This week Huey Lewis was joined by NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana to discuss a poignant past encounter with Journey, the nerve-wracking time he cut a version of "Hip To Be Square,” his love for Whitney Houston and more.
Joe Montana on potentially witnessing Steve Perry’s exit from Journey...
Joe Montana: My wife, Jennifer, and I were at a restaurant called Fior d'Italia at the time in North Beach. And she kept looking at me. She going, "What's wrong with you? What are you doing?" I go, "Well, Journey's back there in the back." And she goes, "So?" I go, "Something's not right." And so Steve left. And then on the way out, I stopped one of the guys and I said, "Hey, man. Is everything okay?" He goes, "Nope. Steve just left the band."
Huey Lewis: Whoa.
Joe Montana: I go, "What?"
Huey Lewis: You're kidding. Wow.
Joe Montana: Crazy.
Huey Lewis: Oh my God. So that may be the last time they were all together.
Joe Montana: It could have been.
Joe Montana on being calm on the football field but nervous to sing a version of “Hip To Be Square”…
Huey Lewis: So now you say you can't sing a lick, but I know different. We first met at, I think, if I'm not mistaken, at the Bammies, the Bay Area Music Awards. And you joked with me. You said, "Look, if you let me sing a little bit on your record, I'll let you take a few snaps." And I never got my snaps, by the way. So I made good on that promise. And you guys, you, Ricky Ellison, Ronnie Lot, and Dwight Clark, our good pal, Dwight Clark, came down to quote-unquote sing on our record. We cut "Hip To Be Square." And we've made a loop for you. It's a loop of your part. And I think if you listen really close, you'll be able to hear yourself in there. Can we play that a little bit, please?
Huey Lewis: It's hard, but I think I can hear you in there, Joe.
Joe Montana: I remember what happened, Huey, that we were in there and all of a sudden, you go, "Okay, stop. Geez, somebody is so damn flat." And from that point on, I lip synced, I think. And you were fine. So it must have been me.
Huey Lewis: That was really funny. And I'll never forget how nervous you guys were.
Huey Lewis: I mean, back in those days, I was still on the sidelines before MC Hammer and Jerry Glanville and the Atlanta Falcons and then they wouldn't let anybody on the sidelines anymore after MC Hammer was high fiving Deion Sanders in the middle of the field and the NFL got upset. But before that, I was on the sidelines a lot. And I was always amazed how people would be so keyed up. They were just wild, except you. Were just cool as ice and this calm would come over you. I just couldn't believe it. And you were just so confident and in the moment. Compare that with how you in front of the microphone.
Joe Montana: Oh, no way. When you talk about the singing and how nervous I was, just go back, I was watching the thing you just did with Mr. Barlow, took us all to through Hawaii after one of the Super Bowls. And watching myself on stage, you can just see I'm melting, man. There was no way Huey Lewis: I remember it like it was yesterday, that we were in Kauai and I looked in your eyes and you were petrified.
Joe Montana: Yep. There was tears.
Joe Montana on his love for Whitney Houston’s music…
"I was just blown away by her voice and the way she sings. And I don't know. There's a lot about the songs that I pick and I listen to a lot of times are more of the slower type songs where you can really hear the person's voice and connect and the song has a lot to do with it. But to give you another quick story about this is that... I mean, I really liked the way... She was really popular. In fact, I tried to name our first daughter Whitney and my wife said, "Absolutely not." So that's Alexander's middle name now is Whitney. But no, I just think that I wa"s like you, man. You get blown away by a voice with that power and range or whatever words you would call it. But wow. I mean, she was just stunning to listen to and I loved it in the movie. It stuck with me."
