Smokin' in the Boys Room

"Smokin' in the Boys Room"
Single by Brownsville Station
from the album Yeah!
B-side Barefootin'
Released 1973
Format 7" single
Recorded 1973
Genre Boogie rock, blues rock, hard rock
Length 2:58
Label Big Tree
Writer(s) Cub Koda, Michael Lutz
Producer(s) Doug Morris, Brilliant Sun
Brownsville Station singles chronology
"Smokin' in the Boys Room"
(1973)		 "Kings of the Party"
(1974)
"Smokin' in the Boys Room"
Single by Mötley Crüe
from the album Theatre of Pain
B-side Use it or Lose it
Released 24 June 1985
Format 7" single
Recorded 1985
Genre Glam metal
Length 3:27
Label Elektra
Writer(s) Cub Koda, Michael Lutz
Producer(s) Tom Werman
Mötley Crüe singles chronology
"Too Young to Fall in Love"
(1984)		 "Smokin' In the Boys Room"
(1985)		 "Home Sweet Home"
(1985)

"Smokin' in the Boys Room" is a song originally recorded by Brownsville Station in 1973 on their album Yeah!, reaching #3 on the U.S. charts, and later covered in 1985 by Mötley Crüe, with the Crüe's version accompanied by a conceptual music video featuring Michael Berryman as the school principal.

The song is about students hoping to avoid being caught violating their school's smoking ban by smoking cigarettes in the boys restroom. The song was also translated to Hebrew and covered by the T-Slam. The song was also featured in the 1979 movie Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Mötley Crüe version

Released as a single in 1985, "Smokin' in the Boys Room" reached #16 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and became Mötley Crüe's first Top 40 hit.[1] Their version of the song appears in the 1986 film The Wraith. A Leann Rimes version of the song appeared on the album Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe.


Music video

The video focuses on a high school student named Jimmy who is mistreated and misunderstood in school. After he is punished for (truthfully) claiming that a dog ran off with his homework, a frustrated Jimmy goes to the boys bathroom where he sees Motley Crüe in the mirrors. The band pulls him through the mirror to join them, and Jimmy and Motley Crüe watch a dystopian vision of the school through a barred window.

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 69th ed, Billboard Publications, Inc. 1996. ISBN 0-8230-7632-6

External links