Cowboy

Cowboy is an album recorded by Erasure in 1997 and released by Mute Records in the UK. In the U.S., it was released by Madonna's former label Maverick Records. Cowboy was produced by Gareth Jones and Neil McLellan and marked the band's return to more simplistic three-minute synthpop music. After disappointing sales and chart placing of their last studio album Erasure, Cowboy returned the duo to the Top 10 of the UK album chart and it contained three singles (two of which hit the UK Top 30). In the U.S., Cowboy greatly improved Erasure's Billboard 200 peak over their previous album and first single "In My Arms" gave them another Hot 100 entry. Sales also improved in Germany, where Cowboy peaked at number thirty-four. The album contained eleven Vince Clarke/Andy Bell originals in its UK version. For its U.S. release the album artwork was changed slightly and two bonus tracks were added: a cover version of Blondie's "Rapture" (with Clarke providing the rap); and a version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song "Magic Moments" that Erasure had contributed to the Lord of Illusions soundtrack.