Hard at Play

Last updated
Hard at Play
Huey Lewis & the News - Hard at Play.jpg
Studio album by
Released7 May 1991
Recorded1990–1991
Studio Skywalker Sound and The Site (Marin County, California); Schnee Studios (North Hollywood, California); Studio D (Sausalito, California); Apt. 2 Recording (Novato, California); Sub-Par Recording (California).
Genre Rock, pop rock
Length46:09
Label Chrysalis (UK) [1]
EMI (Most of the world)
Producer Huey Lewis and the News
Bill Schnee
Eric Thorngren
Huey Lewis and the News chronology
Small World
(1988)
Hard at Play
(1991)
Four Chords & Several Years Ago
(1994)
Singles from Hard at Play
  1. "Couple Days Off"
    Released: 1991
  2. "It Hit Me Like a Hammer"
    Released: 1991
  3. "He Don't Know"
    Released: 1991

Hard at Play is the sixth album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released in 1991 on EMI for most of the world and Chrysalis in the UK. Hard at Play peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Couple Days Off" and "It Hit Me Like a Hammer." Music videos were released for "It Hit Me like a Hammer," "Couple Days Off," and "He Don't Know."

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]

In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes the "return to the straight-ahead blues-inflected pop/rock that made Huey Lewis and the News superstars in the early '80s" with Hard at Play. [2]

Track listing

  1. "Build Me Up" (Johnny Colla, Huey Lewis) – 4:28
  2. "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" (Robert "Mutt" Lange, Lewis) – 4:01
  3. "Attitude" (Max Carl) – 4:00
  4. "He Don't Know" (Don Covay, Jon Tiven, Sally Tiven) – 4:15
  5. "Couple Days Off" (Chris Hayes, Lewis, Geoffrey Palmer) – 4:56
  6. "That's Not Me" (Michael Ruff) – 4:15
  7. "We Should Be Making Love" (Andy Goldmark, Steve Kipner, Steve Lindsey) – 4:01
  8. "Best of Me" (Bonnie Hayes, Kevin Hayes, Annie Stocking) – 3:57
  9. "Do You Love Me, Or What?" (C. Hayes, Lewis, Nick Lowe) – 3:46
  10. "Don't Look Back" (Lewis, Bill Gibson, David Fredericks) – 3:44
  11. "Time Ain't Money" (Colla, Lewis) – 4:46

Personnel

Huey Lewis and the News

Additional personnel

Production

  • Huey Lewis and the News – producers
  • Bill Schnee – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Eric "ET" Thorngren – co-producer (1, 5), additional engineer
  • Bob Brown – executive producer
  • Bob Edwards – additional engineer, assistant engineer
  • Jeffrey "Nik" Norman – additional engineer
  • Ken Allardyce – assistant engineer, mix assistant
  • Tony Eckert – assistant engineer
  • Stephen Hart – assistant engineer
  • Tim Lauber – assistant engineer
  • Kevin Scott – assistant engineer
  • Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer
  • Jack Joseph Puig – mixing
  • Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA).
  • Henry Marquez – art direction
  • Michael Diehl – design
  • Aaron Rapoport – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1991)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [3] 61
Canadian Albums ( RPM ) [4] 20
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [5] 67
European Top 100 Albums [6] 25
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [7] 9
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [8] 14
Italian Albums (AFI) [9] 25
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [10] 10
Japanese International Albums (Oricon) [11] 1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [12] 26
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] 25
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] 9
UK Albums (OCC) [15] 39
US Billboard 200 [16] 27
Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA) [17] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1991)Position
Canadian Albums Chart ( RPM ) [18] 85

Singles

YearSingleChartPosition
1991"Couple Days Off"Album Rock Tracks3
1991The Billboard Hot 10011
1991"Build Me Up"Album Rock Tracks27
1991"It Hit Me Like a Hammer"The Billboard Hot 10021
1991Adult Contemporary10

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [19] Gold50,000^
Japan (RIAJ) [20] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [21] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

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  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hard at Play – Huey Lewis & the News". AllMusic . Retrieved April 25, 2020.
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    • Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
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