Let's Hear It for the Boy

For the album, see Let's Hear It for the Boy (album).

"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.

"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
B-side	"Let's Hear It for the Boy (Instrumental—Short Version)"
Released	February 14, 1984
Recorded	1983
Genre	R&B dance-pop 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
"Love Won't Let Me Wait" (1984) "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (1984) "Next Love" (1984)

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

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Let's Hear It for the Boy" Chart (1984) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[8] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[9] 5 Canada Top Singles (The Record)^[10] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[11] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)^[12] 9 Europe (European Top 100 Singles)^[13] 7 Ireland (IRMA)^[14] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[15] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[16] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[17] 2 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)^[18] 19 UK Singles (OCC)^[19] 2 US Billboard Hot 100^[20] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[21] 3 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)^[22] 1 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)^[23] 1 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles^[24] 1 US Top 100 Black Contemporary Singles (Cash Box)^[25] 1 West Germany (Official German Charts)^[26] 10

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Let's Hear It for the Boy" Chart (1984) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)^[27] 44 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[28] 57 Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[29] 21 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[30] 48 Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[31] 72 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[32] 43 UK Singles (Gallup)^[33] 47 US Billboard Hot 100^[34] 13 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[35] 24 US Cash Box Top 100 Singles^[36] 20 US Top 100 Black Contemporary Singles (Cash Box)^[37] 13

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1984

References

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". Recording Industry Association of America.
5. . Music Canada. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012.
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. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
9. "Deniece Williams – Let's Hear It for the Boy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
10. Lwin, Nanda (1999). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
11. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6728." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
12. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6767." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
13. "European Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 1, no. 13. June 25, 1984. p. 10. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
14. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Let's Hear It for the Boy". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
15. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Deniece Williams" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
16. "Deniece Williams – Let's Hear It for the Boy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
17. "Deniece Williams – Let's Hear It for the Boy". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
18. "Deniece Williams – Let's Hear It for the Boy". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
19. "Deniece Williams: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
20. "Deniece Williams Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
21. "Deniece Williams Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
22. "Deniece Williams Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
23. "Deniece Williams Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
24. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending June 2, 1984". Cash Box. from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
25. "The Cash Box Top 100 Black Contemporary – Week ending June 9, 1984". Cash Box. from the original on May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
26. "Offiziellecharts.de – Deniece Williams – Let's Hear It for the Boy". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
27. "National Top 100 Singles for 1984". Kent Music Report. No. 548. December 31, 1984 – via Imgur.
28. "Jaaroverzichten 1984 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
29. "Top 100 Singles of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41, no. 17. January 5, 1985. p. 7. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
30. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
31. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
32. "Top Selling Singles of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
33. "Top 100 Singles (January 3–December 29, 1984)" (PDF). Music Week. January 26, 1985. p. 37. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
34. . Billboard. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
35. . Billboard. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
36. "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1984 – Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 29, 1984. from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
37. "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1984 – Top 50 Black Contemporary Singles". Cash Box. December 29, 1984. from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.