"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.
Background
The song was inspired by a gig the band played in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland, at the time was known for its rock scene, but the band remained defiant of this claim believing their hometown of San Francisco had the better scene. After playing the show Lewis relented, with initially the title phrase being "The heart of rock and roll is in Cleveland", based on a comment Lewis made to the band, but he changed it to "The heart of rock and roll is still beating". According to him the message of the song is "There's real rock and roll in other places than LA or New York."[2]
Upon the suggestion of their record company, the band produced various regional versions of the single in which, after mention of Detroit toward the end of the song, Lewis calls out one or more cities not in the lyrics of the album version, including New Haven, St. Louis, and Toronto.[4][5]
Reception
Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone said "a fancy-pants sax solo and some moronic lyrics sabotage the spirited 'Heart of Rock & Roll' (it's still kicking, says Huey), which should have ended a minute and a half earlier."[6]
The music video was a complicated video to produce, according to director Edd Griles. "The complications occurred when we filmed in New York for 13 hours straight on the Brooklyn Bridge and then later in Times Square. In Brooklyn, we had the camera in the helicopter, but the 'copter couldn't get in close enough and the bridge was windy, so the shot took a long time. In Times Square, it was only 21 degrees out and the band was dressed in either short sleeves or light jackets. As you know, filming takes time, lots of it, so Huey and the band were out there freezing their toes off in between takes," the director recalled.[16] Also, Lewis's wife was expecting a baby, which caused delays and problems.[16]
