Huey Lewis and the News’ 10 greatest songs, ranked

27 August 2024, 10:32

Huey Lewis and the News are one of the 1980s' biggest-selling bands. (Photo by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images). Picture: Getty

By Thomas Edward

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Few bands straddled pop radio and rock radio quite like them.

During their rise to stardom throughout the eighties, Huey Lewis and the News could pen a hit equal to the best heavyweights in the business at the time.

Their blue-collar appeal, buckets of playful charm, and knack for writing radio-ready anthems meant they went down as well in stadiums as they did in local bars.

Led by Huey Lewis, of course, the band dabbled in the genres of music that inspired them to play to begin with - such as doo-wop, rhythm and blues, and pop - becoming a completely unique entity in their own right.

No wonder they went on to explode during the MTV era, achieving international acclaim selling over 30 million albums worldwide, and even being nominated for an Academy Award.

Lewis' sharp-dressed style mixed with his gruff voice and cheeky smile meant that the band gained a huge appeal from audiences in and out of the mainstream, rockers and poppers alike.

Scoring a series of hits throughout the eighties - 19 top ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Mainstream Rock charts, to be precise - they were one of the defining bands of that decade.

That said, we've ranked Huey Lewis and the News' ten very greatest songs from top to bottom:

'Perfect World'

Huey Lewis & The News - Perfect World (Official Music Video)

'Perfect World' was written by Huey Lewis' former bandmate Alex Call, who was in the band Clover together until they called it a day in 1978.
A decade later, Call offered up this song to Huey - who remained good friends - given the huge success that Huey Lewis and the News had achieved since.
"There's some little stuff in there that's definitely not me that they did, but I was very proud of that song and I loved the recording they did of it, I think it's fantastic," he said in a later interview.
It proved to be the band's final ever top ten single, peaking at number three on the US Billboard charts in 1988.
'Workin’ For A Livin'

Huey Lewis And The News - Workin' For A Livin'

What started off as an honest ode to the working men and women around the world, 'Workin' For A Livin'' quickly took on a new meaning about the band themselves.
Released on their 1982 album Picture This, the song came out amid troubles at their label, Chrysalis Records, who were facing financial difficulty.
Knowing they were sat on a bunch of hit singles, the band decided not to hand over the tapes and go on a small tour instead, playing clubs which they called the Workin' For A Livin' Tour, often working six nights a week whilst making no money.
'Workin' For A Livin'' only reached number 41 in the charts, but became a fan favourite later down the line - Garth Brooks even recorded a duet with Huey in 2007 which fared better reaching nineteen in the Billboard Country charts.
'If This Is It'

Huey Lewis & The News - If This Is It

'If This Is It' sees Huey putting the pieces together from his crumbling romantic relationship after figuring out he's being cheated on.
The R&B ballad is one of Huey Lewis and the News' more heart-aching moments, and fared well in the charts after its 1984 release, hitting number six in the US despite only breaking the top forty in the UK.
The band often shared out songwriting duties, and this song came from saxophone player Johnny Colla:
"I was in my bunk and I had this epiphany," he said in later interview. "The song is major and minor together sometimes, so it's complicated, and the music is telling me that there's confusion in there. That's when I got 'If This Is It.' That might not make any sense, but it made sense to me."
'Heart And Soul'

Huey Lewis And The News - Heart And Soul (Official Music Video)

'Heart And Soul' was another massive hit for Huey Lewis and the News after appearing on their equally massive 1983 album Sports, climbing up to number eight in the US Billboard charts.
Whilst it was a hit for the band, the song was previously released by a band called Exile and was a resounding flop.
Penned by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn - who were responsible for hits like Tony Basil's 'Mickey' and 'Ballroom Blitz' by Sweet - Huey knew it had potential, despite being released not once but twice already by two different groups.
"I heard the song from a publisher and said, 'Wow. This is a great demo,'" Lewis recalled in a later interview. "Well, it turns out it was Mike Chapman's production of Exile – a record."
'I Want A New Drug'

Huey Lewis & The News - I Want A New Drug

'I Want A New Drug' isn't about drugs at all. In fact, the "drug" in question is finding a new woman in his life.
Lewis cleared up any confusion about their extra-curricular habits in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, saying: "The whole meaning of 'I Want a New Drug' is that drugs aren't a part of life. They're just superficial. They're nothing about life. Life is love. Love is the answer, man."
The bopping synth-rocker was a massive hit, peaking at number six in 1984, maybe too much of a hit according to Lewis.
He sued Ray Parker Jr. for stealing the melody from this song for the Ghostbusters theme track that same year, which was settled out of court.
'Do You Believe In Love?'

Huey Lewis & The News - Do You Believe In Love

Huey Lewis's first entry on to the US Billboard charts in 1982 was thanks to none other than super producer Robert 'Mutt' Lange, Shania Twain's former husband, who originally wrote the song for British band Supercharge some years earlier.
'Do You Believe In Love?' reached number seven and helped the band achieve mainstream attention for the first time after it featured on their album, Picture This.
They weren't thrilled with the label's suggestion to record the song at first, however - Lange had worked with Huey's previous band Clover which wasn't the greatest of successes for both parties.
Fun fact: Star Trek legend William Shatner's daughter Lisabeth starred in the music video, though Huey wasn't a fan. "I didn't know what was going on in that video. I just had this terrible sinking feeling. And when the video ended, everybody stood up and gave us a standing ovation! I thought to myself, Well, clearly there's no art to this."
'Jacob’s Ladder'

Huey Lewis & The News - Jacob's Ladder (1987, USA # 1)

Not to be confused with the 1990 psychological horror movie starring Tim Robbins, the subject matter of 'Jacob's Ladder' was still a little off-piste for Huey Lewis and the News.
That's because it was written by siblings Bruce Hornsby and John Hornsby - Huey had previously produced Bruce's debut album The Way It Is and guested on his song 'Down The Road Tonight'.
John Hornsby later discussed the song's meaning, saying it was "about one persons' personal goal and on the other hand it does deal with certain media evangelists who preach 'sing along, send money, join the chosen few.'"
It achieved a personal goal for the band, with 'Jacob's Ladder' becoming their third and final single to reach the top of the charts in the US.
'Stuck With You'

Huey Lewis & The News - Stuck With You

'Stuck With You' certainly isn't the most romantic love song ever written, but it's definitely a sensible one when it comes to being, and staying, in love.
The 1986 bop describes how relationships can more often than enough become a logical union - 'we're been together this long, so might as well stick it out together for the indefinite future'.
Huey did once revealed in a 2013 that the inspiration behind the number one US hit wasn't too pleased about it. Who wants to bet it was his about his wife?
"My songs are often inspired by real things, in fact, usually inspired by real life, they aren't always literal, and I always 'embellish'," Lewis said. "But, I will also reveal that the person who inspired 'Stuck With You' didn't really like the song all that much."
'Hip To Be Square'

Huey Lewis & The News - Hip To Be Square

Poking fun at their own clean-cut image, Huey Lewis and the News released 'Hip To Be Square' in 1986, a song about how they didn't necessarily fit in among the long-haired, drug-taking, leather-clad rock bands of the era.
Due to their 'city slicker' image, the band in fact became conservative icons of the era, often being labelled as 'yuppies'.
This didn't go down too well with Huey, whose father was a jazz drummer and mother was an artist: "Everyone thinks I'm the boy next door because I look like the boy next door. But look at my parents, and look where I come from. I'm a beatnik kid."
A number one hit at the time of its 1986 release, the track got a second wind after Christian Bale-starring satirical psychological horror movie American Psycho used 'Hip To Be Square' in 2000 during a notorious murdering sequence, with Huey later parodying the scene in a 2013 song with Weird Al Yankovic.
'The Power Of Love'

Huey Lewis & The News - The Power Of Love (Official Video), Full HD Digitally Remastered & Upscaled

Yes, you knew there was only going to be one outcome when ranking Huey Lewis and the News' greatest ever song - it's 'The Power Of Love'.
Featuring as the main theme to the iconic sci-fi adventure movie Back To The Future in 1985, the song became known the world over.
Who can resist the sizzling opening synths, the triumphant chorus, and overall message. "That's the power of love".
Lewis was asked in person by the film's director Robert Zemeckis to provide a track for Back To The Future and he accepted. Though, it was released before the film hit cinemas and didn't make a dent in the charts. Until Back To The Future became a blockbuster smash and provided Huey Lewis and the News with their first US number-one single.
At the time of writing the anthem, Huey was recently married and had two young children, which inspired the track's evocative theme. Though it was his former Clover bandmate Alex Call who provided the song's title:
"I was happy to get paid. I was a little miffed at the time - if I had my name on that I could have turned it into a publishing deal, but then I'd probably be living in LA and I hated LA, so it's just as well that it worked out the way it did," he said in a later interview.
Huey Lewis and the News provided another song, 'Back In Time' for Back To The Future, though it's 'The Power Of Love' that everyone remembers off-by-heart, a track that became both a pop cultural signifier of the 1980s and the band's greatest ever song.