POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Lewis Likable but Needs an Image Update

Huey Lewis seems determined to work his working-man’s rocker image to death. To start, the San Francisco Bay Area bar-band vet who had his first hit with “Working for a Living” recently returned from a couple years off singing “all I need is a couple days off.”

And then he just about hammered in the last nail Friday night at the Greek Theatre, simply by performing on a stage set done up to look like a warehouse rehearsal space. He should of rented the mechanical cockroaches from Neil Young’s “Rusted Out Garage” tour a few years ago.

Well, if that’s the way Lewis wants it, we’re willing to play along. So here’s his job evaluation:

Lewis is a reliable hard-worker, likable and loyal (he gave the show’s opening slot to primo Bay Area bluesman Joe Louis Walker), around whom his co-workers rally. Friday, he and his News rolled the hits off the assembly line with efficient precision--”Power of Love,” “I Want a New Drug” and the aforementioned blue-collar anthems--in a stream of well-crafted, mass-appeal product.

He’ll give his all until he’s ready for retirement. But he lacks the initiative and innovation to rise up to a management position . . . unless he gives those working stiff cliches a permanent vacation.