Huey Lewis and the News – "I Want a New Drug" (1984)

I want a new drug, one that does what it should

One that won’t make me feel too bad

One that won’t make me feel too good

Hugh Anthony Clegg III was born in New York City in 1950, but he grew up in Marin County.  He attended the Lawrenceville School, a tony New Jersey boarding school, where he scored 800 on the math portion of the SAT and was an all-state baseball player to boot.

Clegg was admitted to the engineering program at Cornell University, but dropped out midway through his junior year.  He moved back to the Bay Area, where he worked as a landscaper, carpenter, event planner, and natural foods salesman – and as a musician.  

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Clegg became “Hughie Louis” when he joined the band Clover as a vocalist and harmonica player.  Later he changed “Hughie Louis” to “Huey Louis.”

Huey Lewis and the News

Clover released two albums in 1977.  Both were produced by “Mutt” Lange, the big-time music producer and former husband of Shania Twain who we met in the previous 2 or 3 lines.  

That same year, several members of Clover – not including Clegg/Louis – backed up Elvis Costello on his debut album, My Aim Is True.  (The next 2 or 3 lines will feature a song from that album.)

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In 1978, Clegg/Louis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous album under the name “Bluesy Huey Lewis.”

Later that year, he formed the band Huey Lewis and the American Express, which released a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus titled “Exodisco.”  (You can’t make this stuff up.)

Huey Lewis and the American Express became Huey Lewis and the News, and the rest is history.  The group’s third LP, Sports, was a huge success.  It sold over eight million copies in North America alone. 

I don't know about you, but when I think “bad eighties music,” I think Huey Lewis and the News.

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Click here to listen to “I Want a New Drug,” one of the four top-ten hit singles from Sports.

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