"Boys " is a song recorded by Italian singer Sabrina. It was released in May 1987 as the third single from her eponymous album and achieved great success in many countries, including France and Switzerland, where it was a number-one single. It was Sabrina's first single to be released in the UK, where it reached number 3 in June 1988. In France, the song was a big hit, staying for five weeks at number-one. The single debuted at number 29 and remained on the French SNEPSingles Chart for 25 weeks from 12 December 1987 to 28 May 1988. Certified Gold disc by the SNEP, the single was the first number one by an Italian singer. According to the Infodisc Website, the song is the 292nd best-selling single of all time in France, with 683,000 copies sold. The song also peaked within the top 5 in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 3. Outside Europe, "Boys " peaked at number 11 in Australia and number 6 in South Africa. The song was re-released as a remixed version twice: in France in 1995, retitled as "Boys '95", and in 2003 as "Boys Boys Boys ".
Music video
Part of the success of the song is due to its music video, filmed at the Florida hotel in Jesolo. In it, Sabrina splashes about in a swimming pool, while her bikini top keeps sliding down, thus repeatedly revealing varying shares of her nipples. As a result, the BBC added black bars around the image when the video was aired on Top of the Pops in June 1988, effectively cropping it into widescreen. It remains one of the most downloaded videoclips on the Internet. During an interview with Nino Firetto on the Music Box program on Super Channel in late 1988, Sabrina explained that the video for "Boys" was originally created to be a segment in a magazine show. This was Sabrina's explanation of why its style more closely matched that of Italian magazine shows of the time than that of the traditional music video.
; 12" single A Boys 8:43 B Boys 5:40 ; CD single – 1995 release
"Boys '95" – 5:36
"Boys '95" – 3:40
Charts and certifications
Peak positions
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Cover versions
Japanese pop singer Aya Sugimoto's 1988 debut single was a cover version of the song. An alternate version, using the original English lyrics and entitled "Boys ", appears on Sugimoto's debut album Aya.
In 1989 and 2013 respectively, Cantonese singers Yolinda Yan and Hacken Lee covered the song in Cantonese.
In 1994, the song was covered by French punk/alternative rock bandLudwig von 88 on their album 17 plombs pour péter les tubes.
The Cheeky Girls released a version of the song called "Boys and Girls ".
In 1994, Bollywood movie Khuddar covered the song. Two versions were released, "Sexy Sexy" and "Baby, Baby".
In 1999, the Swedish eurodance group Smile.dk made a cover of the song.
In 2001, the song was covered by Rimini Project, a dance trio based in Austria.
In 2002, Bulgarian rap group Upsurt covered it with different lyrics as "Joint" and included it on their album Chekai malko.
In 2006, former Norwegian porn starAylar Lie made her debut in the music scene releasing a cover of Sabrina's "Boys ".
In 2007, Chinese singer He Jie covered the song, titled "Boys".
In 2007, gay dance music band Bearforce 1 covered the song as part of the self-titled single "Bearforce 1"
Slovak duo TWiiNS released a cover version of the song in January 2010, under the title "Boys Boys Boys", featuring German rapper Carlprit, and filmed in the same swimming pool where the original video took place, in Jesolo.
In 2011, Finnish singer Sansa recorded a folk version of the song and included it on her album Savior. Sabrina herself made a cameo appearance on the music video of the song.
In 2011, Polish singer Paula Marciniak recorded a cover version of the song.
In 2012, the song was covered by 2 Atrevidas. The duo consists of and Yola Berrocal.
In 2013, the song was covered by Georgian model and actress Shorena Begashvili on a Georgian TV show.
In 2015, Russian ice dancer-turned-singer Anna Semenovich recorded a Russian remake of the song featuring MBAND's member Artyom Pindyura and released as a single.
The song is featured in the video gameJust Dance 2016, it was covered by The Lemon Cubes.
In 2019, the song was sung by the swim team in the French movie The Shiny Shrimps.
