ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 11, 1986

By Steve Newton

When Britain’s Boys Don’t Cry open for Platinum Blonde at Expo Theatre this Monday and Tuesday (July 14 and 15), it’s a sure thing that their current hit “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” will be a highlight of the set. A funky rocker with rugged guitar bits and some mighty strange lyrics, the tune has been tweaking eardrums across North American on its way up the charts.

But even thought the song sings about wanting to be a cowboy, Boys Don’t Cry have a long way to go before they earn their ten-gallon hats. It seems that while they were shooting the video for the song, lead singer Nick Richards cracked two ribs just trying to get on his horse.

Some cowboy, alright.

People who watch Much Music may have have already seen the video for “Cowboy”, which was directed by the same fellow who did a-ha’s “Take on Me” and Wham’s “Careless Whisper” clips. A guest appearance is made in the video by the notorious Lemmy, the rough-looking singer/bassist from Motorhead. Lenny plays a desperado in the video.

“We did need a baddie,” says BDC keyboardist Brian Chatton. “He did it for a bottle of vodka.”

As well as Chatton and Richards, Boys Don’t Cry includes bassist Mark Smith, guitarist Nico Ramsden (also with the group Carmel), and drummer Jeff Seopardi, who’s played with Sade Cafe and Chris Rea.

Before the group was formed in early 1984, Chatton had played with numerous and varied musical acts, including Meat Loaf, Mike Oldfield, Pat Travers, and the Warriors, a project that also included Phil Collins and Jon Anderson of Yes. He also had a solo album out in Canada, which did reasonably well, called Playing For Time.

While Boys Don’t Cry have not been together long, Chatton denies that they are “just a thrown together bunch of session players” out to make a fast buck. But he won’t deny that he and the other band members are in it mainly for fun.

“We’re putting as much humour into our show as possible,” he chuckles. “So we’re letting Nick do the singing.”

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