Editing Huey Lewis and the News (section)

===Formation===
In 1972, singer/harmonica player [[Huey Lewis]] and keyboardist [[Sean Hopper]] joined the [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] jazz-funk band [[Clover (band)|Clover]]. Clover had recorded several albums in the 1970s, and in the middle of the decade transplanted themselves to Britain to become part of the UK [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]] scene.

Without Lewis, they eventually became the backing band for [[Elvis Costello]]'s first album ''[[My Aim Is True]]''. Lewis also worked with Irish band [[Thin Lizzy]], contributing harmonica to the song "Baby Drives Me Crazy", recorded onstage for the ''[[Live and Dangerous]]'' album. Thin Lizzy bassist/vocalist [[Phil Lynott]] introduces Lewis by name during the song. The band returned to the Bay Area by the end of the 1970s.

Clover's main competition in the Bay Area jazz-funk scene was a band called Soundhole, whose members included drummer [[Bill Gibson (drummer)|Bill Gibson]], saxophonist/rhythm guitarist [[Johnny Colla]], and bassist [[Mario Cipollina]] (brother of [[John Cipollina]] of [[Quicksilver Messenger Service]]). Like Clover, Soundhole had spent time backing singer [[Van Morrison]]. After getting a singles contract from [[Phonogram Records]] in 1978, Huey Lewis joined Soundhole veterans Hopper, Gibson, Colla, and Cipollina to form a new group, Huey Lewis & The American Express.

Although they played gigs under this name, in 1979, they recorded and released a single simply as "American Express".  The single, "Exodisco" (a disco version of the theme from the film ''[[Exodus (1960 film)|Exodus]]'') was largely ignored. The B-side of this record, "Kick Back", was a song that had previously been performed live by Lewis and his former band, Clover. In 1979, the band was joined by lead guitarist Chris Hayes and moved to [[Chrysalis Records]], which occurred after their demo tape was heard by [[Pablo Cruise]] manager Bob Brown, who helped them land a record deal with the label. Chrysalis did not like the name ''American Express'', fearing trademark infringement charges from the [[American Express|credit card company]], so the band changed its name.<ref name=People>{{cite news |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20082878,00.html |title=To Get His News on the Air, Rocker Huey Lewis Had to Wait for a Commercial Break |work=People |date=August 16, 1982 |author=Sheff, David}}</ref>

Later in 1980, the band released their first studio album, a self-titled LP, ''[[Huey Lewis and the News (album)|Huey Lewis and the News]]''. It went largely unnoticed. In 1982, the band released their second studio album, the self-produced ''[[Picture This (Huey Lewis and the News album)|Picture This]]''. The album turned gold, fueled by the breakout success of the hit single "[[Do You Believe in Love]]", written by former Clover producer [[Robert John "Mutt" Lange|"Mutt" Lange]]. Largely because of the single, the album remained on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart for 35 weeks and peaked at No. 13. The follow-up singles from ''Picture This'', "Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do" and "[[Workin' for a Livin']]", followed, with limited success.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}