Let's Hear It for the Boy

"Let's Hear It for the Boy"
"Let's Hear It for the Boy"
Single by Deniece Williams
from the album Footloose: Original Soundtrack of the Paramount Motion Picture and Let's Hear It for the Boy
Released	February 14, 1984
Recorded	1983
Genre	R&B; dance-pop; freestyle; post-disco;
Length	4:20 6:03 (extended version);
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Tom Snow; Dean Pitchford;
Producer(s)	George Duke
Deniece Williams singles chronology

"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,^[1]^[2] 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, gold in Canada and silver in the UK by the RIAA, Music Canada and the British Phonographic Industry respectively.^[3]^[4]^[5] The music video was released in mid-April 1984.^[6] 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.

Music video[]

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.^[7]

Credits and personnel[]

Tom Snow – composition
Dean Pitchford – composition
Deniece Williams – lead vocals, backing vocals
George Merrill – backing vocals
Shannon Rubicam – backing vocals
George Duke – producer, drum programming, keyboards, Memory Moog bass, Prophet synthesizer, synthesizer
Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar
Paulinho Da Costa – percussion

Chart history[]

Weekly charts[]

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[8]	3
Austria	3
Belgium	3
Canada The Record Top Singles^[9]	1
Canada RPM Top Singles	1
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary^[10]	9
Germany (GfK)	10
Ireland	2
Netherlands	5
New Zealand	2
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)	19
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)	2
US Billboard Hot 100^[11]	1
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)	1
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)	1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary^[12]	3
US Cash Box Top 100^[13]	1

Year-end charts[]

Chart (1984)	Rank
Australia^[14]	44
Canada^[15]	21
New Zealand^[16]	43
UK^[17]	47
US Billboard Hot 100^[18]	13
US Cash Box^[19]	20

References[]

^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 625.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 280.
^ British Phonographic Industry certification for Let's Hear It for the Boy Archived January 11, 2013, at WebCite
^ "Gold & Platinum – RIAA".
^ Music Canada https://web.archive.org/web/20120225041920/http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Rolling Stones plan to do video, concert in L.A. during Olympics". The Ledger. May 3, 1984. p. 2A. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
^ "Deniece Williams: Let's Hear It for the Boy". MTV. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 Singles 1984". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
^ Nanda Lwin (1999). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. July 14, 1984. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
^ "Deniece Williams Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 257.
^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 2, 1984
^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^ "Top 100 Singles of 1984 – Volume 41, No. 17, January 05 1985". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on May 9, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
^ "End of Year Charts 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
^ Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 singles: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.
^ Musicoutfitters.com
^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1984

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[1] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 625.

[2] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 280.

[3] British Phonographic Industry certification for Let's Hear It for the Boy Archived January 11, 2013, at WebCite

[4] "Gold & Platinum – RIAA".

[5] Music Canada https://web.archive.org/web/20120225041920/http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)

[6] "Rolling Stones plan to do video, concert in L.A. during Olympics". The Ledger. May 3, 1984. p. 2A. Retrieved October 23, 2014.

[7] "Deniece Williams: Let's Hear It for the Boy". MTV. Retrieved February 16, 2016.

[8] "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 Singles 1984". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2016.

[9] Nanda Lwin (1999). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.

[10] "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. July 14, 1984. Retrieved May 27, 2019.

[sc_Billboardhot100_Deniece_Williams-11] "Deniece Williams Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

[12] Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 257.

[13] Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 2, 1984

[14] "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

[15] "Top 100 Singles of 1984 – Volume 41, No. 17, January 05 1985". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on May 9, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2017.

[16] "End of Year Charts 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 17, 2017.

[17] Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 singles: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.

[18] Musicoutfitters.com

[19] Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1984

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show v t Deniece Williams
Studio albums	This Is Niecy (1976) Song Bird (1977) When Love Comes Calling (1979) My Melody (1981) Niecy (1982) I'm So Proud (1983) Let's Hear It for the Boy (1984) This Is My Song (1998)
Duet albums	That's What Friends Are For (1978) (with Johnny Mathis)
Singles	"Free" (1976) "That's What Friends Are For" (1977) "Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" (1977) "I've Got the Next Dance" (1979) "Silly" (1981) "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" (1982) "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (1984) "Next Love" (1984) "Black Butterfly" (1984) "Wiser and Weaker" (1986)
Duet singles	"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" (1978) (with Johnny Mathis) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1978) (with Johnny Mathis) "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (1984) (with Johnny Mathis)
Related topics	Discography Family Ties

show v t Footloose
Adaptations	1998 musical 2011 film
Music	1984 soundtrack 2011 soundtrack "Footloose" "Let's Hear It for the Boy" "Almost Paradise" "Holding Out for a Hero" "Dancing in the Sheets" "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" "Somebody's Eyes" "Never"