Huey Lewis & The News' 7X-Platinum breakthrough 'Sports' to be reissued on vinyl

Set for release Sept. 15 via Capitol/Ume

Press Release

“Nearly every song on ‘Sports’ has a huge hook … there's no denying that the craftmanship on ‘Sports’ is pretty infectious,” says All Music Guide about the third album by Huey Lewis & The News.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Capitol/UMe is reissuing the Grammy-nominated, seven-times-Platinum, chart-topping album on vinyl on Sept. 15 in two different colors: classic black and olive green. Originally released on Sept. 15, 1983, “Sports” was a breakthrough for the San Francisco-based band, reaching the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 albums and generating four Top 10 hits.

“Sports” is available for preorder here: https://HueyLewisTheNews.lnk.to/Sports40.

A cultural touchstone upon its release, “Sports” not only made a star out of its frontman, vocalist Huey Lewis, but also thrust the band into the global spotlight. Combining the unlikely concoction of power-pop, blue-eyed soul, doo-wop, and rhythm and blues, the album found itself posited in the Top 40 in numerous counties across the globe, including Norway, Canada, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K. and, of course, their native U.S.

Launching itself from the get-go with the first single “Heart and Soul,” which peaked at No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles, “Sports” was a frequent visitor in the charts. “I Want a New Drug” found the band reaching No. 6, as did the third and fourth singles “The Heart of Rock and Roll” and “If This Is It,” respectively. A fifth single, “Walking on a Thin Line,” broke the Top 20 at No. 16 on the Top Rock chart. The album charted in the Top 200 for 160 consecutive weeks, earning the album the remarkable designation of being the second-biggest-selling album on Billboard’s end-of-year sales chart, beat only by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

“In the early ’80s, there was no internet, no alternative scene, and really only one avenue to success; a hit single on CHR (contemporary hit radio),” Lewis said. “We produced the ‘Sports’ album ourselves because we wanted to make commercial choices we could live with while we aimed most of the tunes directly at CHR radio. ‘Sports’ was a collection of singles. We needed a hit single … didn’t know we’d have five of them.”

A monumental breakthrough, “Sports” garnered Huey Lewis & The News two Grammys – in 1984 for “Best Rock Vocal by a Group” for “Heart and Soul,” and in 1985 for “Record of the Year” for “The Heart of Rock and Roll.”

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