Song · Huey Lewis and the News
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” by Huey Lewis and the News
From the album Sports (1983)
“The Heart of Rock and Roll” by Huey Lewis and the News appears on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2021 and 2026. It was first released in 1983 on the album Sports. Its best result is #33 on the WMGK Philly 500 (2026). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #250 of the '80s.
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"The Heart of Rock & Roll" was the third single off Huey Lewis and the News' 1983 album Sports, arriving in 1984 on Chrysalis, and it began as a grudging compliment. The band, sure their own San Francisco scene was better, played a gig in Cleveland, a famous rock town, and Lewis came away converted: his first pass at the title line planted the heart of rock and roll right there in Cleveland, before he rewrote it to say the heart was still going strong. His point was that real rock and roll lives outside LA and New York.
Lewis sings lead and wrote it with Johnny Colla, with Chris Hayes on guitar, Sean Hopper on keyboards, Mario Cipollina on bass and Bill Gibson on drums. The band produced it, Bob Clearmountain mixed it, and it went to No. 6 on the Hot 100.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 215 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2022 | 356 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2024 | 300 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2024) | 500 |
| 2026 | 150 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s | 498 |
| 2026 | 33 | WMGK | WMGK Philly 500 (2026) | 500 |
Also listed as: Heart of Rock and Roll.
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