I Don't Want to Be a Hero

"I Don't Want to be a Hero"
Single by Johnny Hates Jazz
from the album Turn Back the Clock
B-side "The Cage"
Released August 1987 (UK)
October 1987 (US)
Recorded 1986–1987
Genre Sophisti-pop[1]
Label Virgin
Writer(s) Clark Datchler
Producer(s) Calvin Hayes / Mike Nocito
Johnny Hates Jazz singles chronology
"Shattered Dreams"
(1987)		 "I Don't Want to be a Hero"
(1987)		 "Turn Back the Clock"
(1987)

"I Don't Want to be a Hero" is a 1987 song by the British band Johnny Hates Jazz. It reached #11 in the UK top 40 in August 1987 spending 10 weeks on the chart.[2] It is taken from their #1 album Turn Back the Clock.

Writing and inspiration

The song was written by the band's lead singer and main songwriter, Clark Datchler. It has a strong anti-war sentiment and is written from the perspective of a soldier who is questioning their participation in what they consider an unjust war. The band's American record company were reluctant to release the single in the U.S. because of its anti-war stance.[3] The song makes references to conscription and propaganda.

Music video

The international music video for the song was directed by Andy Morahan.[4]

Chart performance

Chart (1987–88) Peak
position
Austrian Singles Chart[5] 22
Belgian Singles Chart 13
Canadian Retail Sales Chart[6] 19
Canadian Singles Chart[6] 16
Dutch Singles Chart[7] 25
French Singles Chart[8] 32
German Singles Chart[9] 17
Irish Singles Chart[10] 13
Italian Singles Chart[11] 11
Polish Singles Chart 14
Swedish Singles Chart[12] 10
Swiss Singles Chart[13] 12
UK Singles Chart[14] 11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 31
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart[16] 15
U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[17] 19

Yōko Nagayama version

In 1988, Japanese singer Yōko Nagayama covered the song, "反逆のヒーロー".

See also

References

  1. ↑ Inskeep, Thomas; Soto, Alfred. "The Bluffer's Guide – Sophisti-Pop". Stylus. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  2. ↑ "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  3. ↑ 1. Interview with Calvin Hayes, April 2008
  4. ↑ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Johnny Hates Jazz - "I don't want to be a hero [version 1: non-US]"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved 2015-11-01.
  5. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  6. 1 2 "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  7. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". lescharts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  9. ↑ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche". musicline.de. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  10. ↑ Jaclyn Ward. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  11. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: J". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  12. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  13. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  14. ↑ "Johnny Hates Jazz - I Don't Want To Be A Hero". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  15. ↑ Johnny Hates Jazz - Chart history
  16. ↑ "Johnny Hates Jazz". AllMusic. 2002-07-22. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  17. ↑ Dance club play songs

External links

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