Posted on 04/11/2024 1:35:55 AM PDT by Cronos
After Huey Lewis learned that a syndrome of the inner ear called Ménière’s disease had caused him significant hearing loss and left him unable to play or hear music, he faced the difficult task of having to tell his friends and peers.....
Lewis had already halted his performing career before he went public with his diagnosis in 2020. But while his relationship to his art has fundamentally changed, he has continued to work on a new Broadway musical, “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” which is built around many of the songs he made famous with Huey Lewis and the News.
The musical, which opens on April 22 at the James Earl Jones Theater, spins Lewis’s tunes like “Hip to Be Square,” “Workin’ for a Livin’” and the title track into a fictional story set in the 1980s about a couple (played by Corey Cott and McKenzie Kurtz) torn between pop-star ambitions and corporate opportunities.
...As Lewis, 73, explained, “Zen Buddhists say you need three things: Something to love, something to hope for and something to do.”
“I got plenty to love,” he continued. “So this is my hope-for and my to-do. "
..Lewis is considering cochlear implant surgery and is scheduled to have a consultation this spring. He said that in his day-to-day life, he has gained a greater appreciation for pastimes like reading and fishing, but that nothing will ever quite replicate the pleasure of simply listening to a jazz album while he’s cooking at home.
“I don’t miss doing five shows a week, I don’t miss travel at all. But I do miss a show once in a while. To see the songs take on this other life,” he said, “it’s like seeing your children grow up and get a job.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I have no idea what this means.
Kind of hard on poor Huey, aren’t you? His music is mediocre, not radioactive.
This poster has another whack-o post on one of the health threads this morning. Must be drunk posting or something.
“Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in ‘83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He’s been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
In ‘87, Huey released this; Fore!, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is “Hip To Be Square”. A song so catchy, most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends. It’s also a personal statement about the band itself.”
I wasn’t aware of his hearing loss. That’s very sad. I always liked his music. I heard the group before HL was “somebody” when they opened for another group (Jimmy Buffet, I think). Late ‘70s maybe.
I’d like to think that my drunk posts make more sense than that guy.
I saw Huey Lewis and the News on my college campus, had to be 1982 or 1983, playing on an outdoor stage at a campus music and art festival, and there wasn't more than two dozen people listening. Huey said that they were working on a new song, and played "I Want a New Drug."
Being the straight-laced guy I was back then, I thought to myself "bah, I don't like songs about drugs" and left.
Either later that year or the next he was on SNL and the rest was history. (And I came to really like his music, including New Drug...)
What do you think of your proxy trying to turn Europe into a radioactive dump?
I have no idea what this means.
🎼It’s Hip To Be Square🎼
In the 80’s in Northern California it was the 49ers and Huey Lewis and The News. What a great time. It was also the last great time in the SF Bay Area.
On that same theme; Brian Ferry and Roxy Music had a big dance tune hit with the song “Love Is The Drug”.
A European disco crooner.
I suffer from Meniere’s Disease. I would not wish it upon my worst enemy. I feel for you Huey! You can manage this.
Yeah. Me too. Very late stage now, no more vertigo just 98% deaf in 1 ear. Hard to walk in the dark as most all my balance comes from vision now. Sux. Hang in there
My right ear as well. Gotta love those drop episodes of vertigo that cause to fall to the floor.
Saw them about 10 years or so ago on the 25th anniversary tour of “Sports.” Fantastic band. His drummer & guitarist are superb.
I dare say it's better.
I was a huge Zep and BadCo fan and when I learned that Page and Rogers were making a band together, I was ecstatic. I imagined crushing blues rock of the early 70s.
When I put this album on the turntable for the very first time, I'd never been more disappointed.
I’m the one who’s supposed to make inane out-of-touch-with-reality posts here. Don’t be stealing my spotlight.
They didn’t do a bad rendition of the National Anthem, either:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3qD1jKNYaU&pp=ygUaaHVleSBsZXdpcyBuYXRpb25hbCBhbnRoZW0%3D
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