Ask The Band

Welcome to the “Ask The Band” page where Johnny Colla, Bill Gibson and Chris Hayes will answer your fan questions here on the site. Please submit your question to asktheband@hueylewisandthenews.com.

AUTOGRAPH REQUESTS: Due to the increased number of autograph inquiries and items being sold on the internet, we are unable to accommodate such requests at this time.

Question:
Who choreographed the back and forth steps in the chorus of Perfect World? Or did you just work it out for yourselves?
Di, UK

Answer:
Huey pinched that concept from Philip Lynott and Thin Lizzy. Phillip was all about the show and movement of the guys up front. Huey and I also went to see AC/DC early on in San Francisco and noticed how the rhythm guitarist and bassist would step up literally in unison to sing their backup vocal parts and then retreat back about 10 steps, stay there, then do it again when the next backup vocal part happened. It looked so cool !!
– Bill Gibson

Question:
Why wasn’t Bill in the “Bad Is Bad” video?
Joe

Answer:
To the best of my recollection, Bill fell violently ill the day before the shoot. The talent call was for about 3 or 4AM in The City (San Francisco), so in that respect I’m surprised any of us made it!
– Johnny Colla

Question:
How do you all decide on who to sing back up on certain songs? Everyone knows Johnny’s (and Sean voice but I can’t begin to imagine how Chris and Bill sound on a song even after all these years!
Chris Reynolds

Answer:
As a general rule of thumb, I (or Sean, when he wasn’t singing the Bass parts),would be the bottom note of the 3-part harmonies. Chris would be in the middle and Johnny would be on top.
– Bill Gibson

Question:
With all your wonderful music you have released, how many songs do you have that are unreleased? (in the vault )? And are we going to get a massive box set of everything? Demos, soundtrack recordings, acoustic, etc. Thanks for your time and love from Australia,
Amanda and Mark Lacey

Answer:
We have some unreleased songs, and I suppose it’s conceivable that they could see the light of day at some poInt. I know Johnny is keen to do that.
– Bill Gibson

Question:
A simple question for you on probably my favorite song from Huey Lewis and the News. What saxophone is used for the great song ‘Trouble in Paradise’? It is the one from the Greatest Hits Album which is a live version. It is done perfectly.
David Fahrenkrug

Answer:
Dave, thanks for the compliment but I can only take half the credit! I take the first half of the ’Trouble In Paradise’ solo, then I hand the second half over to Mark Russo, who at the time was part of the Tower of Power horn section. Mark takes the outro because I needed to sing the backing vocal part, and because I’m a nice guy!
All the best, Johnny Colla

Question:
My question….what was one of your favorite places to play and why?
Thanks, Mike Ruzicka

Answer:
Thanks for the question Mike! My personal favorite would have to be 2 sold out nights at Madison Square Garden. It is such an iconic venue and we were at our peak at that time. New York is an amazing place! My runner up would be Ceasar’s in Las Vegas. We had plenty of fun times there and having the elevator to the stage from our rooms was very cool!
– Chris Hayes
There are many fantastic places to play. Too numerous to mention really. One of my favorites is London. I love the city. Tokyo is another, simply because the audience is so attentive and appreciative. Detroit , Cleveland and Boston were always strongholds for us as well.
– Bill Gibson