Huey Lewis records theme for ‘Pineapple Express,’ complete with toking sound courtesy of Seth Rogen

Ask “Pineapple Express” director David Gordon Green how the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling Lewis and the News wound up on the soundtrack, however, and you’ll elicit a breathless, impassioned narrative of initial failure and eventual triumph — one that takes into account Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” theme, plenty of what the director terms “organic thinking” and a healthy admiration for Lewis’ physique, shown in its full-frontal glory in a certain Robert Altman drama.

Putting together the soundtrack, Green and music supervisor Jonathan Karp selected songs they deemed right for the film’s plot, which sees Rogen’s horny stoner and his shambling pot dealer (James Franco, right, with Rogen) running from mobsters after witnessing a murder. The score is packed with ’80s skewing favorites from the likes of Robert Palmer (“Woke Up Laughing”) and Peter Tosh (“Wanted Dread and Alive”) as well as rap and R&B chestnuts from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Public Enemy and Bell Biv DeVoe.

“I wanted things to be timeless, but with a nudge to the ’80s,” the director said, “but not an obvious stoner greatest hits.”

(In an outward manifestation of the kind of music-movie synergy that “Pineapple Express” is generating, the song “Paper Planes” by Sri Lankan electro-hip-hop artist M.I.A. surged to No. 1 on the iTunes electronic chart and No. 18 on its singles chart after being featured in a trailer for the film.)

The idea to reach out to Lewis was sparked one day when Rogen showed up on the Sony lot where Green was editing “Pineapple Express” and noticed the original ambulance-turned-ectoplasmic emergency vehicle from the 1984 comedy “Ghostbusters.” Suddenly, a light bulb went on in his head.

“He said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a theme like ‘Ghostbusters’? Let’s have Ray Parker Jr. record it,’ ” Green said. “Then we remembered that ‘Ghostbusters’ got sued for being too similar to Huey Lewis and the News’ ‘I Want a New Drug.’ Then Seth had the idea to see if Huey would do it. We loved seeing his [genitals] in Robert Altman’s ‘Short Cuts.’ [Huey] is actually a great actor.”

As it turns out, Green originally wanted to cast Lewis as the homicidal mob boss character in “Pineapple Express” but gave the part to Gary Cole after discovering that Lewis would be on Broadway with a production of the musical “Chicago” when filming commenced. “I never talked to David Gordon Green!” Lewis said, exasperated to learn of the director’s intention from a reporter.

Still, it seemed only fitting to hire the musical force responsible for the Oscar-nominated, No. 1 smash hit “The Power of Love” (the theme song to 1985’s “Back to the Future”) to create a theme for “Pineapple Express.” More specifically, the group was enlisted to follow in the template set by Oingo Boingo’s "Weird Science," David Bowie’s “Cat People” and Phil Collins’ "Against All Odds," among other themes: a song that overtly references the movie’s title in its lyrics whether or not it makes any literal sense.

Lewis remembered his marching orders: “They said, ‘We want a track called ‘Pineapple Express.’ I said, ‘Ooh. That’s going to be tough.’ They said, ‘It’s a kind of marijuana.’ I said, ‘Like Panama Red? No problem.’ ”

With his band the News, Lewis wrote and performed two different versions of “Pineapple Express,” and the filmmakers selected one reminiscent of the group’s “The Heart of Rock and Roll” -- it features percolating keyboard rips, a sax solo and the sampled sound of Rogen toking hard on a movie joint.

“I got you and you got me/We’re as high as we can be,” Lewis sings. “How did we get into this mess? Pineapple Express!”

“Huey Lewis and the News made music for my movie,” Green said. “It’s such a benchmark, I don’t know where to go professionally from here. I can’t think of anything cooler.”

-- Chris Lee

Photo of Huey Lewis and the News from PBS / "Pineapple Express" photo from Dale Robinette / Columbia Pictures