The Wild Boys (song)

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"The Wild Boys"
Duran duran wild boys.jpg
Single by Duran Duran
from the album Arena
B-side "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984)
Released26 October 1984 (1984-10-26)
RecordedJuly 1984
Genre
Length4:18
Label EMI
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Nile Rodgers
Duran Duran singles chronology
"The Reflex"
(1984)		"The Wild Boys"
(1984)		"A View to a Kill"
(1985)
Music video
"The Wild Boys" on YouTube

"The Wild Boys" is the twelfth single by English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 26 October 1984 in the United Kingdom.

Contents

The song was the only studio track on the band's live album Arena (1984), and was produced by Nile Rodgers, who had previously remixed the band's previous single "The Reflex". It was recorded at the end of July 1984 at Maison Rouge Studios in London. [2]

Background

The idea for the song came from longtime Duran Duran video director Russell Mulcahy, who wanted to make a full-length feature film based on the surreal and sexual 1971 novel The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs. He suggested that the band might create a modern soundtrack for the film in the same way that Queen would later provide a rock soundtrack for Mulcahy's 1986 film Highlander . Lead vocalist Simon Le Bon began writing some lyrics based on Mulcahy's quick synopsis of the book, and the band created a harsh-sounding instrumental backdrop for them, [3] taking inspiration from the groove of the hit single Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. [4]

The single was issued with six separate collectible covers – one featuring each individual band member and one of the band collectively.

Critical reception

Cash Box called the song "a rolling pop tune with a tribal intensity". [1] Billboard suggested that it sounds like "'Reflex' revisited." [5]

Chart performances

"The Wild Boys" became one of the band's highest-charting singles, peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, behind "Out of Touch" by Hall & Oates and "Like a Virgin" by Madonna, [6] while reaching the top spot on the US Cash Box Top Singles chart [7] and in Germany and South Africa. [8] [9] It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and on the Irish Singles Chart, [10] [11] as well as in several European countries. [12] It also became the band's highest-peaking single in Australia, reaching number three. [13] As of October 2021, "The Wild Boys" is the 10th-most streamed Duran Duran song in the UK. [14]

Music video

The music video for "The Wild Boys" was directed by Russell Mulcahy. The cost totalled over one million pounds, a staggering sum for music videos at the time, as his design filled one entire end of the "007 Stage" at Pinewood Studios with a metal pyramid and a windmill over a deep enclosed pool, and called for a lifelike robotic face, dozens of elaborate costumes, prosthetics, and make-up effects, and then-cutting-edge computer graphics. The choreography of dance routines was undertaken by Arlene Phillips, including intricate stunts and fire effects added to the cost. Mulcahy meant the video to be a teaser for his full-length Burroughs film, demonstrating his vision to the movie studios he was wooing, but that project was never made.

The video featured all of the band members imprisoned and in peril, wearing uncharacteristically rough and ragged outfits similar to the pieced-together clothing of the film Mad Max 2 (1981). John Taylor was strapped to the roof of a car suffering a psycho-torture with pictures of his childhood and early past; Nick Rhodes was caged with a pile of computer equipment; Roger Taylor was put in a hot-air balloon that was dangling from the ceiling, leaving him high off the ground; Andy Taylor was bound (guitar and all) to a ship's figurehead; and Simon Le Bon was strapped to a blade of the windmill, his head covered in water as the blade passed through the pool.

"The Wild Boys" was named British Video of the Year at the 1985 Brit Awards.

Remixes and B-sides

The 8:00 12" "Wilder Than Wild Boys" extended mix, the only official contemporaneous remix, is actually the full length version. It continues after the album/single version's fade out with another instrumental section, then repeats the chorus to fade. This mix was also used for the full length promo video.

To promote the release of the compilation album Greatest in 1998, EMI commissioned a number of remixes, including two mixes of "The Wild Boys" that were released only on promo discs:

In 2004, noted remixer Paul Dakeyne and the Mitchell Project produced the 7:30 "Wicked 'n Wild Dub" for DMC, the UK-based remix service.

The original single B-side, "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984), was recorded at the 5 March 1984 show at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. This is the same concert where the video for "The Reflex" was filmed.

Formats and track listings

7": Parlophone / Duran 3 UK

  1. "The Wild Boys" (45) – 4:14
  2. "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984) – 4:00

12": Parlophone / 12 Duran 3 UK

  1. "The Wild Boys" (Wilder Than the Wild Boys) (extended mix) – 8:00
  2. "The Wild Boys" (45) – 4:16
  3. "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984) – 4:08

7": Capitol / B-5417 US

  1. "The Wild Boys" (45) – 4:14
  2. "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984) – 4:00

12": Capitol / V-6817 US

  1. "The Wild Boys" (Wilder Than the Wild Boys) (extended mix) – 8:00
  2. "The Wild Boys" (45) – 4:16
  3. "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984) – 4:08

CD: Part of Singles Box Set 1981–1985

  1. "The Wild Boys" (45) – 4:16
  2. "(I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement" (1984) – 4:08
  3. "The Wild Boys" (Wilder Than the Wild Boys) (extended mix) – 8:00

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "The Wild Boys"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [44] Gold50,000^
Germany (BVMI) [45] Gold500,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [46] Silver250,000^
United States (RIAA) [47] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Phixx version

"Wild Boys"
Single by Phixx
from the album Electrophonic Revolution
ReleasedJune 2004
Length4:04
Label Concept
Songwriter(s)
Phixx singles chronology
"Love Revolution"
(2004)		"Wild Boys"
(2004)		"Strange Love"
(2005)

English-Irish boy band Phixx released their version in 2004 which peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. [48]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 27 October 1984. p. 8. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  2. ↑ John Taylor (16 October 2012). In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 177. ISBN   978-1-101-59359-2 . Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "VH1 interview with John Taylor". Archived from the original on 6 March 2003.
  4. ↑ Mark Ragogna (2 October 2012). "A Conversation with Duran Duran's Roger Taylor".
  5. ↑ "Reviews". Billboard. 27 October 1984. p. 63. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Billboard Hot 100 – Week of December 15, 1984". Billboard . Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending December 15, 1984". Cash Box . Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
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  9. 1 2 "SA Charts 1965–1989 (As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion) – Acts D". The South African Rock Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
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  11. 1 2 "Duran Duran: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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  13. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 97. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
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  16. ↑ "Duran Duran – The Wild Boys" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
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  18. ↑ "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet . Vol. 1, no. 35. 26 November 1984. p. 6. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
  19. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN   978-951-1-21053-5.
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  44. ↑ "Canadian single certifications – Duran Duran – The Wild Boys". Music Canada . Retrieved 2 September 2016.
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  46. ↑ "British single certifications – Duran Duran – Wild Boys". British Phonographic Industry. 1 November 1984. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  47. ↑ "American single certifications – Duran Duran – The Wild Boys". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  48. ↑ "PHIXX | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
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