| Loverboy | |
| Cover: | Loverboy.jpg |
| Caption: | Standard picture sleeve (the US release has a different front cover) |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Billy Ocean |
| Album: | Suddenly |
| B-Side: | "Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)" |
| Released: | 15 November 1984 |
| Recorded: | 1984 |
| Length: | 5:15 (album version) 4:11 (single version) 3:58 (US single version) 8:08 (extended version) |
| Label: | Jive |
| Producer: | Keith Diamond Robert John "Mutt" Lange (exec.) |
| Prev Title: | Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | Suddenly |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"Loverboy" is Billy Ocean's second single from his 1984 album, Suddenly. It was produced by Keith Diamond and reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100[1] as well as hitting number 20 on the soul chart,[2] and number 15 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1985.[3] It also reached the top spot of the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the US, in an extended version.[4] The track was released on the Jive label under the catalogue reference, JIVE 80.[3] The song was played in the first episode of the long-running BBC One medical drama Casualty on 6 September 1986.
The single was also a massive success in South Africa, reaching No. 1 on the Springbok Charts, remaining in that position for 11 of the 26 weeks it charted. It was also the No. 1 single of 1985 on that country's year-end charts.
The sci-fi-themed music video was directed by Maurice Phillips[5] and it was shot at Durdle Door in Dorset, England, and features an alien rider on horseback riding up the coast to a bar built inside a cave. He tries to attract the attention of a female alien inside the cave, and after he shoots her partner with a laser, they ride off on the horse together at the end. The video is interspersed with scenes of Ocean (appearing in a pyramid hologram) performing the song.[6]
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] | 7 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 5 |
| German Singles Chart | 12 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 7 |
| South African Singles Chart (Springbok Radio) | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 15 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| US Billboard Hot Black Singles | 20 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| Chart (1985) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] [12] | 32 | |
| South African Singles Chart | 1 | |
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[13] | 28 |
| Loverboy | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Boystar |
| Released: | 6 October 2002 |
| Recorded: | 2002 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Length: | 3:37 |
| Label: | MRA Entertainment |
In 2002, Australian group "Boystar", consisting of Ian Starr, Decklyn Jaxx and Steven Childs, released a cover version of "Loverboy". It was their first and only release. it debuted at peaked at #12 on the ARIA singles chart.[15]
"Loverboy" was released on a 5-track CD single[16]
