Fore! (1986)

Finally! I got this album for my sixteenth birthday, and I already knew I was going to love it, because it's Huey Lewis and the News. And I wasn't disappointed. At least, I wasn't disappointed in the first side. The second side...at the time, I wasn't really thrilled with it, but later on I began to appreciate what they were doing with the second half of the album: They were doing what they wanted to do, not what was necessarily commercially expected. And why not? They had a massive record three years earlier that was still hovering around on the charts, they'd been featured in the biggest movie of the previous year, and they were filling their swimming pools with dollar bills. So, why not make the music you want to make?

The album sold very well, over three million copies, and reaching #1 on the US Billboard Album chart for one week on October 18th, their second-straight #1 album (and, sadly, their last). The album charted five top-10 singles, and reached #1 on Canada, Japan and New Zealand as well. It reached triple Platinum status, selling over 3,000,000 copies, which would be a phenomenal achievement for any band, but was less than half of what Sports sold. Ah, well. It's still a great album, so let's take a closer look at it.

The opening track is Jacob's Ladder, which was the third single off the album. Released on Jan 6, 1987, it would become the band's final #1 single in March. Originally written by Bruce Hornsby for his own band, he didn't like how it was sounding and gave it to Huey, who was producing Bruce's album at the time. The News made it work. Unlike the prior two albums, this one doesn't have a fade-in; it just pounces on the opening chords with plenty of keyboards. The lyrics are interesting, where the singer is brushing off TV evangelists and working through his issues in life one day at a time. It's a powerful song, and definitely earned its #1 spot.

Up next is Stuck With You, the first single off the album. The video was another weird one with Huey and the Boys; they were good at those. Huey is at a cocktail party where he is clearly fixated on being with one person while everyone else keeps trying to get his attention and make meaningless small talk. He finally gets the girl alone and invites her to go for a ride on his yacht. She accepts, and we then see the pair in a small rowboat named 'My Ott'. And then things get silly. The song has a bit of a slow jam feel to it, and again the keyboards are carrying the main riff. Sean Hopper doing yeoman's work on this album. Oh, and this one shot straight to #1 on the Billboard charts, their second straight #1 single after The Power of Love. It stayed there for three weeks, becoming their longest-lasting #1 (Power of Love was only #1 for two weeks).

Next is Whole Lotta Lovin'. This one starts out with an acapella accompaniment while Huey sings the opening lines. Then we get into a sweet jam that has an old-time rock/R&B feel. The guitars get more of the spotlight on this one, with Chris Hayes and Johnny Colla jamming hard. But Huey gets the solo with the harmonica, going full-on blues with it. Great, fun song that was never released as a single, but sounds great live.

The fourth song on the first side is Doing It All For My Baby, which is definitely a slow jam. This was the last single off the album, released in June of 1987. It didn't top the charts, but it did reach #6, becoming the band's eleventh Top 10 single. Off three albums. Not a bad track record. This track also includes the Tower of Power horn section, who mingle with Sean's keyboards to give the song a big-band feel as well. A fun song and a fun video, as always. Lots of vocal harmonies on this one as well.

Closing out side one is Hip to Be Square. This is a great hard-rocking song that was the second single off the album, topping out at #3 on the Hot 100 chart (but #1 on the Rock chart). It's got a pounding rhythm and a fantastic sax solo from the amazing Johnny Colla. The song just blasts, and it became an anthem for 'squares' when it came out. The song is also famous for its backing vocalists: Eight members of the San Francisco 49ers, including Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, and Joe Montana. And yes, they're in the video, too.

Flipping to side two, we start out with I Know What I Like, which was the fourth single released from the album. It was the weakest performer of the five singles, only reaching #9 on the Hot 100. How disappointing that only four of the singles made it to #6, right? Anyway, I was surprised to find out that this track also has football players backing up the band. It's a straight-forward rocking tune, though not as hard as Hip to Be Square. Chris Hayes gets the solo on this one, rocking out with a smooth but driving guitar solo that just fits. I can't describe it any other way.

Next is I Never Walk Alone. Once again, we're getting some strong keyboards in this one; Sean Hopper is a lot more prominent throughout this album than the earlier ones. I like it. He even gets the solo on this one. Anyway, this one is another rocking tune that has a great message of sticking together with friends to get through life. Too bad it never got released as a single; I think it would have done quite well.

Okay, now we're getting into the part of the album that had me scratching my head as to why this music was on an album by the world's greatest band. First, it's Forest for the Trees. It's not a bad song, it just didn't seem to fit the rest of the album. I didn't mind it, it just didn't feel like Huey Lewis to me.

The next one, though, really drove me nuts. Naturally is acapella all the way through. I suppose it's reminiscent of and a tribute to the barber shop quartets of the 1940s and early 1950s, but I was never into that music. It's not the only acapella song they do, but it was the first one I ever heard. It was weird. But, at the time I wasn't familiar with the band's background or their musical influences. Now it makes more sense to me.

The closing track is Simple as That. The Tower of Power returns (but no football players this time). In fact, they wrote this one for Huey and the band. I wish I'd known that at the time. It's a song about getting older and reaching the golden years. I totally didn't get this song when I was sixteen. At 52, it makes a lot more sense. And I appreciate it a lot more. It's a slower song, and of course the horns are a big part of it. As I mentioned at the top of the post, this is the sort of music the band wanted to play, regardless of its commercial appeal. And I respect and admire that.

So, overall, what do I think? I loved (most of) this album when I first got it. I love it even more now that I understand it better. It's not up to the level of Sports (very few albums are), but it's definitely their second-best album, and the sales numbers bear that out. It was the band's creative zenith, where they mixed the commercial with the personal to best effect. And after this, they would do exactly what they wanted to do, and the critics be damned.