6 Comments on “Episode 201: Huey Lewis Stockholm Syndrome”

1. Tulse Mar 9th 2016 10:45 am #

   How was “Boner of the hegemony” not the title for this episode?

   And props to Matt for using “these data”, although I shouldn’t be surprised that a true pedant treats “data” as a plural.

   As for more substantive issues, I think it is incorrect to see Huey Lewis as music of small towns or rural settings. The elements from black popular music (the Motown influence especially) I think rules it out for those places. To me, it is instead quintessential suburban rock, blasting out while barbecuing or sitting by your pool. It’s middle class, middle-management rock. It’s not upscale, so not Yacht Rock — instead, it’s the music of people who go to the lake on summer weekends, i.e., Powerboat Rock.

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   • Ryan Sheely OTI Staff Mar 9th 2016 2:40 pm #

     “Boner of Hegemony” was definitely one of our favorites, but we opted to sell out with a more search engine friendly title (I miss when were only about the alienation).

     You’re right about the suburban-ness. I wish we had dug into that more, because it is still some kind of idyllic “Leave It To Beaver” suburbs rather than contemporary (or even late 80s) strip mall suburbs.

     And you’re totally right on “Powerboat Rock”. I had wanted to troll Matt with the question of whether Huey Lewis is Yacht Rock, and your answer is definitely what I had in the back of my mind.

     More evidence for Huey Lewis as Powerboat Rock: https://youtu.be/N6uEMOeDZsA?t=1m

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     • Tulse Mar 9th 2016 3:03 pm #

       By the way, thanks for the recommendation of A Sunny Day in Glasgow (via the Jesus and Mary Chain podcast comments) — they’re definitely up my alley!

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   • Matthew Wrather OTI Staff Mar 11th 2016 2:46 pm #

     “Powerboat Rock” is excellent.

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2. Earthdog Mar 27th 2016 12:06 am #

   I think that Fore sold 3 million copies because Sports sold 7 million copies and three million people gave up on updating their taste.

   Hip to be Square is both a song about conforming and a song about not conforming. In 1986 what is more transgressive, being a nerd or wearing a denim jacket. Yep being a nerd too more effort and nerve.

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3. L. Holcombe Apr 13th 2017 11:05 pm #

   You guys never go for the easy answer, do you? Huey Lewis is a hack. He came up with a clever catchphrase, and wrote some barely coherent lyrics around it. Cha-ching.

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