Such an appeal, however, seems quite groundless where director Peter Weir is concerned given my previous experience with his work, both in Australian cinema (the classic war picture, 'Gallipoli (1981)') and following his move to Hollywood (the uplifting 'Dead Poet's Society (1989)'), Weir has always favoured emotion and human interaction over the raw thrill of adrenalin-charged action. This, perhaps, reflects rather negatively on my film-buff credentials, but the film's opening act mounted the tension so brilliantly that it was a pity to see that suspense slowly dissipate into the background. (Its success on Big Beat also allowed parent company Atlantic to seed other label imprints in the 1990s.) Its ubiquity reached even further into the stratosphere in 1995 when it lent its name to - and also served as the theme song for - the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence comedy film franchise.I daresay that I would have enjoyed 'Witness (1985)' even more had it remained a conventional mystery thriller. The album was re-titled “Bad Boys” and the song became a million-selling Top Ten hit in the U.S.
single release by Big Beat Records, the label founded in the 1980s by current Atlantic Records CEO/co-chair Craig Kallman. 1 on the Norwegian charts - but by 1992 the song’s “Cops”-fueled familiarity was such that it was included on an Inner Circle album (“Bad to the Bone”) for a third time, and was picked up for U.S. The re-recording was released as a single in Europe around this time to some success - reaching No. The show’s popularity quickly grew, and so did the song’s - its “Bad boys, bad boys / Watcha gonna do when they come for you” refrain etching itself into popular culture along with grainy video visuals of police officers chasing suspects.
RAS Records, the stalwart Washington D.C.-based reggae label that released the album, didn’t have the marketing or distribution clout to make a dent in the mainstream with the song, but the band sensed its potential and re-recorded it for their next album, 1989’s “Identified.” This was the same year that a new Fox TV show called “Cops” debuted, which used “Bad Boys” as its opening theme song, apparently chosen by one of the show’s producers who just happened to be an Inner Circle fan.
Their second post-reunion album, 1987’s “One Way,” featured a catchy song written by Ian Lewis called “Bad Boys” tucked away on the album’s second side. That all took place completely separately from the music scene in Jamaica, where dancehall had taken hold, but Ian and Roger Lewis, the two brothers at the core of Inner Circle, had identified their market and pursued it with the same professionalism they had displayed from day one. They set about reestablishing themselves in an international reggae market that was still reeling from Bob Marley’s death in 1981, and had managed to secure major tours opening for acts like the Police and Talking Heads. When Inner Circle reconvened in 1986, the members having moved their base to Miami, they were fronted by new singer, Calton Coffie. But Inner Circle soon established itself upon hooking up with a charismatic young vocalist named Jacob Miller, with whom the band had many hits - until Miller’s tragic death in a March 1980 car crash forced the band to take a few years off to regroup.