My late father was born in the 1930s, my mother was born in the 1950s, my brother was born in the 1970s, and I was born in the 1980s. I cannot recall a single time in which the four of us were all in agreement about anything-- with one notable exception: Huey Lewis and the News.
There is something timeless about Huey Lewis' music. No matter when you were born, no matter where you're from, around the world and back again, Huey and his saxy, horny crew know how to speak the Universal language and have done it with a fluent and unyielding joy for over 35 years.
News broke this afternoon that Huey has been diagnosed with Meniere's disease and has lost most of his hearing. Even worse, he reported that many frequencies (especially bass tones) are so distorted that he is unable to determine pitch at all. He has cancelled the rest of his tour stops for 2018 and it is unclear if he will ever be able to perform again.
It is hard to quantify the impact Huey Lewis and the News had on my formative years, but it was truly enormous. My brother and I would sift through countless thrift store bins, garage sale boxes, flea market booths, and more looking for rare records (colored vinyls, picture discs, demo copies, etc.) and it felt like winning the lottery when we'd find one. I still get butterflies in my heart anytime I see a Chrysalis label or watch Huey's cameo in Back to the Future.
Huey and his crew knew how to have fun. Their music videos were always clever and silly, their songs sometimes a tongue-in-cheek commentary on their contemporaries, and their concerts full of fans ready to dance and sing and scream when they heard the name of their city mentioned during Heart of Rock and Roll.
I saw Huey a couple of years ago and even then, it was apparent that his body was starting to fail him, but I didn't want to believe it. Before the hearing issue popped up this year, his vocal cords had also started to give out fairly frequently. I wanted to believe these issues were just blips and not indicative of anything more. I didn't want to believe that time continues to move forward whether we like it or not.
Huey is still with us for now and if he wanted to tour with the Tower of Power and lip sync every single song, it would still be one of the best concerts of all time and I'd still pay for front row seats. And miracles happen every day, so perhaps he will find the right doctors and the right treatment and beat this thing.
But, ultimately, it is a reminder to all of us that we only have a set number of days to play the characters we play in this lifetime. Eventually, we will play our last concert and it is unlikely that we'll have advance notice about which concert will be our last.
So... get out there and sing your Song and blow your horn as loudly and proudly as you can for as long as you can. Have fun. And always, always, always believe in The Power of Love.
Thank you, Huey. Thank you for everything.
There is something timeless about Huey Lewis' music. No matter when you were born, no matter where you're from, around the world and back again, Huey and his saxy, horny crew know how to speak the Universal language and have done it with a fluent and unyielding joy for over 35 years.
News broke this afternoon that Huey has been diagnosed with Meniere's disease and has lost most of his hearing. Even worse, he reported that many frequencies (especially bass tones) are so distorted that he is unable to determine pitch at all. He has cancelled the rest of his tour stops for 2018 and it is unclear if he will ever be able to perform again.
It is hard to quantify the impact Huey Lewis and the News had on my formative years, but it was truly enormous. My brother and I would sift through countless thrift store bins, garage sale boxes, flea market booths, and more looking for rare records (colored vinyls, picture discs, demo copies, etc.) and it felt like winning the lottery when we'd find one. I still get butterflies in my heart anytime I see a Chrysalis label or watch Huey's cameo in Back to the Future.
Huey and his crew knew how to have fun. Their music videos were always clever and silly, their songs sometimes a tongue-in-cheek commentary on their contemporaries, and their concerts full of fans ready to dance and sing and scream when they heard the name of their city mentioned during Heart of Rock and Roll.
I saw Huey a couple of years ago and even then, it was apparent that his body was starting to fail him, but I didn't want to believe it. Before the hearing issue popped up this year, his vocal cords had also started to give out fairly frequently. I wanted to believe these issues were just blips and not indicative of anything more. I didn't want to believe that time continues to move forward whether we like it or not.
Huey is still with us for now and if he wanted to tour with the Tower of Power and lip sync every single song, it would still be one of the best concerts of all time and I'd still pay for front row seats. And miracles happen every day, so perhaps he will find the right doctors and the right treatment and beat this thing.
But, ultimately, it is a reminder to all of us that we only have a set number of days to play the characters we play in this lifetime. Eventually, we will play our last concert and it is unlikely that we'll have advance notice about which concert will be our last.
So... get out there and sing your Song and blow your horn as loudly and proudly as you can for as long as you can. Have fun. And always, always, always believe in The Power of Love.
Thank you, Huey. Thank you for everything.