Huey Lewis - vocals, harmonica; Mario Cipollina - bass; Chris Hayes - guitar; Sean Hopper - keyboards; Bill Gibson - drums; Johnny Colla - saxophone, guitar; Guests: Tower of Power Horns
Huey Lewis and the News were at the beginning of what would be a quick rise to the top of the U.S. charts when they made this recording for the King Biscuit Flower Hour in the spring of 1982. Recorded in Reseda, California, the band was on tour at the time to promote their second album, Picture This, which contained the hit single, "Do You Believe In Love," written by producer and future Mr. Shania Twain, John "Mutt" Lange. Other hits soon followed, including "Giving It All Up For Love" and "Change of Heart." All of those early hits are here, as is material that would make it on to the band's next album.
Huey Lewis and the News morphed from a San Francisco-based band called Clover, formed in 1967, which eventually included Lewis on harmonica and Sean Hopper on keyboards. The group (which also contained guitarist John McFee, who would later leave to join the Doobie Brothers) relocated to London at the urging of producer/artist Nick Lowe, who felt they would fit in perfectly with the U.K. pub scene. Members of Clover would also go on to be the backing band on the first Elvis Costello album, My Aim Is True.
When Clover released two albums and failed to chart a hit, they split with Hopper and Lewis, returning to San Francisco to form the band that would eventually become the News. The group recorded a handful of demos with the help of Mutt Lange and signed with Chrysalis Records, who suggested the name Huey Lewis and the News.
Although the band would go on to have bigger hits and become darlings of the MTV programmers, this early performance shows how tight they were from the very start. Highlights include "Do You Believe In Love," "The Only One," "Change Of Heart" and "Giving It All Up For Love."