I Wanna Be a Cowboy

"I Wanna Be a Cowboy" is a single by British pop-rock group Boys Don't Cry. The song was written by four of the band members—Brian Chatton, Nick Richards, Nico Ramsden and Jeff Seopardi—and was released in July 1985 as the first new single from their self-titled debut studio album (an album consisting of part new material and part compilation of several of the band's earlier singles). The female vocals on the song are performed by Heidi Lea.

This article is about the Boys Don't Cry song. It is not to be confused with I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart.

"I Wanna Be a Cowboy"
Single by Boys Don't Cry
from the album Boys Don't Cry
B-side
  • "Turn Over (I Like It Better That Way)"
  • "Josephine"
Released15 July 1985 (1985-07-15)
StudioThe Maison Rouge (London, England)
GenreNew wave[1]
Length
  • 6:06 (album version)
  • 3:54 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Boys Don't Cry
Boys Don't Cry singles chronology
"Lipstick"
(1985)		 "I Wanna Be a Cowboy"
(1985)		 "Cities on Fire"
(1986)
Audio
"I Wanna Be a Cowboy" on YouTube

The single became the band's only major hit, reaching number one in New Zealand, number four in Australia, number 11 in South Africa, and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was a comparative failure in the group's native United Kingdom, peaking at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for the song features Lemmy Kilmister of English rock band Motörhead.

Background and release

Frontman Nick Richards spent one Saturday night watching Clint Eastwood cowboy films such as For a Few Dollars More (1965), and the band had reserved the studio for the next day. Thanks to the films, Richards had the saying, "I wanna be a cowboy, and you can be my cowgirl" stuck in his head, and the band liked it. They put it to some music that keyboardist Brian Chatton had written a year earlier which they had never written lyrics for. They wrote the entire song that Sunday in about an hour, recorded it, and spent three hours mixing it. Richards felt it would be too boring to sing all four verses, so they brought in drummer Jeff Seopardie's girlfriend to sing verse two. The entire single was finished by the end of the day and never mixed again.[2] "The song was meant to be a joke and to make people laugh, but also we thought it would make a great dance track. That turned out to be true," said Richards.[2]

Legacy Recordings first issued "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" as a 12-inch vinyl single in the United Kingdom on 15 July 1985.[3] In the United States, the A&R chief of Gotham Records, Gary Pini, heard an import copy of the song at a club in New York and wanted to release it. Richards stated, "Gary was so enthusiastic that we figured if somebody wants something that bad, they'll work it."[4] "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" became the first independently released single to enter the US top 20 since "Give It Up" by KC in 1984, which was distributed on Meca Records.[5] The song was an airplay hit around Oklahoma City, where the Oklahoma State University football team is named the Cowboys, allowing it to become a highly requested song on local radio.[6] On 6 June 1986, in the wake of its American success, Legacy re-released the single in the UK.[7]

Chart performance

The song was a commercial disappointment in the band's native United Kingdom, where it stalled at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart,[8] but it found better success abroad. In the United States, the song debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 5 April 1986.[9] It entered the top 40 on 17 May,[10] then rose up the chart over the next month before reaching its peak of number 12 on 21 June. It stayed on the Hot 100 for a total of 19 weeks.[11] The single also became a dance hit in the US, reaching number 13 on the Billboard 12-inch Singles Sales chart and number 44 on the Dance Club Play chart.[12][13] On Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" first appeared the week after its American debut at number 86.[14] Six issues later, on 24 May, it settled at number 19 on the listing, its highest position.[15] On 9 July 1986, it was certified gold by Music Canada for shipping over 50,000 units.[16]

The track found success in other countries as well. In Australia, it first charted on the Kent Music Report in June, climbing to a peak of number four in August.[17] At the end of 1986, it came in at number 29 on the Australian year-end chart.[18] In New Zealand, after debuting at number 17 on 13 July 1986, the single jumped around the top 30 until 17 August, when it rose to number one and stayed there for another two weeks. It spent 15 weeks in the top 50 and was New Zealand's 11th-best-performing song of 1986.[19][20] Elsewhere, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" peaked at number 11 in South Africa and number 24 in Belgium.[21][22] The song missed the top 40 in West Germany by one position, debuting and peaking at number 41 on 1 September 1986.[23]

Music video

Background

A Spaghetti-Western-style music video was made for the song, featuring Lemmy Kilmister of English rock band Motörhead. Richards initially came up with the idea to recruit Kilmister for the video after watching the Eastwood films. He said, "When I came up with the concept of the 'I Wanna Be a Cowboy' video I wanted a Lee Van Cleef bad boy in the video. Lemmy came to mind immediately!"[24] Kilmister agreed to play the part as long as there was a bottle of Smirnoff vodka on set. The vodka was provided, and filming began at 6 a.m. at Hampstead Heath in London.[24] It was directed by Carina Camamille and produced by Helen McCartney.[25] MTV added the video to its playlists in early April 1986.[26]

Reception

Video jockey Martha Quinn of MTV told Richards that the channel "hated" the video as it "wasn't rock and roll",[24] but since it had become a top-40 hit by that point, they had to air the video. It subsequently received more than 200,000 requests.[24]

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK 7-inch single liner notes and vinyl disc and the liner notes of Boys Don't Cry.[27][33][34]

Studio

  • Recorded and mixed at The Maison Rouge (London, England)

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[16] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Region Date Format Label Ref.
United Kingdom 15 July 1985 12-inch vinyl Legacy [3]
United Kingdom (re-release) 6 June 1986 [7]

References
  1. André, Lisa (5 August 2019). "'Lost 80s Live' to showcase new wave hits at Chumash Casino Resort". Santa Ynez Valley News.
  2. "Interview with Nick Richards of Boys Don't Cry". Kickin' it Old School. 28 May 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  3. "New Singles". Music Week. 13 July 1985. p. 16.
  4. Bessman, Jim (19 July 1986). "'We're Rock Musicians with Pedigrees': Boys Don't Cry Want More". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 29. pp. 20, 24.
  5. Grein, Paul (7 June 1986). "Chart Beat". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 23. p. 6.
  6. Ellis, Michael (10 May 1986). "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 19. p. 82.
  7. "New Singles". Music Week. 3 May 1986. p. 6.
  8. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  9. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. 5 April 1986. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  10. "The Hot 100 – Week of May 17, 1986". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  11. "The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  12. "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  13. "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  14. "RPM 100 Singles – April 12, 1986". RPM. Retrieved 2 December 2020 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  15. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0676." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  16. "Canadian single certifications – Boys Don't Cry – I Wanna Be a Cowboy". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  17. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 44. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988.
  18. "Kent Music Report No 650 – 29 December 1986 > National Top 100 Singles for 1986". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 21 December 2019 – via Imgur.
  19. "Boys Don't Cry – I Wanna Be a Cowboy". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  20. "End of Year Charts 1986". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  21. "SA Charts 1965 – 1989 Songs H–I". South African Rock Lists. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  22. "Boys Don't Cry – I Wanna Be a Cowboy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Boys Don't Cry – I Wanna Be a Cowboy" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  24. "When Lemmy Starred in Boys Don't Cry's 'I Wanna Be a Cowboy' Video". Ultimate Classic Rock. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  25. "New Video Clips" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 14. 5 April 1986. p. 55. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  26. "MTV Programming". Billboard. Vol. 98, no. 17. 25 April 1986. p. 58.
  27. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Boys Don't Cry. Legacy Recordings. 1985. LGY 28.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  28. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (German 7-inch single sleeve). Boys Don't Cry. Intercord Records. 1986. INT 110.197.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  29. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (German 12-inch maxi-single vinyl disc). Boys Don't Cry. Intercord Records. 1985. INT 125.235.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  30. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Boys Don't Cry. Profile Records. 1985. PRO-7084.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  31. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (Canadian 12-inch single sleeve). Boys Don't Cry. Mercury Records. 1985. MERX 102.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  32. I Wanna Be a Cowboy (ウォナ・ビ・ア・カウボーイ) (Japanese 7-inch vinyl sleeve). Boys Don't Cry. CBS/Sony. 1985. 07SP 957.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  33. Boys Don't Cry (UK LP album liner notes). Boys Don't Cry. Legacy Recordings. 1986. LLP 105.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  34. Boys Don't Cry (UK CD album liner notes). Boys Don't Cry. Legacy Recordings. 1986. LLCD 105.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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