"I Wanna Be a Cowboy" is a single by British pop-rock group Boys Don't Cry. The song was written by four of the band members—Brian Chatton, Nick Richards, Nico Ramsden and Jeff Seopardi—and was released in July 1985 as the first new single from their self-titled debut studio album (an album consisting of part new material and part compilation of several of the band's earlier singles). The female vocals on the song are performed by Heidi Lea.

The single became the band's only major hit, reaching number one in New Zealand, number four in Australia, number 11 in South Africa, and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was a comparative failure in the group's native United Kingdom, peaking at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for the song features Lemmy Kilmister of English rock band Motörhead.

Frontman Nick Richards spent one Saturday night watching Clint Eastwood cowboy films such as For a Few Dollars More (1965), and the band had reserved the studio for the next day. Thanks to the films, Richards had the saying, "I wanna be a cowboy, and you can be my cowgirl" stuck in his head, and the band liked it. They put it to some music that keyboardist Brian Chatton had written a year earlier which they had never written lyrics for. They wrote the entire song that Sunday in about an hour, recorded it, and spent three hours mixing it. Richards felt it would be too boring to sing all four verses, so they brought in drummer Jeff Seopardie's girlfriend to sing verse two. The entire single was finished by the end of the day and never mixed again.^[2] "The song was meant to be a joke and to make people laugh, but also we thought it would make a great dance track. That turned out to be true," said Richards.^[2]

Legacy Recordings first issued "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" as a 12-inch vinyl single in the United Kingdom on 15 July 1985.^[3] In the United States, the A&R chief of Gotham Records, Gary Pini, heard an import copy of the song at a club in New York and wanted to release it. Richards stated, "Gary was so enthusiastic that we figured if somebody wants something that bad, they'll work it."^[4] "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" became the first independently released single to enter the US top 20 since "Give It Up" by KC in 1984, which was distributed on Meca Records.^[5] The song was an airplay hit around Oklahoma City, where the Oklahoma State University football team is named the Cowboys, allowing it to become a highly requested song on local radio.^[6] On 6 June 1986, in the wake of its American success, Legacy re-released the single in the UK.^[7]

The song was a commercial disappointment in the band's native United Kingdom, where it stalled at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart,^[8] but it found better success abroad. In the United States, the song debuted at number 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 5 April 1986.^[9] It entered the top 40 on 17 May,^[10] then rose up the chart over the next month before reaching its peak of number 12 on 21 June. It stayed on the Hot 100 for a total of 19 weeks.^[11] The single also became a dance hit in the US, reaching number 13 on the Billboard 12-inch Singles Sales chart and number 44 on the Dance Club Play chart.^[12][13] On Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" first appeared the week after its American debut at number 86.^[14] Six issues later, on 24 May, it settled at number 19 on the listing, its highest position.^[15] On 9 July 1986, it was certified gold by Music Canada for shipping over 50,000 units.^[16]

The track found success in other countries as well. In Australia, it first charted on the Kent Music Report in June, climbing to a peak of number four in August.^[17] At the end of 1986, it came in at number 29 on the Australian year-end chart.^[18] In New Zealand, after debuting at number 17 on 13 July 1986, the single jumped around the top 30 until 17 August, when it rose to number one and stayed there for another two weeks. It spent 15 weeks in the top 50 and was New Zealand's 11th-best-performing song of 1986.^[19][20] Elsewhere, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" peaked at number 11 in South Africa and number 24 in Belgium.^[21][22] The song missed the top 40 in West Germany by one position, debuting and peaking at number 41 on 1 September 1986.^[23]

Credits are taken from the UK 7-inch single liner notes and vinyl disc and the liner notes of Boys Don't Cry.^[27][33][34]

Studio

• Recorded and mixed at The Maison Rouge (London, England)