CD’s, Huey Lewis and The News never made it to the list of must-have replacements.  

But recently, I found a Huey Lewis and The News ‘Greatest Hits’ CD. It was in the delete bin, and was so ridiculously inexpensive, I had to fork out for it. And Huey Lewis and The News never sounded so good! There were the old fav’s, such as “The Power of Love” from the movie ‘Back to the Future.’ And there was “Cruising” a charming duet with Gwyneth Paltrow, which I don’t recall ever hearing. Listening to the band today is a 1980s time-trip, to be sure, but The News does not sound OLD.

As for the details of how I missed the concert? It was to be an open-air show, held in a football stadium. It got rained out, and although it was rescheduled for a later date, I had to catch an airplane the next day that brought me to a new job and a successful career. I don’t regret all those things, but I still wish I had seen Huey Lewis and The News in person. This CD reminds me what I missed.