Monumental 7x Platinum breakthrough set for vinyl reissue this fall
Huey Lewis & The News’ third album, Sports, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with two vinyl reissues on September 15th via Capitol/UMe. The Grammy-nominated, 7X Platinum, chart-topping album will be available in classic black and olive green vinyl. Originally released on September 15, 1983, Sports was a breakthrough for the San Francisco-based band, reaching the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 albums and generating four top ten hits.
A cultural touchstone upon its release, Sports not only made a star out of its frontman vocalist Huey Lewis but also thrust the band into the global spotlight. Combining the unlikely concoction of power-pop, blue-eyed soul, doo-wop, and rhythm & blues, the album found itself posited in the Top 40 in numerous counties across the globe, including Norway, Canada, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand, the UK and, of course, their native US.
Launching itself from the get-go with the first single “Heart and Soul” which peaked at No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles, Sports was a frequent visitor in the charts. “I Want a New Drug” found the band reaching No. 6 as did the third and fourth singles “The Heart of Rock and Roll” and “If This Is It” respectively. A fifth single “Walking on a Thin Line” broke the Top 20 at No. 16 on the Top Rock chart. The album charted in the Top 200 for 160 consecutive weeks, earning the album the remarkable designation of being the second biggest-selling album on Billboard’s end-of-year sales chart, beat only by Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
“In the early 80’s, there was no internet, no alternative scene, and really only one avenue to success, a hit single on CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio). We produced the Sports album ourselves because we wanted to make commercial choices we could live with while we aimed most of the tunes directly at CHR radio. Sports was a collection of singles. We needed a hit single … didn’t know we’d have five of them,” Lewis shares of the album’s success.
A monumental breakthrough, Sports garnered Huey Lewis & The News two Grammys — one in 1984 for Best Rock Vocal by a Group for “Heart and Soul” and the other in 1985 for Record of the Year for “The Heart of Rock and Roll.”
Side A:
1. The Heart of Rock and Roll
2. Heart and Soul
3. Bad Is Bad
4. I Want a New Drug
Side B:
1. Walking on a Thin Line
2. Finally Found a Home
3. If This Is It
4. You Crack Me Up
5. Honky Tonk Blues
