"True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" is the first track from their 1984 debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers (album)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers is the debut studio album by American funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on August 10, 1984 on EMI America Records. The album was produced by Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill, and is the only album to feature guitarist Jack Sherman.-Background and recording:Red...

and was the first music video the band ever released although the song was never released as a proper single for radio airplay. The following single, Get Up and Jump

Get Up and Jump

"Get Up and Jump" is a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 1984 debut album, the eponymous The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Get Up and Jump is the second single released from the album and was preceded by True Men Don't Kill Coyotes. No music video was ever made for Get Up and Jump.This was the...

 was the first to be released as a radio only single.

This song was written by Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis is an American vocalist/lyricist, and occasional actor best known as the lead vocalist of the Grammy-winning American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. Kiedis spent his youth in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his mother before moving, shortly before his 12th birthday, to Hollywood,...

, Flea

Flea (musician)

Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...

, Jack Sherman and Cliff Martinez

Cliff Martinez

Cliff Martinez is an American film score composer and former drummer.-Biography:Cliff Martinez was born in the Bronx, New York. Raised in Columbus, Ohio, his first job composing was for the popular television show Pee Wee's Playhouse...

, rather than the original line-up (Anthony and Flea with Hillel Slovak

Hillel Slovak

Hillel Slovak ‏ was an Israeli-American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...

 and Jack Irons

Jack Irons

Jack Steven Irons is an American musician who is best known as the original drummer of the American rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the former drummer for Eleven and Pearl Jam. He has also worked with Joe Strummer and The Latino Rockabilly War, Redd Kross, Raging Slab, Spinnerette...

).

It was included on the band's What Hits!?

What Hits!?

What Hits!? is a compilation album by Red Hot Chili Peppers, released on September 29, 1992 by EMI. The album contains tracks from the band's first four albums as well as "Under the Bridge" from 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik and the stand-alone single "Show Me Your Soul".This album was released on...

collection on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 and DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

.

True Men Don't Kill Coyotes has been performed just once since 1987 (on the band's 1989 Mother's Milk tour

Mother's Milk tour

The Mother's Milk Tour was a worldwide concert tour by Red Hot Chili Peppers to support their fourth studio album Mother's Milk.Mother's Milk instantly garnered more attention than the band's previous records and, as such, the venues the band performed in were able to accommodate far larger crowds...

) although on their 2011 I'm with You tour

I'm with You Tour

The I'm With You Tour is an ongoing 2011-2013 concert tour by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in support of their album I'm with You. It is the group's first tour since the Stadium Arcadium tour in 2006-07 and is the first to feature guitarist Josh Klinghoffer following the departure of John Frusciante...

 Flea teased fans by playing the intro however did not play the entire song.

Music video

A video was made for "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" and it helped to build the band's growing fan base.

The clip, which received moderate MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 rotation, used a lot of fluorescent colours, and showed the band playing the song on a cartoonish desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

-like scenario. In the beginning of the video, a weird farmer character pours a radioactive-labeled liquid substance into a patch of desert in front of a crudely assembled Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

The Hollywood Sign is a landmark and American cultural icon in the Hollywood Hills area of Mount Lee, Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles, California. The sign spells out the name of the area in and white letters. It was created as an advertisement in 1923, but garnered increasing recognition...

. From this, the entire band bursts from the ground and start to perform the song. The video was directed by Graeme Whifler

Graeme Whifler

Graeme Whifler , is an American screenwriter and director. He has written/directed movies, Television documentaries, videos, and music videos. He directed the film Neighborhood Watch, the video Icky Flix, and Secrets and Mysteries. He wrote the screenplay for Dr. Giggles and Sonny Boy as well...

, who gained notoriety for directing music videos for bands such as The Residents

The Residents

The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....

, Renaldo and the Loaf

Renaldo and the Loaf

Renaldo and the Loaf was an English musical duo active in the late seventies and most of the eighties, consisting of a pathologist and an architect ....

, Yello

Yello

Yello is a Swiss electronica band consisting of Dieter Meier and Boris Blank. They are probably best known for their singles "The Race" and "Oh Yeah", which feature a mix of electronic music and manipulated vocals, as does most of their music....

, Tuxedomoon

Tuxedomoon

Tuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....

, Mx-80 Sound, Snakefinger

Snakefinger

Philip Charles Lithman , who performed under the stage name Snakefinger, was an English musician, singer and songwriter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was best known for his guitar and violin work and his collaborations with The Residents.-History:Lithman was born in Tooting, South London, and came...

 and many other artists on the Ralph Records

Ralph Records

Ralph Records was The Residents' original record label, the name coming from the somewhat colorful phrase "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone."...

label.