''Cowboy'' is the eighth studio album by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

, released on 31 March 1997 by

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

. In the United States, it was released by

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's former label

Maverick Records Maverick was an American entertainment company founded in 1992 by Madonna, Frederick DeMann, and Veronica "Ronnie" Dashev, and formerly owned and operated by Warner Music Group. It included a record label (Maverick Records), a film production ...

. ''Cowboy'' was produced by Gareth Jones and

Neil McLellan Neil McLellan is an English record producer, composer and mix engineer. McLellan has worked with XL Recordings, Sony BMG Music Ent., Epic, Sire, Arista, Columbia, Maverick, Virgin, and Island Records to produce a string of No. 1 hits, as well ...

and marked the band's return to more simplistic three-minute

music. After disappointing sales and chart placing of their previous studio album, ''

'', ''Cowboy'' returned the duo to the top 10 of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and it contains three singles (two of which hit the UK top 30). In the US, ''Cowboy'' greatly improved Erasure's ''Billboard'' 200 peak over their previous album, and first single " In My Arms" gave them another

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

entry. Sales also improved in Germany, where ''Cowboy'' peaked at number thirty-four. The album contains eleven

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

/ Andy Bell originals in its UK version. For its US release, the album artwork was changed slightly, the original version of "In My Arms" was replaced with a slightly different US mix and two bonus tracks were added: a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Blondie's "

Rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...

" (with Clarke providing the rap); and a version of the

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

song "

Magic Moments "Magic Moments" is a popular song with music by Burt Bacharach and lyrics by Hal David, one of the first compositions by that duo. The song was published in 1957. The song was recorded by Perry Como as the B-side of his "Catch a Falling Star". I ...

" originally recorded by ''

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

'' that Erasure had contributed to the ''

Lord of Illusions ''Lord of Illusions'' is a 1995 American neo-noir supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his own short story "The Last Illusion" published in 1985 in the anthology ''Books of Blood'' Volume 6. The same story introdu ...

'' soundtrack. Erasure embarked on another major tour of the UK and US to promote this album, in their trademark style it contained elaborate stage settings and costumes (including Clarke dressed as a guitar-playing cactus).

Track listing

All tracks written by Andy Bell and

, except where noted. # "

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

" – 4:10 # "Worlds on Fire" – 3:37 # "Reach Out" – 3:47 # " In My Arms" – 3:28 # " Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me" – 3:46 # "Precious" – 3:31 # "Treasure" – 3:04 # "Boy" – 3:41 # "How Can I Say" – 3:17 # "Save Me Darling" – 4:01 # "Love Affair" – 3:39 # "

" (

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild Style'', and write ...

) – 6:34 ''(US-only bonus track)'' # "

" (

) – 2:37 ''(US-only bonus track)''

2016 "Erasure 30" 30th anniversary BMG reissue LP

Subsequent to their acquisition of Erasure's back catalog, and in anticipation of the band's 30th anniversary, BMG commissioned reissues of all previously released UK editions of Erasure albums up to and including 2007's ''

Light at the End of the World ''Light at the End of the World'' is the thirteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Erasure, released on 14 May 2007 by Mute Records. The album's release was announced on the band's website on 26 January 2007 in a video message from membe ...

''. All titles were pressed and distributed by Play It Again Sam on 180-gram vinyl and shrinkwrapped with a custom anniversary sticker.

Personnel

* Tracie Ackerman – Vocals (background) * Jordan Bailey – Vocals (background) * Andy Bell – Voices * Andy Caine – Vocals (background) * Vince Clarke – Multi Instruments * Graham Dominy – Assistant Engineer * Larimie Garcia – Design * Luke Gifford – Engineer * George Holt – Engineer * Gareth Jones – Producer * Neil McLellan – Producer * Kevin Reagan – Design * Sam Smith – Vocals (background) * Mark "Spike" Stent – Mixing * Darren Tai – Assistant Engineer * Paul Walton – Assistant Engineer

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowboy (Album) 1997 albums Albums produced by Gareth Jones (music producer) Erasure albums Maverick Records albums Mute Records albums