We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off

Background

"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was written by Narada Michael Walden and Preston Glass. Walden is a well-known American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. Stewart recorded it during 1985 and it was released across the world the following summer, reaching the top 10 in both the USA and the UK.

The single seemed to reflect more modesty when it came to sex in light of the AIDS pandemic at the time. In 1988, Stewart was interviewed by Donnie Simpson where 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."

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 UK or America).

Promotion

A popular promotional video, directed by David Fincher, was created for the single as well as numerous TV performances to promote the single, including stints on Soul Train and American Bandstand.

Legacy

In 2011 the song was used in a Cadbury advert in the UK called The Charity Shop. This exposed the song to a new generation who downloaded the track and returned it to the UK Top 40 reaching No. 29. The song also appeared in Kevin Smith's film Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and the episode "My Dirty Secret" of the television show Scrubs.

The song has been covered a number of times and versions have been released by Clea, Lil' Chris, Maria José Samper and Ella Eyre, while it also provided the hook for Gym Class Heroes' fifth single "Clothes Off!!" and was sampled by rapper Mase on his album Welcome Back.

Release

The B-side for the European single "Brilliance" appeared on Stewart's 1984 debut album The Word Is Out as the final track. "Brilliance" was written by Stewart and Julian Lindsay. Lindsay had previously performed piano on the 1983 Culture Club album Colour by Numbers, which also featured Stewart on backing vocals.

The American b-side was "Give Your Love to Me" which was used as the closing track on the album Frantic Romantic. It was written by Jakko J. and Jermaine Stewart.

For the single, various remixes of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" were released. These remixes were created by Lewis A. Martineé, who would soon go on to success as svengali for the Latin freestyle group, Exposé. A special UK/Australian 12" single was released titled "We Don't Have To..." which featured different artwork.

Formats

1. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:57
2. "Give Your Love to Me" – 4:20

1. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (short version) – 4:05
2. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dub mix) – 6:40

1. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 4:05
2. "Brilliance" – 4:43

1. "We Don't Have To..." – 4:05
2. "Brilliance" – 4:43

1. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dance remix) – 5:45
2. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dub) – 6:40
3. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (short version) – 4:05

1. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (extended) – 5:45
2. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 4:05
3. "Brilliance" – 4:43

1. "We Don't Have To..." (extended version) – 5:45
2. "We Don't Have To..." – 4:05
3. "Brilliance" – 4:43

Personnel

Clea version

The song was covered by Clea and was released as their third single. It was released in the UK in September 2005 and giving them their third Top 40 hit, charting at number 35. The song appears on their UK debut album, Trinity.

Lil' Chris version

Pop singer Lil' Chris covered the song and released it as the only single from his second album, What's It All About?, on 19 October 2007. It peaked at number 63 on the UK Singles Chart. This was his last single before his death in 2015.

Track listing

1. "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:04
2. "Taste Me" (live in Manchester)
3. "I Never Noticed" (Live in London)

1. "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:04
2. "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" (Media Virus Remix) – 5:53