"The Power of Love" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Huey Lewis and the News | ||||
from the album Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack | ||||
B-side | "Bad Is Bad" | |||
Released | June 17, 1985 [1] | |||
Recorded | May 30, 1985 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Songwriter(s) | Huey Lewis, Chris Hayes, Johnny Colla | |||
Producer(s) | Huey Lewis and the News | |||
Huey Lewis and the News singles chronology | ||||
|
"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 [4] [5] 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. [6] 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! The song also played at the end of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," an episode of The Really Loud House.
Huey Lewis was approached to write a theme song for the film. [7] He met with Bob Gale, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Zemeckis, from the film's production team, who intended that the band be Marty McFly's favorite band. Though flattered, Lewis did not want to participate because he did not know how to write film songs and did not want to write one called "Back to the Future." [7] Zemeckis assured Lewis he could write any song he wanted. Lewis agreed to submit the next song he wrote, which was "The Power of Love." The lyrics do not make any mention of the film's storyline. [7]
The song appears early in Back to the Future as Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox) skateboards to school. Later in the film, McFly and his band play a hard rock version of the song for a Battle of the Bands audition, at which a judge played by Huey Lewis tells Marty's group that they are "just too darn loud," and later when Marty returns to his neighborhood. [1] In the sequel, Back to the Future Part II, the 2015 version of Marty attempts to play the song on his guitar just after being fired but ends up playing it very poorly due to his damaged hand from his 1985 accident with a Rolls-Royce. Finally, it can be briefly heard playing in the car where Needles and his buddies are driving when Needles challenges Marty to the fate-determining car race near the end of Back to the Future Part III.
The music video, filmed in June 1985, [1] shows the band playing in a nightclub (Uncle Charlie's, a frequent stop for the band in their early career) [8] with Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) showing up in his DeLorean "Time Machine", apparently after time-traveling, and a couple stealing it for a joy ride. [9] Lewis said filming took the entire day and night to complete, with the band finishing up at 3:00 AM. [8] The video is included as a bonus feature in several home video releases of Back to the Future.
Three different mixes of the song have co-existed since its release in 1985. The Back to the Future soundtrack version, also the version used in the music video, has a run time of 3:51.
A 12" version of the song was released to most countries, remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez, features a seven-minute dance version with changes in its mix such as additional backing keyboards and an extended guitar solo.
A 7" single released in 1985 to radio in some countries as promotion of the film contains an edit of the aforementioned extended remix, with a run time of 4:21. In selected countries, this shorter edit was featured on the B-side of the 12" single. Whilst this version is occasionally played on radio, it has only ever been included on one Huey Lewis "Best Of" and the West German pressing version of Fore!
Cash Box said that "the inimitable charm and drive which made Sports such a pop/rock winner is displayed from the first chords". [10]
At the 13th Annual American Music Awards, the song was nominated for "Favorite Single" and "Favorite Video Single," winning in both categories. [1] The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 58th Academy Awards but lost to Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me." [1] It was also nominee at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, but lost against USA for Africa's "We Are the World," to which Lewis and his bandmates had contributed backing vocals.[ citation needed ]
7-inch Chrysalis / HUEY 1 United Kingdom
7-inch Chrysalis / HUEY 3 United Kingdom
7-inch Chrysalis / 107 614 Canada
7-inch Chrysalis / CHS-42876 Canada
12-inch Chrysalis / CS 42889 United States
| 12-inch Chrysalis / HUEYX1 United Kingdom
12-inch Chrysalis / HUEYX3 United Kingdom
12-inch Chrysalis / 601 822 Germany
|
"The Power of Love" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 46 for the week ending June 29, 1985, with Billboard calling the song "an out-of-the-box monster hit." [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [27] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [28] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [29] | Gold | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [30] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [31] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Huey Lewis and the News is 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.
Picture This is the second album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1982. The album brought the band their first top-ten hit, "Do You Believe in Love". It remained on the Billboard albums chart for 35 weeks and peaked at number 7.
Hugh Anthony Cregg III, known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Huey Lewis and the News is the debut album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released in 1980.
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.
Fore! is the fourth studio album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, released on August 20, 1986. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 and went on to score five top-ten Billboard Hot 100 singles, including the number-one hits, "Stuck with You" and "Jacob's Ladder". The album was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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."
"Livin' on a Prayer" is a song by the American rock band Bon Jovi, and is the band's second chart-topping single from their third album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Desmond Child, the single, released in late 1986, was well received at both rock and pop radio and its music video was given heavy rotation at MTV, giving the band their first No. 1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and their second consecutive No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit.
"Somebody to Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer and pianist Freddie Mercury. It debuted on the band's 1976 album A Day at the Races and also appears on their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits.
"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 hit number one in both the United Kingdom and the United States and is the group's biggest hit to date. It remains one of the band's best-known songs and most enduring radio hits, charting in the top 25 in 2000, 2001, and 2002 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart. "I Want to Know What Love Is" has continued to garner critical acclaim, and is listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's greatest songs of all time at number 476 in 2004 and at number 479 in 2010. The song is also featured in a number of films.
"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.
“Your Love” is a song by the English rock band the Outfield, taken from their 1985 debut album Play Deep, released in early 1986 and written by guitarist John Spinks. In the United States, the song reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Album Rock Tracks chart in 1986.
"Do You Believe in Love" is the first US top-ten hit for the American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, peaking at number seven in April 1982, off their second album Picture This. It was written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange.
"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!.
"Stuck with You" is a song by American pop 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.
"Doing It All for My Baby" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released as a single from the album Fore! in 1987. The single peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1987, becoming the fifth top-ten hit from the album and making the band the first group to have five top-ten Hot 100 singles from one album.
"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.
"The Heart of Rock & Roll" is a song performed by Huey Lewis and the News, released as the third single from their 1983 album Sports in 1984. The single peaked at number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
The music of the Back to the Future series is composed in conjunction with the development of several feature films and a stage musical, within the Back to the Future franchise created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. All music in the franchise was composed by American composer Alan Silvestri, with The Musical being co-written with Glen Ballard.
The impossibly punchy, quintessentially '80s tune — halfway between power ballad and power-pop...