Despite owning their entire discography of the 80's, I'm honestly not the biggest fan of Huey Lewis And The News. They're the type of band that your parents also liked, which made them instantly uncool.
Clover was an American country rock band which was primarily active from 1967 to 1978. They released their self-titled debut in 1970 and followed this with 1971's Fourty Niner. Finding little to no success, they relocated to the UK, where Huey Lewis and Sean Hopper would join the lineup of Alex Call, John McFee, and John Ciambotti. Previous member, Mitch Howie would depart and be replaced by Micky Shine.
This new iteration of the band would release 1977's Unavailable. However, Shine would then depart, and be replaced by Tony Braunagel. That same year, they'd release Love On The Wire, their final album until 2018's Homecoming, which would feature guest appearances from Huey Lewis, Sean Hopper, Pete Thomas and Elvis Costello.
During the late seventies, the band would heavily tour as a support act for the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy and Graham Parker, but never found their own footing. Clover would disband in 1978, and the members returned to the USA. Alex Call would embark on solo projects, while also writing hits for Tommy Tutone (he wrote the infamous Jenny / 867-5309), as well as multiple hits for Huey Lewis And The News.
During their Bay Area days, Clover's biggest competition was Soundhole, a band featuring Bill Gibson, Johnny Colla, and Mario Cipollina, among others. When Huey was able to secure a contract for singles with Phonogram Records, he needed a band to record them. It was at this point that (ex) members of Clover and Soundhole would come together to form Huey Lewis & The American Express. The lineup consisted of Huey Lewis, Sean Hopper, Bill Gibson, Johnny Colla, and Mario Cipollina.
The band took the theme song from the film, Exodus, and worked it into the disco track, Exodisco. For the single, they also shortened their name, releasing it as American Express. The b-side would feature Kick Back, a song which was previously performed live by Clover. It would fail to perform and go relatively ignored.
By 1979, they were joined by Chris Hayes, and they moved to Chrysalis Records where they recorded their debut album. However, Chrysalis didn't like the name, American Express, specifically fearing backlash and trademark infringement from the credit card company. Huey Lewis And The News was officially born.
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Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later), and b-side Don't Ever Tell Me That You Love Me, was the only single released, but failed to chart. At the time, promotional music videos were recorded for both, and would later be released on the 1985 VHS, Video Hits. The songs would also be remixed and re-released as the b-sides to Hip To Be Square, and Stuck With You, respectively, in 1986.
However, in 1980, Huey Lewis And The News were essentially DOA. Playing through the album, it does not impress at all, and critics of the time felt the same way. Playing through it, for me, didn't yield any noteworthy tracks.
Frankly, had I heard this in 1980, that would have derailed the band completely for me, and I'd have moved on. Fortunately for them, my first exposure, like many, was at the peak of their popularity, and massive hit single for Back To The Future. So, I'll give them a pass, the benefit of the doubt, and jump into their sophomore released, Picture This (1982) tomorrow. Until then, I don't have much more to say.
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