HUEY TUESDAY – a weekly dig through the archives of the only 80s band more interested in workin’ for a livin’ than being hip. But for every monster pop single, there was a deep album detour into new wave, ska, blues, reggae, a capella and instrumentals. Hip to be square, indeed! Have you really heard the News?
This week, we have further proof that Huey Lewis and the News is one of the great touring bands of the past quarter century.
This 1989 clip, shot at the venerable San Francisco club Slim’s, mashes up one of the News’ great album tracks from Fore, “Whole Lotta Lovin,” with a spirited cover of Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys are Back in Town.”
The connection?
Lewis played harmonica under the name “Huey Harp” on Thin Lizzy’s 1978 landmark album Live and Dangerous, as well on lead Phil Lynott’s 1980 LP Solo in Soho. The News also covered Lynott’s “Tattoo (Giving It All Up for Love)” on 1982’s Picture This, but that’s another story.
Dare we say, this is the cover of “The Boys are Back in Town” you never knew you needed so badly!