piece by piece". Lewis approached Gaines with the idea to record "Heart and Soul", which they initially thought was an unreleased song. Gaines later recalled that, while the band was working on the song, an engineer mentioned that it had already been covered by both Exile and the BusBoys. Although the band's recording was ultimately finished, it was initially shelved. However, Lewis later recalled hearing the BusBoys recording their version in an adjacent studio, and that he'd decided his version with the News "had merit" and was "maybe a little better". It eventually became the album's first single. "Honky Tonk Blues" was an attempt to cover the Hank Williams song in the style of Status Quo, and Lewis later stated that Hank Williams Jr. complimented the News on their rendition. Brown became concerned about Sports being promoted properly when the band's label, Chrysalis Records, fired much of its production staff. As a result, the band made a decision to withhold the finished record from the label until the issues were resolved. Title and artwork The title of the album was a play on the band's name. The cover art features a photo of the band at the 2 AM Club, a bar located in Mill Valley, California, where the band had performed during its early days. A bar was chosen for the shoot because the band reasoned that most people watched televised sporting events in bars. Release and commercial receptionSports was released on September 15, 1983. The lead single, "Heart and Soul", peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The album's second release turned out to be the band's second best-selling single: "I Want a New Drug" peaked at number 6 on the Hot 100 and was eventually certified gold in 1989, with sales of 1 million copies (although this would be considered platinum by modern single certification standards). The third single from the album, "The Heart of Rock & Roll", continued the band's success, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100. In June 1984, Sports hit number 1 on the Billboard 200 and would ultimately spend 160 weeks on the charts. The fourth single from the album, "If This Is It", was released shortly thereafter, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100. The fifth and final single from the album, "Walking on a Thin Line", was released in December 1984 and peaked at