Black Eyed Boy

"Black Eyed Boy"
Single by Texas
from the album White on Blonde
Released28 July 1997 (1997-07-28)[1]
GenreMotown sound
Length3:16
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Texas
Texas singles chronology
"Halo"
(1997) 		"Black Eyed Boy"
(1997) 		"Put Your Arms Around Me"
(1997)
Music video
"Black Eyed Boy" on YouTube

"Black Eyed Boy" is the third single from Scottish rock band Texas's fourth studio album, White on Blonde (1997). The song was released on 28 July 1997 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Elsewhere, the song reached the top 50 in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland, Israel and Sweden.

Critical reception

A reviewer from Music Week rated the song four out of five, noting that "Texas immerse themselves in Motown on this thumpingly catchy Supremes-sounding groove, conjuring up a perfect summer gift for radio."[2] A few weeks later, it was given five out of five and picked as Single of the Week. The magazine stated that "Sharleen plays Diana Ross on the stand-out track from White On Blonde, its Motownalike euphoria pumped up even further in this single version. Will send the album shooting back up the chart."[3] David Sinclair from The Times wrote in his review of White on Blonde, that "Black Eyed Boy" is "little more than the Supremes-by-numbers."[4]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Black Eyed Boy", directed by Karen Lamond, is filmed in black-and-white and features the band performing the song whilst a man is shown washing his face, but leaves when he sees Sharleen Spiteri there with him. He is then seen in a nightclub where he sees Spiteri in the crowd and runs away. As he runs, he bumps into another version of Spiteri. At the end of the video, the man arrives in a tunnel which has many large pictures of Spiteri on each side. The pictures then burst into flames and the man runs down the tunnel.

Track listings

  • UK CD single (MERCD 490)[5]
  1. "Black Eyed Boy" (Summer Mix) – 3:16
  2. "Sorry" – 4:33
  3. "Black Eyed Disco" – 4:20
  4. "Say What You Want" (Acoustic Mary Ann Hobbs Session) – 3:50
  • UK limited-edition CD single—includes poster (MERDD 490)[6]
  1. "Black Eyed Boy" (Summer Mix radio) – 3:16
  2. "Black Eyed Boy" (Trailermen's Black Eyed Disco) – 8:45
  3. "Black Eyed Boy" (Trailermen's Disco Boy Dub) – 7:40
  4. "Black Eyed Boy" (Neo-Northern Bossa Nova) – 4:53
  5. "Black Eyed Boy" (Stoppa & Nobby's Madeye) – 6:23
  6. "Black Eyed Boy" (album version) – 3:10
  • European CD single (574 702-2)[7]
  1. "Black Eyed Boy" (Summer Mix) – 3:16
  2. "Fameless" – 4:21

Personnel

Personnel are lifted from The Greatest Hits album booklet.[8]

  • Texas – production
    • Johnny McElhone – writing, keyboards, programming, additional production and mix (as Johnny Mac)
    • Sharleen Spiteri – writing, backing vocals, guitars, programming
    • Ally McErlaine – guitars
    • Eddie Campbell – writing, backing vocals, keyboards, programming
    • Richard Hynd – writing, drums, programming
  • Robert Hodgens – writing, backing vocals
  • Kenny MacDonald – mix engineering

Charts

References

  1. ^ "Reviews – Records Out on July 28, 1997" (PDF). Music Week. 19 July 1997. p. 21. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 28 June 1997. p. 20. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 19 July 1997. p. 21. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  4. ^ Sinclair, David (8 February 1997). "The week's top pop releases; Records". The Times.
  5. ^ Black Eyed Boy (UK CD single liner notes). Texas. Mercury Records. 1997. MERCD 490, 574 703-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Black Eyed Boy (UK limited CD single liner notes). Texas. Mercury Records. 1997. MERDD 490, 574 705-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Black Eyed Boy (European CD single liner notes). Texas. Mercury Records. 1997. 574 702-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ The Greatest Hits (UK CD album booklet). Texas. Mercury Records. 2000. 548 264-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  10. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  11. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 33. 16 August 1997. p. 24. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy" (in French). Les classement single.
  13. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  14. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (11.9. '97 – 19.8. '97)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 12 September 1997. p. 22. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Black Eyed Boy". Irish Singles Chart.
  16. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  18. ^ "Texas – Black Eyed Boy". Singles Top 100.
  19. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  20. ^ "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1997" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2019.