Bad Boys (Inner Circle song)

"Bad Boys"
Swedish single picture sleeve, 1990
Single by Inner Circle
from the album One Way and Bad Boys/Bad to the Bone
B-side	"Sweat (A La La La La Long)"
Released	1 October 1987 (album) 1989 (US-only single) 1990 (reissue) 1993 (2nd reissue)
Genre	Reggae
Length	3:52
Label	Island
Songwriter	Ian Lewis
Producers	Ian Lewis, Touter Harvey, Roger Lewis
Inner Circle singles chronology
"Black and White" (1989) "Bad Boys" (1987) "Black Roses" (1991)
Audio sample
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"Bad Boys" is a 1987 song by the Jamaican reggae band Inner Circle, which gained high popularity in the United States after its re-release in 1993, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. ^[1] It is the opening theme to the American documentary TV show Cops and the theme song of the 1995 American action comedy film Bad Boys , and is also featured in the film's sequels.

History

The song was originally released on the week of 18–24 October 1987 on the album One Way. ^[2] It was released as a single in mid-1991 in Norway and Finland, where it peaked at number one. In 1992, it was included on the Bad to the Bone album, and the song was released again as a single in 1993, after the unexpected success of their previous international hit single "Sweat (A La La La La Long)". "Bad Boys" reached number 52 in the United Kingdom ^[3] and number eight in the United States. ^[1] In the latter territory, it was certified gold and sold 600,000 copies. ^{[4] [5]} The song was also released as the B-side on the band's 1992 single, "Sweat (A La La La La Long)". ^[6]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1990–1991)	Peak position
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [7]	1
Norway (VG-lista) [8]	1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [9]	2

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA) [10]	25
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [11]	21
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [12]	19
Germany (GfK) [13]	35
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) [14]	18
Ireland (IRMA) [15]	26
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [16]	5
UK Singles (OCC) [3]	52
UK Dance ( Music Week ) [17]	30
US Billboard Hot 100 [1]	8
US Hot R&B Singles ( Billboard ) [1]	58
US Maxi-Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [1]	15
US Top 40/Mainstream ( Billboard ) [1]	7
US Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover ( Billboard ) [1]	27

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)	Rank
Sweden (Topplistan) [18]	37

Chart (1991)	Rank
Sweden (Topplistan) [19]	22

Chart (1993)	Rank
Australia (ARIA) [20]	88
New Zealand (RIANZ) [21]	15
US Billboard Hot 100 [22]	69

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [23]	Gold	15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [24]	Silver	200,000‡
United States (RIAA) [25]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Use on Cops

"Bad Boys" was selected as the theme song for Cops because a field producer for the show happened to be a fan of Inner Circle. ^[26] The song, which was very popular during the 1990s, is also used in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence action/comedy film series Bad Boys , which was named after the song. ^{[27] [28]}

See also

• List of number-one singles of 1991 (Finland)
• List of number-one songs in Norway

References

1. "Inner Circle – Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved 7 January 2014.
2. Moon, Tom (22 October 1987). "Inner Circle celebrates LP release". The Miami Herald . Miami, Florida. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
4. "Gold & Platinum – Inner Circle – Bad Boys". RIAA . Retrieved 12 May 2016.
5. "Best-Selling Records of 1993". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 3. 15 January 1994. p. 73. ISSN   0006-2510.
6. "cdBBQ: Inner Circle". Cdbbq.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
7. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN   951-31-2503-3.
8. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys". VG-lista. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
9. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
10. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
11. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0993." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
13. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
14. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (28. Maí – 3. Júní)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 27 May 1993. p. 29. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
15. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Inner Circle". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
16. "Inner Circle – Bad Boys". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
17. "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 31 July 1993. p. 22. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
18. "Årstopplistan 1990, Singlar" (in Swedish). Grammotex. Archived from the original on 16 February 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
19. "Årstopplistan 1991, Singlar" (in Swedish). Grammotex. Archived from the original on 25 February 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
20. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
21. "End of Year Charts 1993". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 20 May 2020.
22. "Top 100 Hits for 1993". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
23. "New Zealand single certifications – Inner Circle – Bad Boys". Radioscope. Retrieved 20 August 2025.Type Bad Boys in the "Search:" fieldand press Enter.
24. "British single certifications – Inner Circle – Bad Boys". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 1 December 2023.
25. "American single certifications – Inner Circle – Bad Boys". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 24 July 2023.
26. Griffin, Gil (2 July 1994). "Inner Circle's Sphere of Influence - Big Beat/Atlantic Set Follows 'Bad' Breakthrough". Billboard . Vol. 106, no. 27. ISSN   0006-2510.
27. "Inner Circle Biography". Bad Boys of Reggae. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
28. Walker, Klive (2005). Dubwise: reasoning from the reggae underground . Insomniac Press. p.  203. ISBN   1-894663-96-9.