“Modern Day Cowboy” by Tesla

Tesla introduced themselves with "Modern Day Cowboy", the first single from their 1986 debut album Mechanical Resonance, produced by Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson. Singer Jeff Keith wrote it with guitarists Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch, and most of it rides with the outlaws, name-checking Billy the Kid and Al Capone, until the final verse turns its sights on the Cold War standoff between the US and the Soviet Union.

Keith takes the lead with Hannon, Skeoch and Brian Wheat hollering backup, both guitarists crank up their electrics, Hannon adds acoustic, and Wheat's bass and Troy Luccketta's drums keep the stampede moving. The video has Nikola Tesla running films in an abandoned movie theater, screening the band's performance alongside scenes from High Noon, Scarface and Dr. Strangelove.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.