I Want A New Drug

The "drug" that Lewis sings about in this song is women. They don't have the side effects most drugs do: dry mouth, red eyes, make your face break out, etc. Huey Lewis offered this explanation in a Rolling Stone interview: "The whole meaning of 'I Want a New Drug' is that drugs aren't a part of life. They're just superficial. They're nothing about life. Life is love. Love is the answer, man."

Lewis wrote this song with his guitarist, Chris Hayes. They were the primary songwriters in the band along with multi-instrumentalist Johnny Colla.

This was one of five hit songs from the Sports album, an '80s landmark that sold 7 million copies in America. It was one of just five #1 albums in 1984, claiming a week in a year dominated by Thriller, Born in the U.S.A., Purple Rain and the Footloose soundtrack. None of the five hits were huge, but they were each released about three months apart, starting with "The Heart of Rock & Roll" in late 1983 and ending with "Walking on a Thin Line" late in 1984, keeping Huey Lewis & the News on the charts and on the air for well over a year with a single album. "I Want a New Drug" was the second single, peaking at #6 in March 1984. When the Sports singles ran out, the band released the biggest hit of their career: "The Power of Love," a #1 smash in 1985 from the movie Back To The Future.