Hugh Cregg and the Headlines: workin' for a livin'
May 23 '04
The Bottom Line Hugh Cregg? no, too bland. Huey Louie. NO, too silly. What about Huey Lewis? hmmm...but is it hip? or is it square?
The music industry is brimming with nostalgia these days as the original MTV generation nears forty years old. We long for the days when music videos were cutting edge, when Martha Quinn was cool, and when "I want my MTV" meant grass roots campaigns to get the station added to your local cable company's lineup, rather than making a call to your stockbroker. We sit and watch "I Love the 80's" on VH1 and reminisce about the golden days of MTV - the days of big hair, stretch pants, wild makeup and the b!tchy attitude to match - and that was just the boys... MTV created a whole new method for making pop stars, but in the beginning, it was all about the music, a whole new perspective on beloved artists.
Very few of these artists from the old days of MTV continue to be relevant in the music industry today, and even some of these legends find that they are fading, but they have a definite advantage over the new kids – their fan base has been employed for a while now, and will shell out the bucks for a stadium concert. As a result, 2004 is turning out to be a great year for this MTV generation – the legends are out in force, and we’re being treated to greatest-hits tours by the likes of Sting (now touring with near-legend Annie Lennox), Madonna (out to Re-Invent herself yet again), Prince (schooling us with Musicology), and Hugh Cregg.
“Hugh Cregg? Who is Hugh Cregg?”, you ask…
Well, Hugh was once in a band called Clover - Hugh played harmonica, and his buddy Sean Hopper played the piano. While gigging in LA, the biggest musical rival for Clover was another group called Soundhole. It was a friendly rivalry and years later, Hugh and Sean joined with three of Soundhole’s players, Bill Gibson, Johnny Colla and Mario Cippolina to form their own group. This San Francisco based band would become one of the biggest acts of the eighties, releasing two monster albums in the middle of the decade, and capitalizing on the early days of MTV, right along with Mr. Sumner, Ms. Ciccone, and Mr. Nelson… But, Hugh and the remaining band members can’t be seen in any of the big venues this summer – he and the band dropped off the radar pretty fast once the hits dried up, so you’ll have to settle for seeing him in smaller venues and clubs…
…which brings me (almost) to my review of Hugh’s concert last night at Billy Bob’s Texas. My wife is a huge fan of Hugh and the band – she saw them back in their days of wine and roses, back when they could sell out a huge stadium – so I picked up a couple tickets ($32 a piece, MUCH lower than the Big 3 tours command right now), and we paid our first visit to one of the biggest honky-tonk blues clubs in the country. The venue itself is another review for another day…
There are only four remaining members of the band’s original lineup – sporting a new name (he flirted with the idea of using Huey Louie for a while) Hugh remains at the fore of this group, singing lead vocals and playing harmonica. Sean still plays the keyboards, Bill plays the drums, and Johnny plays the sax. John Pierce and Stef Burns, on bass and guitar respectively, are relatively recent additions to the group, and I think that the horn players have done a lot of gigs over the years with the band – Marvin McFadden, Rob Sudduth and Ron Stallings form a solid horn section that brings life to the band’s signature sound. And I have to say, this band may never play the big venues ever again, but some way, somehow, they’ve found their groove again – ladies and gentlemen, I give you the heart of rock and roll, Huey Lewis and the News!
Yes it’s true - they’re back. Not that they ever really went away…it’s just that they spent the length of the nineties being largely ignored in the U.S., releasing a few albums of new material, a collection of covers, and a greatest hits package, none of which really did anything on the charts. In recent years, they have’t toured a lot, but they’ve kept at it. There was one shining moment for Huey recently – his appearance in the movie Duets with Gwyneth Paltrow won him some minor acclaim, and their song from the film, a karaoke cover of Cruisin’ was a minor radio hit. But, I also recall watching the end of the millennium celebrations on TV a few years ago; the band appeared live on a local San Francisco broadcast, and things did not look good for Huey and the band. He appeared old, the original members all looked somewhat overweight, and their performance was just as shoddy – it was a real disappointment for us to see him in such a decline. His career appeared to be dead.
Well, either someone slipped them all a new drug, or they just decided to buckle down and start workin’ for a livin’ all over again… Huey Lewis and the News of 2004 is revitalized and fun, slimmer and energetic (for a bunch of fifty-somethings) and for ninety minutes last night, they put on a decent show. No, they aren’t the best band in the world, and no, their new material doesn’t break any new ground – BUT - what they do, they do well, and they have managed to recapture the sound that made them popular in the first place.
The News is still supporting their most recent album, 2001’s “Plan B” – four of the first six songs played last night came from this album. I had never heard these songs before, and I found them to be a pleasant surprise. These songs have their foundation in the classic Stax horn sounds of the fifties and sixties, and this retro-blues is what the News does best. It’s what made them famous, and it’s what makes them interesting again in an industry that’s largely lost touch with this sound. Johnny fronts the horn section, lighting up his solos with his usual flair for melody. The horns are tight, punctuating each song with precise hits and excellent dynamic range – they are what set the News apart from a lot of other bands.
Other than the “new” material, the News brought out their greatest hits package – exactly what the crowd of about four or five thousand at Billy Bob’s paid to hear. Huey’s found his higher singing range again, and he put it to good use in the monster hits, like Heart of Rock and Roll, If This Is It, and Heart and Soul. He is also quite handy with the harmonica, and he wailed right along with several songs. Johnny, Sean and Bill still provide some of the best backup harmonies in the business, as proven in a couple of vocal showcases, Bad is Bad and the a capella It’s Alright. Each of these songs sounds pretty much like you remember it – this isn’t a bad thing, really. I think that for this style of music, there’s only one way to play it – as classic rock and roll. Messing with the formula of these songs would probably ruin them; the only changes made are the addition of a few guitar solo showcases for Stef Burns. I wasn’t impressed with these solos; they have a Joe Satriani-style sound with a less than Joe Satriani-style skill level. He’s a solid lead guitar player for the News, and a decent replacement for departed original News-man Chris Hayes. John Pierce fills in admirably for original bassist Mario Cippolina (I always thought that this sounded more like the name of a hit man than a bass player for a pop band).
The show was relatively short at ninety minutes, but the length was just right to cover their extensive discography. The band played their biggest hits, a selection of recent material, and three encores – a total of sixteen crowd pleasing songs. Sure, they could have gone a little deeper into their catalog, since there are several solid original songs that never made it to radio, and the News is also a terrific cover band for material from the fifties and sixties. But I think that they have learned not to push too hard, to relax and do what they know how to do best, and then, just leave it at that. They’ve admitted their own mortality, and have gotten back to being a good small venue band that just happened to make it really big for a few years.
You’d be hard pressed to point out a weak song in last night’s lineup – the new songs are solid, and fit well with the old material. The old songs have been given new life, since it seems that Huey and the band are willing to really work at what they do, to get the sound of the group back to it’s former greatness. Hey, I’m not saying that these guys were the best rock and roll band ever – I am saying that they were always a lot of fun, and they’ve found the fun again. Huey Lewis and the News are worth your time – they’ve put a lot of hard work into earning some respect, and if this is it for the band, well, you could do a whole lot worse than the career Huey Lewis and the News have had. Yes, I still want my MTV, and whaddya know? …last night, I got it delivered with the News…
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Huey Lewis and the News
May 22, 2004
Billy Bob's Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Huey Lewis and the News is:
Huey Lewis - lead vocals, harmonica
Johnny Colla - guitar, sax, vocals
Bill Gibson - drums, vocals
Sean Hopper - keyboards, vocals
John Pierce - bass
Stef Burns - guitar, vocals
Marvin McFadden - trumpet
Ron Stallings - tenor saxophone
Rob Sudduth - tenor & baritone saxophone
The Complete Set List
We're Not Here For A Long Time (We're Here For A Good Time) - from "Plan B"
My Other Woman - from "Plan B"
Heart of Rock and Roll - from "Sports"
Thank You #19 - from "Plan B"
Power of Love - from "Back To The Future" soundtrack
When I Write the Book - from "Plan B"
If This Is It - from "Sports"
Jacob's Ladder - from "Fore"
It's Alright - from "Time Flies"
Bad is Bad - from "Sports"
Heart and Soul - from "Sports"
"I Like It" - (still trying to find the source of this song, and it’s correct title)
I Want a New Drug - from "Sports"
Encores
Do You Believe in Love - from "Picture This"
Doing It All for My Baby - from "Fore"
Working for a Living - from "Picture This"
Upcoming Tour Dates and Locations
Check for more Huey Lewis and the News concerts coming soon at:
www.hln.org/tourdates.jsp
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Member: Andrew
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