# Hard at Play

Hard at Play is the sixth album by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. It was released in 1991 on EMI for most of the world and Chrysalis in the UK. Hard at Play peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Couple Days Off" and "It Hit Me Like a Hammer." Music videos were released for "It Hit Me like a Hammer," "Couple Days Off," and "He Don't Know."

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
In a review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes the "return to the straight-ahead blues-inflected pop/rock that made Huey Lewis and the News superstars in the early '80s" with Hard at Play.

## Personnel

Huey Lewis and the News
* Huey Lewis – harmonica, vocals
* Mario Cipollina – bass
* Johnny Colla – guitar, saxophone, backing vocals
* Bill Gibson – percussion, drums, backing vocals
* Chris Hayes – guitar, backing vocals
* Sean Hopper – keyboards, backing vocals
Additional personnel
* The Gospel Hummingbirds – backing vocals (4)
* David Fredericks – backing vocals (5, 10)
* Mike Duke – backing vocals (6)
* Michael Ruff – backing vocals (6)
* John McFee – guitar (11)

### Production

* Huey Lewis and the News – producers
* Bill Schnee – producer, engineer, mixing
* Eric "ET" Thorngren – co-producer (1, 5), additional engineer
* Bob Brown – executive producer
* Bob Edwards – additional engineer, assistant engineer
* Jeffrey "Nik" Norman – additional engineer
* Ken Allardyce – assistant engineer, mix assistant
* Tony Eckert – assistant engineer
* Stephen Hart – assistant engineer
* Tim Lauber – assistant engineer
* Kevin Scott – assistant engineer
* Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer
* Jack Joseph Puig – mixing
* Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA).
* Henry Marquez – art direction
* Michael Diehl – design
* Aaron Rapoport – photography

## Charts
### Weekly charts

| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 61 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) | 20 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 67 |
| European Top 100 Albums | 25 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 9 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 14 |
| Italian Albums (AFI) | 25 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 10 |
| Japanese International Albums (Oricon) | 1 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 26 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 25 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 9 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 39 |
| US Billboard 200 | 27 |
| Zimbabwean Albums (ZIMA) | 7 |

### Year-end charts

| Chart (1991) | Position |
| Canadian Albums Chart (RPM) | 85 |

### Singles

| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1991 | "Couple Days Off" | Album Rock Tracks | 3 |
| 1991 | "Couple Days Off" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 11 |
| 1991 | "Build Me Up" | Album Rock Tracks | 27 |
| 1991 | "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 21 |
| 1991 | "It Hit Me Like a Hammer" | Adult Contemporary | 10 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Gold | 50,000$^^$ |
| Japan (RIAJ) | Gold | 100,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||