Huey Lewis has been buddies with South Bend jam band staples Umphrey’s McGee for many years, and their relationship has now yielded a collaborative cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Poignantly, this could be the last recorded work from Lewis, who is now suffering from hearing loss due to Meniere’s Disease.
Bowie pursued pop perfection in 1983, and achieved it. He aimed for a bestseller and got one. A combination of peak Chic and Stevie Ray Vaughan providing blues licks should produce greatness, but it is never that easy, is it? This new version is faithful in tone and pace, and evokes an era when Lewis was also at his masterful best. He circles the song, further back in the mix, less like the well-tailored frontman of the original and more like an aging prizefighter with a younger opponent. He has the guile and experience to win, but he has to be wary, he can’t go in all guns blazing. Is the opponent this song, or his disease? Having defeated one here, he can hopefully hold his own against the other.
