Loverboy

"Loverboy" was the follow-up to Billy Ocean's smash hit "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)." It's a similar storyline, with Ocean smitten by an alluring woman and ready to commit - he wants to be her only loverboy. And as in "Caribbean Queen," the drum machines and soul groove are there, but "Loverboy" has a more prominent guitar riff and a synthesizer solo instead of the saxophone.

Billy Ocean wrote this song with his producer Keith Diamond and with Mutt Lange, who produced AC/DC's Back In Black, Foreigner's 4, and Def Leppard's Pyromania. If his name was on a track, there was a good chance it would be a hit. That memorable chorus where Ocean sings, "Lover... lover... loverboy" was likely his doing. And here's a connection for you: A year later, the group Loverboy had a hit with "Lovin' Every Minute of It," written by Lange. So he had a hit called "Loverboy" and a hit with Loverboy.

The music video, directed by Maurice Phillips, is clearly based on the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars. We see a similar motley collection of aliens, including a woman who gets swept away by a mysterious creature who comes in on horseback. In Ocean's scenes, he looks very Lando. It clearly cost a lot to make the video, which also used cutting-edge special effects. It got some airplay on MTV but not as much as you might think, considering the production value. There was a lot of competition around this time from the likes of Madonna, Prince and Van Halen, who were all making very memorable videos and were far more famous than Ocean, especially in America.