"I Want a New Drug" | ||||
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Single by Huey Lewis and the News | ||||
from the album Sports | ||||
B-side | "Finally Found a Home" | |||
Released | January 3, 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 4:46 (album version) 3:29 (single edit) 5:32 (12" dance mix) | |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Huey Lewis and the News | |||
Huey Lewis and the News singles chronology | ||||
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"I Want a New Drug" is a song by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News from their third album Sports . It is its second single, following the top-ten hit "Heart and Soul" in January 1984. The single reached number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Dance Club Play chart. It is a love song wherein the word "drug" has an intentionally open-ended meaning for the listener's interpretation, and became one of the band's signature songs.
According to Lewis, he wrote the song in only a few minutes. He drove to his attorney's office and told him, "Bob, give me a pen and paper!" [1] According to Lewis, the song is a love song, and the meaning of the word "drug" in the song was purposely open-ended. [2] "It's really a love song. It's not a pro-drug song; it's not really even an anti-drug song. The word drug sort of gets your attention. But I think in love relationships there's more than 'I want you' or 'I need you' kind of thing." [2] Lewis believed the definition of love was very open to interpretation depending on the listener. "I think real love contains humor and anger and confusion, all of those things." [2]
Three versions of the song were released. The album version has two extensive guitar solos, one in the middle of the song and the other as a fade out. The single edit eliminates the first solo (on their greatest hits album, the first solo is there but truncated) and has the band stop on a sustained chord which is allowed to fade out naturally.[ citation needed ] This is used in the music video and is parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "I Want a New Duck". A special dance mix reduces the instrumental, gives the song a more electronic feel, and extends the song to 5 minutes and 32 seconds. Lewis was heavily influenced by "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience with the recording of the song and called the guitar riff at the end of the song a "tip of the hat" to Hendrix. [3]
The video echoes the song's origin, with Lewis waking up late, remembering he has a concert that night, and racing across San Francisco using his yellow convertible, the San Francisco ferry, [2] and a chartered helicopter to get to the concert on time, sighting a woman twice on his way, and finding her in the front row at the concert. The woman is actress Signy Coleman, whose mother was a friend of Lewis's mother [4] [2] and also appears in the music video for "Heart and Soul". [5] According to Lewis, one of the reasons the band agreed on doing the music video was to avoid a literal translation of the song and its lyrics. "The song [...] is not about drugs. It's a love song. The only way to avoid that was to sort of do 'a day in the life', which is what [the video] is." [2]
Cash Box said that it has "hard-edged guitars setting the pace above harpsichord-like synth chording and a grinding organ base." [6]
When the theme song of the 1984 film Ghostbusters was released, Huey Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. and Columbia Pictures for copyright infringement, claiming that Parker had stolen the melody from "I Want a New Drug". The three parties settled out of court. Details of the settlement (specifically, that Columbia paid Lewis a settlement) were confidential until 2001, when Lewis commented on the payment in an episode of VH1's Behind the Music . Parker subsequently sued Lewis for breaching confidentiality. [7]
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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Huey Lewis and the News are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Mainstream Rock charts. Their sound draws upon earlier pop, rhythm & blues and doo-wop artists, and their own material has been labeled as blue-eyed soul, new wave, power pop, and roots rock.
Hugh Anthony Cregg III, known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter and actor.
Ray Erskine Parker Jr. is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song for the 1984 film Ghostbusters and also sounds from the animated series The Real Ghostbusters. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-5 hit in 1982 with "The Other Woman". He also performed with his band, Raydio, and with Barry White in the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
Sports is the third album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released on September 15, 1983, by Chrysalis Records. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on June 30, 1984, and ultimately charted for 160 weeks. Sports was ranked No. 2 on the Billboard year-end album chart for 1984 and spawned four top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Heart and Soul" and "The Heart of Rock & Roll" earning Grammy Award nominations. Sports also did very well internationally, where most of its singles charted in the top 40 in multiple countries. The album has been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA.
"Mickey" is a song recorded by American singer Toni Basil for her debut studio album, Word of Mouth (1981). It was first recorded by the pop group Racey, titled "Kitty". Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn wrote the song, while production was helmed by Greg Mathieson and Trevor Veitch. Basil's version is new wave, featuring guitar, synthesizers and cheerleading chants.
"Time After Time" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the 1979 film Time After Time.
"Atomic" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their fourth studio album, Eat to the Beat (1979). Written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri and produced by Mike Chapman, the song was released in February 1980 as the album's third single.
"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It was released in November 1984 as the love theme and lead single from their fifth album, Agent Provocateur. The song reached number one on both the United Kingdom singles chart and the United States Billboard Hot 100 and is the group's biggest hit to date.
"Ghostbusters" is a song written by American musician Ray Parker Jr. as the theme to the 1984 film Ghostbusters, and included on its soundtrack. Debuting at number 68 on June 16, 1984, the song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, staying there for three weeks, and at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart on September 16, staying there for three weeks. The song reentered the UK Top 75 on November 2, 2008 at No. 49 and again on November 5, 2021, at No. 38.
"The Power of Love" is a 1985 single by Huey Lewis and the News, written for the soundtrack of the 1985 blockbuster film Back to the Future. The song became the band's first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and their second number-one hit on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a double-A side with "Do You Believe in Love," becoming the band's only top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. The song is included alongside "Back in Time" on the film's soundtrack, and appears as a bonus track on international editions of the band's fourth studio album, Fore!
"Dancing in the Dark" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the first single released ahead from his 1984 album, Born in the U.S.A., and became his biggest hit, helping the album become the best-selling album of his career.
"Hip to Be Square" is a song by Huey Lewis and the News, written by Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, and Huey Lewis, and released in 1986 as the second single from the multi-platinum album Fore!.
"If This Is It" is a song by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released as the fourth single from their number-one album Sports in 1983, and became their fifth top-ten and third consecutive number-six hit on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number five on the Adult Contemporary chart, and then became their first UK hit single, reaching number 39 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is written in 12
8 time signature.
"Automatic" is a song recorded by American vocal group the Pointer Sisters for their tenth studio album Break Out (1983). The song was released by the Planet label on January 13, 1984, as the second single from the album. It was written by Brock Walsh and Mark Goldenberg.
"Stuck with You" is a song by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, written by guitarist Chris Hayes and lead singer Huey Lewis. Released in 1986, it was the first single from the band's fourth album, Fore!. The song spent three weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's second number-one hit on the chart. Internationally, the song became the band's second top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, and peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Iceland, South Africa, and New Zealand.
This article presents the discography for the American band Huey Lewis and the News. Huey Lewis and the News have sold over 30 million albums worldwide and are ranked in the top 200 selling groups of all time by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Walking On a Thin Line" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1984 as the fifth and final single from their 1983 album, Sports.
"Heart and Soul" is a song written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn and made famous by Huey Lewis and the News. The song was first recorded by Exile in 1981 as the title track to their album Heart and Soul. Exile's single failed to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 102 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The song was also recorded by the BusBoys for their 1982 album American Worker.
"French Kissin" is a song by American singer Debbie Harry from her second solo studio album, Rockbird (1986). It is a cover version of the 1985 song originally recorded by Carol Chapman, written by Chuck Lorre before he started creating sitcoms. Harry's version was released on November 3, 1986, as the lead single from Rockbird and became a top-10 hit in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
"Communication" is a song by English pop band Spandau Ballet, released on 4 February 1983 as the second single from what would be their third album, True. The song was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas along with most of the material from that album and received several good reviews. It reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and made the pop charts in other countries as well. The music video for the song was made to look like a film with lead singer Tony Hadley as the main character and received airplay on the U.S. cable channel MTV.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). CHUM. Retrieved April 23, 2016.