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"Rough Boy" | ||||
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Single by ZZ Top | ||||
from the album Afterburner | ||||
B-side | "Delirious" | |||
Released | March 1986 | |||
Recorded | 1985 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Bill Ham | |||
ZZ Top singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Rough Boy" on YouTube |
"Rough Boy" is a song by the American rock band ZZ Top. It was released by Warner Bros. Records in the US in March 1986, as the third single from their ninth studio album, Afterburner . The song reached No. 5 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as No. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. Unlike the other songs on the album, this song has a much slower tempo and is more of a power ballad. It also shares a similar tune to their song "Leila", from their seventh studio album, El Loco .
Dusty Hill said in 2007, "'Rough Boy' is a pretty li'l song. We're doin' it this tour. We pulled it back out. I like that song so much, I had it played at my wedding." [1]
Cash Box called it a "rapturous teen ballad" in which "the band turns its leather-tough into pure silk." [2]
The music video (directed by Steve Barron [3] ) features the band's "Eliminator" car/spaceplane hybrid (from the Afterburner album cover) visiting a space car wash, interspersed with images of the band members' hands and faces, as well as a woman's legs, protruding from metal plates, some of which double as lighted message signs or crosswalk signals.
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
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US Billboard Hot 100 | 22 |
US Billboard Album Rock Tracks | 5 |
Canadian RPM Top Singles [4] | 58 |
Dutch Singles Chart | 81 |
French Singles Chart [5] | 22 |
Swiss Singles Chart | 38 |
UK Singles Chart | 23 |
ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, it was composed of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top had developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues guitar playing style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are popular for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats and long beards.
Afterburner is the ninth studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released in 1985. Although critics' response to the album was lukewarm, Afterburner was a moderate success, going platinum and launching one hit single: "Sleeping Bag" which peaked at No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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