A man named Michael Feld has travelled over a twelve thousand miles to visit every city referenced in Huey Lewis & the News’ 1984 hit single “The Heart of Rock and Roll”.
And why in the name of Patrick Bateman would he do such a thing? Well, “to prove that the heart of rock & roll is indeed still alive and beating,” he says.
“Last summer, while out doing karaoke (and singing Huey of course) I started thinking how great it would be to visit all the cities listed in the song,” Feld writes in the description for his bizarrely entertaining recap video. “Why those places? What connected them to Huey Lewis? What rock & roll magic could be found in those disparate places? So I set out on a journey to make a music video where I’d travel to all 14 cities listed in the song… And after completing my journey, I can tell you first hand that Huey Lewis’ message still rings true, 31 years after the song’s release.”
This collar-poppin’ bit pop-rock globe-trotting had Feld board 11 planes, travel on four trains, and rent five cars. In case you’re not up on your Huey Lewis ’80s lyrics — and you should be, since the band is playing this spring’s Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta, performing 1983 LP Sports in its entirety — Feld eventually visited New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington D.C., San Antonio, Philadelphia, Baton Rouge, Tulsa, Detroit, Austin, Oklahoma City, Seattle, Cleveland, and Boston.
That’s 12,082 miles travelled.
So, the real question: If he came to Boston to find the “heart of rock and roll,” and ensure it still beats properly, where and what did he hit up? In the video below, it looks like he made only two stops: Fenway Park and the North End’s Paul Revere House. Not exactly two bastions of Boston rock, though on the first stop he is close to the House of Blues on Lansdowne Street.
And, to his credit (we guess?), he does wear an Aerosmith t-shirt during his (brief) stay here.