Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hip to Be Square




Over the summer, Randy surprised me with tickets to the Huey Lewis and the News concert at the Tulalip Casino. The late summer weather cooperated with us and we had a beautiful evening outside flashing back to out high school years and the music we loved so much. Huey's voice was outstanding! Both of us have heard musicians who have lost their ability to sing the songs the way they did twenty five years ago. Not so with Huey! To listen to his music, I would not have guessed we were in 2008! What we both loved about the band is the diversity in the brass section. The music is upbeat and fun. What a great concert!

Huey Trivia:
He is the leader of Huey Lewis and the News.

Attended Monte Vista High School in Danville , CA .

Has two children, son Austin (born 1985) and daughter
Kelly (born 1983).

Scored a perfect 800 on his math SATs.

In 1967 he graduated from Lawrenceville Prep at the age
of 16 in Lawrenceville , New Jersey .

His parents divorced when he was 13.

He has a brother named Jeff.

Huey dropped out of Cornell University to spend a year
living in Europe playing the harp.

Attended Cornell University , majoring in engineering,
but dropped out after his junior year, because he was in
a band called Clover and they were preparing for rock
stardom. Clover (minus Huey Lewis) provided the
instrumentals for Elvis Costello's debut album, "My Aim
Is True".

When the Band Clover broke up he formed Huey Lewis & The
News, the so-called 80s Band.

Huey Lewis successfully sued Ray Parker Jr. for
plagiarizing the medley to his song "I Want A New Drug".
They settled out of court and agreed not to talk about
the case in public. In 2001, Lewis talked about the case
in public when he revealed that Parker paid to settle
the suit on an episode of VH1's "Behind the Music"
(1997). Parker then sued Lewis for violating the terms
of their agreement.

Enjoys playing golf.

On the song "Hip to be Square", from the album "Fore!",
the backup singers at the end of the song include San
Francisco 49er stars Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott and Joe
Montana .

The original name of his band was "Huey Lewis and the
American Express". It was later changed to "Huey Lewis
and the News" due to legal reasons.

Huey Lewis & The News won the British Phonographic
Industry Award for International Group in 1986.

Although Lewis licensed "Hip to Be Square" for use in
the movie American Psycho for a 6 figure sum, he forbade
the song to be included on the CD soundtrack release (a
few early pressings of the CD included the song).

During an interview, he said that he learned how to play
the harmonica while hitchhiking across Europe .

No comments: