Let's Hear It For The Boy

Deniece Williams' Oscar-nominated song

Deniece Williams was Dean Pitchford’s choice to sing this song in his movie Footloose, which ended up going to #1. Pitchford had written the screenplay and had a strong vision for the soundtrack. He wanted a variety of styles and he wanted to work with Williams, who was considered one of the great voices of soul with her four-octave range. (You can hear it in the tag at the end of the song.)

She had been recording since the late 60s, and had a spell as a backup singing for Stevie Wonder before signing with Columbia. While her albums performed decently, it was a duet with Johnny Mathis, Too Much, Too Little, Too Late, which took her to #1. ¹

Prolific producer (as well as musician) George Duke had worked with Williams on her previous album, I’m So Proud. When it came time for Pitchford to approach Williams about appearing on the soundtrack, Duke was part of the deal.

This song wasn’t the one originally written for the film. Pitchford and his co-writer Tom Snow² had written a track called Somebody's Eyes, but the film’s director Herbert Ross felt it wasn’t working. (The song does appear on the soundtrack album.) Pitchford and Snow went back to the drawing board and wrote this one. They came up with the title first and then worked the lyrics around it.

When Williams was approached, not only did she love the song but also the concept of the film. She grew up in Gary, Indiana, which had similar restrictions. Her and Duke recorded it (with Duke playing drum programming, keyboards, Memory Moog bass and synthesizer) but Pitchford felt the vocal sounded too girlish for the scene. Williams flew from LA to NY to record the vocal with Pitchford’s input. With time running out, she recorded right off the plane.

Another interesting fact about the recording. It features background vocals from George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who would go on to form the duo Boy Meets Girl.

Williams was thrilled with the placement of the song in the film when she saw it.

If I had come to the film without the music in and they asked me what segment I wanted my song to be in, I would have chosen that segment,

The song was the second released off the album and immediately shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and Dance charts. It was nominated for an Oscar but lost to, of all people, Stevie Wonder with I Just Called to Say I Love You.

Williams’ next album used this song title and it appears as the first track. Duke produced half of it, Williams the rest.

The video was directed by Kenny Ortega at the beginning of his very long career. It’s actually quite sweet as Williams inspires young men to become their best selves. This video marked the first film appearance of actor Aaron Lohr. He’s the dancing boy we see at the beginning.

I owe a great debt to this article in putting together this post. Enjoy your song of the day!

1. They also recorded the theme song to the sitcom Family Ties, as well as did an album of duets.

2. The two songwriters had already successfull collaborated on Melissa Manchester’s hit You Should Hear How She Talks About You.