Hip to Be Square
Huey Lewis and the News
1987
Annual listening-list association, not an original-release-date field. Original release year reconciled with reviewed recording-specific Artist Essentials evidence in v3.6.
Release: 1986
Release: 1986Source checked | Recent carryover
V3.6 reconciles the original release year with the reviewed Artist Essentials entry for this exact retained recording ID. Year precision is used; an album-first release is not silently replaced by a later single, reissue or annual-list year. Original Fore! studio recording released in 1986. The later 1987 annual/single association is preserved separately and does not redate the recording.
The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.
Fore! - official 1986 album program and first single
Original 1986 album and ten-track program. Stuck with You is the first single in 1986. Later singles from the album, including Doing It All for My Baby, do not redate the original recordings. Named instrumental and background contributors are session credits, not separate featured-artist billing.
About Huey Lewis and the News
Song-specific inspiration or recording background is not established for this entry. This sourced artist profile provides career context.
Huey Lewis and the News grew out of the San Francisco Bay Area club scene, with members whose earlier groups included Clover and Soundhole. Lewis's singing and harmonica shared the arrangements with Johnny Colla's guitar and saxophone, Sean Hopper's keyboards and a compact rhythm section. Picture This and Sports established a combination of rock guitar, vocal harmony and rhythm-and-blues touches. Fore! and Small World broadened the horn and backing-vocal arrangements. The band's soundtrack recordings belong to this group catalog, while member solo projects remain separate.
Artist background sources
Huey Lewis and the News - official member histories
The News emerged from Bay Area club work involving musicians from Clover and Soundhole. Original roles include Lewis vocals/harmonica, Colla guitar/saxophone, Hopper keyboards, Gibson drums, Hayes guitar and Cipollina bass. The 1980 debut and later member projects are distinguished; dated present-tense biography details are not carried into the profile. | Retrieved 2026-10-18
Picture This - official original album and single notes
Despite the inherited URL slug, the page explicitly identifies Picture This, its 1982 release and original ten-song program. Workin for a Livin is the studio album recording; the page separately notes a later live B-side. Unrelated template lyrics lower on the page are not used. | Retrieved 2026-10-18
Sports - official original release and subsequent singles
Original 1983 album date and nine tracks. Heart and Soul is identified as the first 1983 single; I Want a New Drug and The Heart of Rock & Roll have later 1984 single dates. Those single/annual years do not replace the 1983 album-recording release. | Retrieved 2026-10-18
Fore! - official 1986 album program and first single
Original 1986 album and ten-track program. Stuck with You is the first single in 1986. Later singles from the album, including Doing It All for My Baby, do not redate the original recordings. Named instrumental and background contributors are session credits, not separate featured-artist billing. | Retrieved 2026-10-18
Small World - official original studio album
Original 1988 release and tracklist includes Perfect World. Small World Part One and Part Two are separate album tracks; neither is silently equated with the unsuffixed annual title in this collection. | Retrieved 2026-10-18
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-18. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
Retained annual-list context
Hip to Be Square by Huey Lewis and the News appears at number 49 in the reviewed U.S. year-end table for 1987. No reliable song-specific account of its inspiration was established in this review.
Annual-list context only; songwriting inspiration remains unestablished
Billboard year-end 1987 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary chart transcription reviewed for title, artist and annual association. Not proof of release date, genre or inspiration.
Other appearances and versions
catalog version unspecified
Textual identity reconciliation, not audio-fingerprint or exact-pressing verification. Version labels are catalog safeguards.
An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.
Sources and scope
Source-backed annual association (secondary source; not a complete discographic review)
Editorial artist-repertoire classification
Billboard year-end 1987 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary chart transcription reviewed for title, artist and annual association. Not proof of release date, genre or inspiration.
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