The song was written by four of the band members—Brian Chatton, Nick Richards, Nico Ramsden and Jeff Seopardi—and was released in July 1985 as the first new single from their self-titled debut studio album (an album consisting of part new material and part compilation of several of the band's earlier singles).

It was a comparative failure in the group's native United Kingdom, peaking at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart.

Frontman Nick Richards spent one Saturday night watching Clint Eastwood cowboy films such as For a Few Dollars More (1965), and the band had reserved the studio for the next day.

[2] Legacy Recordings first issued "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" as a 12-inch vinyl single in the United Kingdom on 15 July 1985.

[3] In the United States, the A&R chief of Gotham Records, Gary Pini, heard an import copy of the song at a club in New York and wanted to release it.

"[4] "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" became the first independently released single to enter the US top 20 since "Give It Up" by KC in 1984, which was distributed on Meca Records.

[7] The song was a commercial disappointment in the band's native United Kingdom, where it stalled at number 77 on the UK Singles Chart,[8] but it found better success abroad.

[12][13] On Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" first appeared the week after its American debut at number 86.

[23] A Spaghetti-Western-style music video was made for the song, featuring Lemmy Kilmister of English rock band Motörhead.