"Jacob's Ladder" by Huey Lewis & the News

#1 Alert!

Song#:  2991
Date:  01/17/1987
Debut:  40
Peak:  1 (1 week)
Weeks:  15
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Lewis and his band's fourth album, Fore!, got off to a great start with its first two singles, "Stuck with You" and "Hip to Be Square," hitting the Pop Top 10 at #1 and #3, respectively. To keep the ball rolling, this third single got issued out. It would be another major winner for them becoming the band's third song to top the Pop chart. It also got to #10 at Rock and #17 AC. Although the album had already peaked at #1 for one week back in October '86, it was still riding in the Top 10 when this single was released. It would go on to sell over three million copies.

ReduxReview:  I didn't much care for the band's previous two singles. One was retro doo-wop while the other was just silly. They weren't all that bad, but I preferred when Lewis and Co. did solid straight-forward rock like "Heart and Soul." This tune got them closer to that territory. I liked the regal opening and strong chorus. The lyrics had a more serious tone and that was refreshing after a couple of quirky hits. While Hornsby may have missed out on a hit (see below), it was a tune that served Lewis quite well.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  This song was written by Bruce Hornsby and his brother John. It was considered for inclusion on Hornsby's debut album The Way It Is with his band the Range. However, Hornsby didn't really like the way he and his band were performing the tune and decided not to record it. He then offered it up to Huey Lewis, who had produced three tracks for Hornsby's LP. Lewis and his band took the tune and recorded it. They ended up with a #1 hit. Hornsby would record a version of the song with his band for their second album, 1988's Scenes from the Southside.

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