HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS - DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE?

Released: January 22, 1982

Charted:  UK: #9   US: #7 

"Do You Believe in Love" marked the first top-ten hit for Huey Lewis and the News in the United States, reaching number seven in April 1982 from their album "Picture This." The song was originally written and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange for a British band he was working with called Supercharge. Under the title "We Both Believe In Love," Supercharge released the song on their 1979 album "Body Rhythm." Notwithstanding some success in Europe, Supercharge remained relatively unknown in America, where the album was not even released.

In 1977, Mutt Lange produced two albums for the San Francisco-based band Clover, who later served as Elvis Costello's backing band on his album "My Aim Is True" but struggled to find success in the UK. Upon returning to the US, Clover reformed as Huey Lewis & the News, releasing their first album in 1980 to little success. Despite initial reluctance to work with Lange again after their previous efforts faltered, Chrysalis Records strongly suggested they record "Do You Believe in Love?" for their second album. Even with reservations about its commercial appeal, the band complied, and the song became their breakthrough hit, setting a precedent for ensuring commercial success on subsequent albums. 

Huey Lewis & the News received significant support from MTV, which started airing their music videos in early 1982, just six months after the network launched. Unlike European artists who had been making videos for years, American artists, especially rock bands hadn't made videos before because there was no platform to show them. In San Francisco, the band had a video shot for their song "Some of My Lies Are True (Sooner or Later)" in 1980, specifically for a local cable TV show. This caught the attention of Chrysalis Records, a British label heavily invested in music videos, which signed the band and ensured that all their songs received well-produced videos. This strategy paid off handsomely, as the band quickly became popular on MTV. 

The label initially hired a fashion-focused advertising guy to direct the video, envisioning a serious production with pastel colors and heavy makeup. But upon viewing the rough cut two weeks later, Lewis was dismayed. The video lacked direction and coherence, featuring surreal scenes like the band collectively in bed with a woman. Despite Lewis' disappointment, the video screening ended with a surprising standing ovation from everyone present, including the record company and video company personnel. This response left Lewis feeling disillusioned with the video-making process, realizing that artistic merit was often overlooked in favor of superficialities. 

Consequently, this experience motivated Huey Lewis & the News to take creative control of their subsequent music videos. They decided to inject more fun and originality into their visuals, deliberately going against the conventional grain to make videos that matched their music's vibe and message more authentically.