B-side "Barefootin'" Format 7" single Length 2:58 | Released October 1973 Recorded 1973 | |
Genre Boogie rock, blues rock, hard rock | ||
"Smokin' in the Boy's Room" is a song originally recorded by Brownsville Station in 1973 on their album Yeah! It reached number 3 in Canada and on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was later certified by the RIAA.
Contents
The song is about students hoping to avoid being caught violating their school's smoking ban by smoking cigarettes in the boys' restroom.
Mötley Crüe version
The song was covered in 1985 by Mötley Crüe. Released as a single, "Smokin' in the Boys Room" reached #16 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and became Mötley Crüe's first Top 40 hit. 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
Crüe's version was accompanied by a conceptual music video featuring Michael Berryman as the school principal. 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
Other versions
In 1981, the song was translated to Hebrew and covered by T-Slam under the name "Me'ashnim Beyahad" (Smoking Together) on their debut album. The English version of the album, "Loud Radio" featured another cover of the song, this time in English.
In popular culture
The original version of the song was featured in the 1979 movie, Rock 'n' Roll High School.