Boys Don't Cry were a British studio band known for the hit single \"I Wanna Be a Cowboy\" discovered by Paul Oakenfold, who was a talent scout for Profile Records in London in the mid-'80s. Best known for being Run DMC's record label at the time, Profile signed the band for the U.S. market and Legacy retained the rights to the band's UK releases. Mercury Records won the bidding for Canada and Intercord Tonträger GmbH handled their releases in Germany.
The tune \"I Wanna Be a Cowboy\" was released in 1986. A novelty song with deadpan humour and kitschy references, the song has been described as the perfect musical realisation of a spaghetti western movie. It hit #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #13 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi Singles Sales chart in 1986-1987, and was R&R #8. \"I Wanna Be A Cowboy\" was also a top 10 hit in Australia and South Africa.
They would go on to release two full-length albums: a self-titled debut in 1986, which included \"I Wanna Be a Cowboy,\" and a follow-up the following year titled Who the Am Dam do You Think We Am. The second album was simply released in America as \"Boys Don't Cry,\" creating some confusion there, since the band now had two consecutive self-titled albums released within a year of each other.
On July 30, 1997, co-writers Nick Richards and Brian Chatton sued Paula Cole, Warner Brothers Records, and Imago Records, along with remix producers DJ EFX, Big Ed, and the E-Team, for $7 million in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claiming that Cole's remix \"Where Have all the Cowboys Gone?\" used the phrase \"I wanna be a cowboy\" 24 times in the same style and syntax as their song and constituted copyright infringement.
Side A:
I Wanna Be A Cowboy [12\" Saddle Mix] 6:05
Side B:
I Wanna Be A Cowboy [Instrumental Saloon Mix] 6:05
Release Information:
Label: Profile Records
Catalog#: PRO-7084
Format: Vinyl, 12\", Single, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
Credits: Engineer – Chris Potter, Tony Taverner
Photography – Simon Fowler
Producer – Boys Don't Cry
Written-By – Chatton*, Seopardie*, Richards*, Ramsden*
Notes:
Jacket Made In Canada
Message in run-out groove, side A: This Cowboy Ride is BLAZE-\"ing\" HOT!!!
1985 Legacy Records (London)
