Sports (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Sports
Artist = Huey Lewis and the News
Type = studio


Released = October 1, 1983
Recorded = Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California;
The Plant Studios, Sausalito, California
Genre = Rock
Length = 37:46
Label = Chrysalis
Producer = Huey Lewis and the News
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:o1fqoaqaeijp link]
* Robert Christgau (B+) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=2230 link]
* Rolling Stone Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hueylewisandthenews/albums/album/172905/review/6068227/sports link]
Last album = "Picture This"
(1982)
This album = "Sports"
(1983)
Next album = "Fore!"
(1986)
Misc = Singles
Name = Sports
Type = Studio
single 1 = Heart and Soul
single 1 date = 1983
single 2 = I Want a New Drug
single 2 date = 1984
single 3 = The Heart of Rock & Roll
single 3 date = 1984
single 4 = If This Is It
single 4 date = 1984
single 5 = Walking on a Thin Line
single 5 date = 1984

"Sports" is the third album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1983 (see 1983 in music). This was the album that truly made the band famous, going to #1 on the "Billboard" 200 on June 30, 1984, and making the band internationally known. The album has been certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA. "Sports" was the second biggest selling album of 1984, next only to Michael Jackson's "Thriller", and spawned four top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and a fifth that went top 20. It also did very well internationally, with most of its singles reaching chart peaks in various countries.

The album's biggest hit, "I Want a New Drug", was certified gold with sales of a million copies and was also the center of a law suit against artist Ray Parker Jr. who was accused of plagiarizing the song for his 1984 hit "Ghostbusters". The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.fact|date=May 2008

Another single, "The Heart of Rock & Roll", was ranked at #6 in "Blender" magazine's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever", with its worst moment coming in "the second verse, when that cheeky Huey almost uses the word 'ass'". [ [http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=819 Blender Magazine] ]

During the band's 1984-1985 "Sports" tour, Huey Lewis & The News were the highest grossing touring act in America.

Track listing

#"The Heart of Rock & Roll" (Colla, Lewis) – 5:03
#"Heart and Soul" (Chapman, Chinn) – 4:13
#"Bad Is Bad" (Call, Ciambotti, Hopper, Lewis, McFee, Schriener) – 3:48
#"I Want a New Drug" (Hayes, Lewis) – 4:46
#"Walking on a Thin Line" (Pessis, Wells) – 5:11
#"Finally Found a Home" (Brown, Hayes, Lewis) – 3:43
#"If This Is It" (Colla, Lewis) – 3:54
#"You Crack Me Up" (Cipollina, Lewis) – 3:42
#"Honky Tonk Blues" (Williams) – 3:26

1999 Expanded edition

A remastered "Expanded Edition" of "Sports" was released on June 29, 1999, and included the following session takes and live versions of their hit singles as bonus tracks.

#

"The Heart of Rock & Roll (session take)" – 5:12
#"Walking on a Thin Line (session take)" – 5:39
#"If This Is It (live in San Francisco, 2/21/85)" – 4:25
#"Heart and Soul (live in San Francisco, 2/21/85)" – 4:25
#"I Want a New Drug (live in Los Angeles, 1/15/84)" – 5:27

Personnel

*Huey Lewis - harmonica, lead vocals
*Mario Cipollina - bass, backing vocals
*Johnny Colla - guitar, saxophone, backing vocals
*Bill Gibson - percussion, drums, backing vocals
*Chris Hayes - guitar, backing vocals
*Sean Hopper - keyboard, backing vocals

Additional personnel

*John McFee - pedal steel, steel guitar

Production

*Producers: Huey Lewis & the News
*Reissue producer: Kevin Flaherty
*Engineers: Jim Gaines, Jeffrey Norman, Jesse Osborne
*Assistant engineers: Jeffrey Norman, Jesse Osborne
*Mixing: Larry Alexander, Bob Clearmountain
*Mastering: Ted Jensen
*Remastering: Bob Norberg
*Compilation: Kevin Flaherty
*Art direction: Sam Gay, Lisa Glines
*Graphic design: Bunny Zaruba
*Design: Bunny Zaruba

Charts

Album - "Billboard" (United States)

Singles - "Billboard" (United States)

"Sports" in popular culture

*The album appeared in the "Futurama" episode "The Luck of the Fryish" where it is noted that it has not held up to the test of time alongside the other contents of Fry's Ronco Record Vault.
*The album is critiqued by the character Patrick Bateman in both the book and film versions of "American Psycho" by Brett Easton Ellis. In the film, this album is when Bateman considers the band to have "really come into their own, commercially and artistically."
*In the first "Back to the Future" film, a poster of the album cover can be seen in Marty's bedroom.

References