| We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off | |
| Cover: | Take Our Clothes Off.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jermaine Stewart |
| Album: | Frantic Romantic |
| B-Side: | Brilliance |
| Released: | May 27, 1986 |
| Genre: |
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| Length: |
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| Label: | |
| Producer: | Narada Michael Walden |
| Prev Title: | I Like It |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Frantic Romantic |
| Next Title2: | Versatile |
| Next Year: | 1986 |
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (released in the United Kingdom as "We Don't Have To...") is a song by American R&B singer Jermaine Stewart, released in 1986 as the lead single from his second studio album Frantic Romantic (1986). The song was written by Narada Michael Walden and Preston Glass, and produced by Walden. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" remains Stewart's biggest commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked within the top ten of the charts in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Stewart recorded "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" during 1985 and it was released around the world the following summer. The single seemed to reflect more modesty regarding sex due to the AIDS epidemic at the time. When interviewed by Donnie Simpson in 1988, Stewart spoke of the lyrical message within the song, "I think it made a lot of peoples' minds open up a little bit. We didn't only want to just talk about clothes, we wanted to extend that. We wanted to use the song as a theme to be able to say you don't have to do all the negative things that society forces on you. You don't have to drink and drive. You don't have to take drugs early. The girls don't have to get pregnant early. So the clothes bit of it was to get people's attention, which it did and I'm glad it was a positive message."[1] [2]
The song reignited Stewart's popularity, as his previous single, "I Like It", had failed to make much impact as a follow-up to Stewart's moderately successful debut single, "The Word Is Out" ("I Like It" did not chart in either the US or the United Kingdom).
A music video directed by David Fincher was created for the single, and Stewart guested on numerous TV shows to promote the single, including appearances on Soul Train and American Bandstand.
In 2011, the song was used in a Cadbury's TV commercial in the United Kingdom, called The Charity Shop.[3] This exposed the song to a new generation who downloaded the track and returned it to the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 29.
The song also appeared in Kevin Smith's film Zack and Miri Make a Porno, the episode "My Dirty Secret" of the television show Scrubs, and the first episode of the second series of the comedy show Peter Kay's Car Share.
The song has been covered a number of times, including by Clea, Lil' Chris, and Ella Eyre.
In the US, "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was released with the B-side, "Give Your Love to Me", the closing track from Frantic Romantic, written by Jakko J. and Stewart. In the UK and Europe, the B-side "Brilliance" was taken from Stewart's 1984 debut album The Word Is Out and was written by Stewart and Julian Lindsay.[4] A dance remix of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was made by Lewis A. Martineé.
7" single (American release)
7" single (Canadian release)
7" single (European release)
7" single (UK and Australian release)
12" single (American and Canadian release)
12" single (European release)
12" single (UK release)
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] | 37 | |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart[6] | 2 | |
| Dutch Singles Chart[7] | 13 | |
| French Singles Chart[8] | 91 | |
| Irish Singles Chart[9] | 4 | |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[10] | 27 | |
| UK Singles Chart[11] | 2 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[12] | 5 | |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart[13] | 64 | |
| US Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[14] | 41 | |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart[15] | 35 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 30 | |
| UK Singles Chart | 29 | |
| UK R&B Singles Chart[16] | 7 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[17] | 82 | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] | 62 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] | 94 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[20] | 14 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[21] | 60 | |
| US Cash Box Top 100[22] | 81 |
Taken from the Frantic Romantic liner notes.[23]
| We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off | |
| Cover: | Take Our Clothes Off Clea.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Clea vs. Da Playaz |
| Album: | Trinity |
| Released: | September 2005 2006 |
| Genre: | Dance-pop |
| Label: | Upside Records |
| Prev Title: | Stuck in the Middle |
| Prev Year: | 2004 |
| Next Title: | Lucky Like That |
| Next Year: | 2006 |
The song was covered by English girl group Clea and was released as their third single in the UK in September 2005. It was their third top 40 hit, charting at number 35. The song appears on their UK debut album, Trinity.
| We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off | |
| Cover: | Clothes Off.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Lil' Chris |
| Album: | What's It All About |
| Released: | October 2007 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Label: | RCA |
| Prev Title: | Figure It Out |
| Prev Year: | 2007 |
Lil' Chris covered the song and released it as the only single from his second album, What's It All About, on October 19, 2007. It peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart. This was his last single before his death in 2015.
CD single
7" vinyl
| We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off | |
| Type: | song |
| Artist: | Ella Eyre |
| Released: | October 5, 2013 |
| Label: | Virgin EMI |
| Producer: | Michael Harwood, Sean Hargreaves |
The song was covered by Ella Eyre and appeared first on Virgin Records: 40 Years of Disruptions, a record released on October 5, 2013, by Virgin Records celebrating 40 years in business.[25] It was later included on her EP Ella Eyre, released February 10, 2015, and finally on the deluxe version of her debut album Feline. The song charted on the UK chart at number 54 and was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2022.