History - Charts - Official Music Video
When Sexy girl left the Italian single charts in late October 1986, work immediately began on a follow-up. But its release would take longer than expected, half-a-year actually. Sabrina's manager wanted to bring her one step forward in the music industry by releasing a solid second single. As the appropriate material wasn't available, he preferred to wait than releasing a cover version or a minor hit. From autumn 1986 to spring 1987, Sabrina kept on working for the Italian TV. She appeared in particular on the Sandra e Raimondo show (Canale 5, February the 28 – May the 23th) where she performed some songs which would be later included in her debut album. She also starred in the TV movie Professione Vacanze (Italia 1) with Jerry Calà. Meanwhile, Claudio Cecchetto and his team (who were responsible for Sabrina's first single), finally wrote the catchy tune that had the potential to become a summer(time)-hit and definitely launch Sabrina's musical career in Italy and, hopefully, on the international market. Sabrina was back in studios in March-April to record Boys which would become her biggest hit.
The single, first released in May 1987 in Italy, quickly climbed to #4, supported by a strong promotion. Once again, Sabrina performed the song many times on TV and became one the main stars of the Festivalbar. If Sexy girl had failed in becoming an international hit, Boys entered the charts in the rest of Europe from August/September onwards and became a top 5 hit in most European countries. It even topped the Singles chart in Switzerland and France for 5 consecutive weeks. The single was the third biggest-selling single in Europe in October 1987 and again in March 1988 (in the Eurochart Hot 100 Single Chart). In 1988, the single surpassed all expectations set by Sabrina's managing team by far and made #3 on the UK Singles chart (where the song was re-released on May, the 30th), something rarely achieved at the time by Italian pop acts. Boys also charted in Ireland and Australia in June 1988 while, in South Africa, it was only released in early 1989. The song was also a hit in Greece, South America (Peru, Mexico…), the Eastern Bloc and Asia. So far, the only continent that resisted to Sabrina's breakthrough was North America. If Boys was licensed to Sire Records (then Madonna's label) in the US and Canada after being a hit in the UK, the song probably sounded too European for those markets. Sire Records only released a 12" in those countries and didn't promote the song.
In 1995, Sabrina re-recorded the song for the first time but Boys '95 was only licensed to a French label, Atoll Music. But as Sabrina didn't promote it, the single flopped badly. In Spain,the opposite happened. Sabrina performed it many times on Spanish TV as she was promoting her new album Maschio dove sei, but no single was released.
In 2008, for her long-awaited comeback, Sabrina re-recorded her early hits, including Boys (of course!). If she performed it many times on TV, Sabrina's label didn't release it as a single.
If Boys is the song Sabrina is still remembered for, it's probably because of its accompanying video which reinforced the provocative imagery that would be become her trademark. Initially, in the UK, the BBC banned the video (until it was edited) because, as she was dancing, her bikini top kept slipping down revealing her nipples. The video is still one of the most famous of the late 80s and it surpassed 67 millions views on Youtube.
Charts
COUNTRY |
HIGHEST POSITION |
CHART ENTRY DATE |
CHART HISTORY |
Italy |
4 |
30/05/1987 |
21, 7, 7, 4, 8, 6, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10, 5, 8, 6, 11, 9, 5, 7, 11, 15 |
Switzerland |
1 |
30/08/1987 |
10, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 18, 26, 29 (15 weeks) |
France |
1 |
12/12/1987 |
29, 26, 27, 15, 14, 7, 3, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 7, 11, 14, 23, 29, 40, 46 (25 weeks) |
Finland |
2 |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Germany |
2 |
03/09/1987 |
Peaked at #2 on October the 1st |
Spain |
3 |
15/10/1987 |
13, 10, 10, 11, 8, 14, 12, 8, 15, 7, 7, out, 8, 3, 6, 5, 10, 11, 14, (18 weeks) |
Belgium |
2 |
September 1987 |
Peaked at #2 on October the 28th |
Norway |
3 |
02/11/1987 |
6, 5, 5, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7 (13 weeks) |
Sweden |
5 |
28/10/1987 |
18, 10, 7, 5, 12, 11, 14 |
Netherlands |
4 |
22/10/1987 |
94, 55, 21, 8, 5, 5, 5, 4, 6, 9, 11, 25, 38, 50, 71, 83 (16 weeks) |
Austria |
5 |
01/10/1987 |
29, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 13, 21 |
UK |
3 |
06/02/1988 |
74, 60, 72 (3 weeks) |
Ireland |
3 |
16/06/1988 |
(5 weeks) |
Australia |
11 |
26/06/1988 |
19, 17, 20, 16, 11, 16, 18, 20, 27, 26, 37, 43, 50 (13 weeks) |
South Africa |
14 |
14/01/1989 |
(5 weeks) |
Official Music Video
In 1989, Cinzia Leone made this very great imitation of Sabrina: