Hard at Play is the sixth album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released in 1991 on EMI for most of the world and Chrysalis in the UK. Hard at Play peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Couple Days Off" and "It Hit Me Like a Hammer." Music videos were released for "It Hit Me like a Hammer," "Couple Days Off," and "He Don't Know."
Critical reception
In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes the "return to the straight-ahead blues-inflected pop/rock that made Huey Lewis and the News superstars in the early '80s" with Hard at Play.
Track listing
Personnel Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis – harmonica, vocals Mario Cipollina – bass Johnny Colla – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals Bill Gibson – percussion, drums, backing vocals Chris Hayes – guitar, backing vocals Sean Hopper – keyboards, backing vocals
Additional personnel The Gospel Hummingbirds – backing vocals (4) David Fredericks – backing vocals (5, 10) Mike Duke – backing vocals (6) Michael Ruff – backing vocals (6) John McFee – guitar (11)
Production
Huey Lewis and the News – producers Bill Schnee – producer, engineer, mixing Eric "ET" Thorngren – co-producer (1, 5), additional engineer Bob Brown – executive producer Bob Edwards – additional engineer, assistant engineer Jeffrey "Nik" Norman – additional engineer Ken Allardyce – assistant engineer, mix assistant Tony Eckert – assistant engineer Stephen Hart – assistant engineer Tim Lauber – assistant engineer Kevin Scott – assistant engineer Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer Jack Joseph Puig – mixing Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA). Henry Marquez – art direction Michael Diehl – design Aaron Rapoport – photography
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1991)Peak positionAustralian Albums (ARIA) 61Canadian Albums (RPM) 20European Top 100 Albums 25Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) 9Italian Albums (AFI) 25Japanese Albums (Oricon) 10Japanese International Albums (Oricon) 1UK Albums (OCC) 39US Billboard 200 27Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA)* Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: albums chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000 7
Year-end charts Chart (1991)PositionCanadian Albums Chart (RPM)85
Singles YearSingleChartPosition1991"Couple Days Off"Album Rock Tracks31991The Billboard Hot 100111991"Build Me Up"Album Rock Tracks271991"It Hit Me Like a Hammer"The Billboard Hot 100211991Adult Contemporary10
Certifications
References