2010Released
6:12

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Tarzan Boy. By Songfacts®.

This is the only hit song was know of with a chorus that is simply a Tarzan-like jungle cry. It's about being free and doing what you want. No hustle and bustle of the city, just the freedom of the jungle.

Baltimora, named after a 1978 album by Nina Simone, is the Italian pop producer Maurizio Bassi, although for the music video and TV appearances, Jimmy McShane from Londonderry, Northern Ireland, lip-synched the song and served as the face of the group. According to McShane, he started as a dancer, then moved to England where he studied acting and music. Moving to Italy, he met Bassi, who wrote "Tarzan Boy" with the lyricist Naimy Hackett. McShane donned leopard skins to perform the song, which was a hit in 1985, first in Europe, then in America. Baltimora put together a six-song album called Living In The Background that included the song. The title track was the follow-up single, and it stiffed, reaching just #87 in the US. Baltimora released another album in 1987, but few noticed. McShane died of AIDS in 1995 at age 37.

"Tarzan Boy" was re-released in 1993 after it was featured in a commercial for Listerine mouthwash that featured the jungle chorus of the song under an animated bottle of Listerine swinging from vines. This time, it hit #51 in the US. That same year, it was featured in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3; in 1996, it showed up in Beverly Hills Ninja. In 2022, it appeared in an episode of the '80s-set TV series Stranger Things, "Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse."

Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Tarzan Boy.
FKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
107BPM

Album

The album Tarzan Boy is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Tarzan Boy.
EMM
(C) 2010 EMI Music Catalogue Marketing, a division of EMI Music Germany GmbH & Co. KGThis label copy information is the subject of copyright protection. All rights reserved.(C) 2010 EMI Music Germany GmbH & Co. KG
(P) 2010 The copyright in this compilation is owned by EMI Music Catalogue Marketing, a division of EMI Music Germany GmbH & Co. KG

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