Hip to Be Square

Infobox Single
Name = Hip to Be Square


Artist = Huey Lewis and the News
from Album = Fore!
B-side = Some of My Lies Are True
Released = 1986
Format = 7" Vinyl record, 12" single
Recorded = 1986
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:44
Label = Chrysalis Records
Writer = Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, Huey Lewis
Producer = Huey Lewis and the News
Last single = "Stuck with You" (1986)
This single = "Hip to Be Square" (1986)
Next single = "Jacob's Ladder" (1987)

"Hip to Be Square" is a 1986 single by Huey Lewis and the News written by Bill Gibson, Sean Hopper, and Huey Lewis. The song landed at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song features Pro Football Hall of Famers and then-San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott singing backup vocals.

Background

The song was featured in the film "American Psycho" during a scene in which Patrick Bateman dances to the song and brutually murders a colleague with an axe. Before doing so he talks his colleague. "Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released this, "Fore", their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself." It was originally featured on the accompanying soundtrack, but shortly after it was released, the CD was pulled from the shelves and the song was removed before being reissued, but a small number had already been sold. Reports suggested that Huey Lewis had objected to the context in which his song was used in the film and demanded it be removed from the CD. [cite web | last = Dansby | first = Andrew | title = Huey Lewis Sparks "American Psycho" Soundtrack Recall | publisher = Rolling Stone | date = 2000-04-11 | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/hueylewisandthenews/articles/story/5925354/huey_lewis_sparks_american_psycho_soundtrack_recall | accessdate = 2007-07-11] [cite web | last = Zacharek | first = Stephanie | title = American Psycho | publisher = salon.com | date = 2000-04-14 | url = http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2000/04/14/american_psycho/index.html | accessdate = 2007-07-11] In reality, the film's production team had paid for the rights to use the song in the film, but overlooked receiving the rights to include it on the soundtrack. When the soundtrack was released with the song on it, Huey Lewis had it withdrawn, as the soundtrack rights had not been secured. [cite web | last = Quelland | first = Sarah | title = Huey in the News | publisher = metroactive.com | date = 2000-04-20 | url = http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.20.00/aural-0016.html | accessdate = 2007-07-11]

The song was also featured in "Naked Gun 33 1/3", during the shopping scene in the beginning of the film and parodied on "Sesame Street" in 1989 with different lyrics that were relating to the geometric square ("It's Hip to Be "a" Square.")

The season 2 opener of the action/comedy series "Chuck" features both "Hip to be Square" and "The Power of Love".

In concert, Huey Lewis now normally sings the song as "(Too) Hip to Be Square", as performed on their live album, "Live at 25".

1986 WNBC Helicopter Crash significance

The song gained notoriety as it was the song played by WNBC-AM (now WFAN) right after their news helicopter crashed, killing traffic reporter Jane Dornacker. [http://www.ohms.com/tragedy.wav]

References