Song · Placebo
“Nancy Boy” by Placebo
From the album Placebo (1996)
“Nancy Boy” by Placebo appears on 2 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1997 and 2025. It was first released in 1996 on the album Placebo. Its best result is #50 on the WBER Listener Countdown 1997. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #246 alternative song of 1997.
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"Nancy Boy" was the one that broke Placebo. It came out on 20 January 1997, fourth in the run of singles pulled from the British band's self-titled debut and the follow-up to "Teenage Angst", and it wasn't the album take: like "Come Home" before it, the single was a fresh recording, and a noticeably different one. Brian Molko wrote the words and sings lead, sharing the writing credit with Stefan Olsdal and Robert Schultzberg, and Brad Wood gets the production credit.
Steeped in drugs, sex, gender confusion and bisexuality, it had climbed to number four in the UK within a month of release. It dragged the album back up with it, too: the record had entered at number forty, and that February it returned at number five and stayed on the chart for thirteen weeks. "Pure Morning" came next.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 50 | WBER Rochester, NY | WBER Listener Countdown 1997 | 99 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 65 | Absolute Radio | Absolute Radio 100 Ultimate Britpop Anthems | 100 |
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