"Let's Hear It for the Boy" | ||||
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Single by Deniece Williams | ||||
from the album Footloose: Original Soundtrack of the Paramount Motion Picture and Let's Hear It for the Boy | ||||
B-side | "Let's Hear It for the Boy (Instrumental—Short Version)" | |||
Released | February 14, 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:20
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Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | George Duke | |||
Deniece Williams singles chronology | ||||
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"Let's Hear It for the Boy" is a song by Deniece Williams that appeared on the soundtrack to the feature film Footloose . The song was released as a single from both the soundtrack and her album of the song's same name on February 14, 1984, by Columbia Records. It was written by Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford and produced by George Duke. The song became Williams' second number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on May 26, 1984, also topping the dance and R&B charts, [3] [4] and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and was certified platinum in the US and gold in Canada and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America, Music Canada and the British Phonographic Industry, respectively. The music video was released in mid-April 1984. [5] The song features background vocals from George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who would go on to form the duo Boy Meets Girl.
In 2011, country singer Jana Kramer covered the song for the remake of Footloose . In 2017 the song was covered by UK hi-NRG dance artist Allan Jay in aid of the Retired Greyhound Trust and their Let's Hear It for the Boy campaign.
The music video for the song features Williams along with several young men, one of them being the singer Aaron Lohr as the young boy who is the first person to appear in the video. [6]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [39] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [40] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [41] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free", "Silly", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" and two Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles "Let's Hear It for the Boy" and "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late". Williams has won four Grammys with twelve nominations altogether. She is also known for recording “Without Us”, the theme song of Family Ties.
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"Let the Music Play" is a song recorded by American singer Shannon and released on September 19, 1983, as both her debut single and the lead single from her 1984 debut studio album of the same name. Written by Chris Barbosa and Ed Chisolm, and produced by Barbosa and Mark Liggett, "Let the Music Play" was the first of Shannon's four number ones on the US Dance Club Songs chart, reaching the top spot in October 1983. It also became a huge crossover hit in the US, peaking at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1984. It was Shannon's only Top 40 hit in the US. Some mark "Let the Music Play" as the beginning of the "dance-pop" era. "Let the Music Play" was ranked 43rd on the 2009 VH1 Special 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s, while Rolling Stone and Billboard featured it in their lists of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" and "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time" in 2022 and 2023. The song also appears in the video games Dance Central 3 and Scarface: The World Is Yours.
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"Hello" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie. Taken as the third single from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down (1983), the song was released in 1984 and reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart, the R&B chart, and the Adult Contemporary chart. The song also went to number one on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks.
"Free" is a song by American singer Deniece Williams that was included on her album This Is Niecy. The song was written by Williams, Hank Redd, Nathan Watts and Susaye Greene and produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney.
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Putting a gospel singer like Williams on a giddy dance-pop track like this is a smart decision.