Alright, here we go. As I mentioned last time, this album opened my mind to a whole new world of music. I can still play the entire album in my head without missing a beat, over thirty-five years after I first heard it. No hit singles, no chart-busting numbers...but it's a fantastic debut album, and deserves to be better known than it is.
One of the things I've read about this album is that it's related to 'New Wave' music. I just don't see it. Or hear it. When I think of New Wave, I think of bands like Wham!, Pet Shop Boys, and Duran Duran. Granted, I'm not nearly as steeped in the music of that era as most people my age, but HLN doesn't sound anything like those other bands. Their roots go deeper, back to the R&B-influenced American rock n' roll of the late 50s and early 60s.
So, this album was released on June 25, 1980. I was nine years old and busy listening to the Everly Brothers and the Four Seasons back then. So, I never heard of this or saw it until about five or six years later. But I wasn't the only one not noticing this album; it peaked at 203 on the Billboard charts in the US, and didn't even get noticed anywhere else, not charting anywhere else in the world. Too bad; it deserves better.
Let's look at the tracks. I mentioned the opening track last night: Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later). It was the album's lead single, released a week before the album. And like the album, it failed to chart, even with airplay on the latest crazy, MTV. Back then, MTV actually played music instead of reality shows. And this song had a video. One which, I confess, I never even knew existed until last night. Naturally, I had to watch it (I linked to it in last night's post). It is gloriously cheesy, just like all MTV videos were at that early stage. Music videos were a new concept, and nobody knew exactly what they could do with this new format. So, they did everything. Aside from the ridiculous Running Man 'dance' the band does while playing, the highlight of the video is lead guitarist Chris Hayes' solo. He just stands there, one foot resting on a pole, a deadpan expression on his face and not moving a muscle except for his hands and arms as he plays. You have to see it to understand. Go ahead, give it a listen.
Next up, it took me fifty tries to get to this song because I loved the opening track so much. The song is Don't Make Me Do It. Slower than the opener, it's got more an opening keyboard riff. A nice counterbalance to the opener's frenzied pace, it really sounds good live, too.
Track 3 is Stop Trying. It's got a vocal fade-in on the album, but the live version goes straight to the hard riff. It's a good, upbeat track with a mix of keyboard and guitar in the riff. It's about a girl who isn't going to be changed by the guy the singer is talking to. As he says, 'she's exactly what she wants to be'. And from the rest of the lyrics, it's not going to work out for the guy. Or the girl. Too bad, but at least we got a good song out of it.
Up next, Now Here's You. This was the album's second single, released September 1, 1980. It didn't chart either, and it didn't even get a video for MTV. I can't find a live version on YouTube, so here's the album track. It's about as close to a ballad as you'll find on this album, but it's more of a light rocker than a ballad. It's about a guy who is just dealing with life as best he can. That's a theme that pops up fairly often in the HLN song catalog; they were very much in tune with the common man, even at (or especially at) their peak in 1983-84.
The last track on the first side of the album is I Want You. It's not a strong track, to be honest; of the ten tracks, it's probably the song I'd rank last on the album. It's not that it's bad, it's just...it's not a song that you'll go back to fifty times in a row, let's put it that way.
Over to Side B, we open with Don't Ever Tell Me That You Love Me. Now we're talking. Talk about upbeat! Like the opening track, it got a video. For some reason, the video linked just plays the same music video twice. Okay, then. Anyway, this one is a blast, just non-stop rocking. I read that the band put the song together before they had lyrics, and Huey had to really fight to get lyrics that would fit. I believe it; the lyrics are as rapid-fire as a Weird Al rap. But, like the opening track, this is one of their strongest early songs. Why it wasn't released as a single is a complete mystery. It certainly would have done better than Now Here's You.
Track 7 is Hearts. This track was the B-side of both singles. It's another slower track (but not a ballad). It opens with a drum riff, which is nice, if not as punchy as the previous track. It's nothing like Heart and Soul, which comes off a later album. This one has a nice rising, driving passage leading into the verses, and the vocal harmonies are a nice addition. It's a good, not great, song. The link is to the album version; again, can't find a live version.
Track 8 is probably their most popular song from this album, Trouble in Paradise. It's one of their most-requested live tracks, so I've linked to one. I'm not sure exactly what this song brings to mind; it's got echoes of late night talk show music, if that makes any sense. That's not a criticism, just an attempt to describe it. It's the jazziest song on the album, with a swinging style instead of the more straight-up rock from the rest of the album.
The penultimate track is Who Cares, which has the distinction of being the first Huey Lewis and the News song ever released. Wait, what? Lies is the first single, right? Yes, but this song appeared in a movie in 1979, Rock and Roll High School. They weren't even called the News at that point; they were Huey Lewis and the American Express. The name was later changed to avoid the risk of being sued by that credit card company. Anyway, this song appeared nearly a year before the album was released, and nobody knew about them at the time. This is the heaviest song on the album, with a driving bass line from Mario Cippolina that just. Does. Not. Stop. It also has the one instance of Huey swearing in a song. No live video, so just the album track.
And finally, the album closes with If You Really Love Me, You'll Let Me. This is the shortest, and probably the fastest, song on the album, clocking in at under two minutes. It packs a lot in those two minutes, with some frenetic lyrics, power drumming, and even a solid guitar solo for good measure. It's a great album closer, and interestingly enough, the only one in their catalog that feels like a rock song until their sixth album, Hard at Play.
I have to say, and I freely admit my bias, that this is one of the best debut albums I've ever heard. It just rocks, and what more can you ask? Give these songs a listen if you've never heard them before; you'll thank me later.
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