"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 William Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 – March 17, 1997) was an American R&B singer, best known for his 1986 hit single "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also peaked wi ...

, released in 1986 as the lead single from his second studio album ''

Frantic Romantic ''Frantic Romantic'' is the second album by American R&B singer Jermaine Stewart, released in 1986. The album includes Stewart's biggest pop hit, "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off", as well as the minor follow-up hit, "Jody", for whom Ste ...

'' (1986). The song was written by Narada Michael Walden and

Preston Glass Preston Glass (born January 9, 1960) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Glass is the winner of six BMI Awards. He has also worked several famous artists such as Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Kenny G, Natalie Cole and ...

, 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, and the United Kingdom.

Background

Stewart recorded "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" during 1985 and it was released across 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 Donnie Simpson (born January 30, 1954) is a longtime American radio DJ as well as a television and movie personality. He hosted ''The Donnie Simpson Morning Show'' on Washington, D.C. radio station WPGC-FM from March 1993 to January 29, 2010. C ...

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." 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).

Promotion

A music video, directed by David Fincher, was created for the single, and Stewart appeared on numerous TV shows to promote the single, including stints on '' Soul Train'' and '' American Bandstand''.

Legacy

In 2011, the song was used in a

Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after M ...

TV commercial in the United Kingdom, called ''The Charity Shop''. This exposed the song to a new generation who downloaded the track and returned it to the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number 29. The song also appeared in

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

's film ''

Zack and Miri Make a Porno ''Zack and Miri Make a Porno'' (also known simply as ''Zack and Miri'') is a 2008 American sex comedy film written, directed and edited by Kevin Smith and starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. It was released on October 31, 2008. Plot Zack ...

'', 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 ''Peter Kay's Car Share'' is a British sitcom set around supermarket assistant manager John Redmond (Peter Kay) and promotions rep Kayleigh Kitson (Sian Gibson), and their participation in a company car-sharing scheme. The first series was fil ...

''. The song has been covered a number of times, notably by

Clea Clea Strange () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by co-plotters Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Clea first appeared in the Doctor Strange feature in ''Strange Tales'' #126 (November 1964). S ...

Lil' Chris Christopher James Hardman (26 August 1990 – 23 March 2015), known by the stage name Lil' Chris, was a British singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality from Lowestoft, England. He came to prominence in 2006 after appearing on the ...

, and

Ella Eyre Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known professionally as Ella Eyre, is a British singer and songwriter. She is known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number-one single " Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Awa ...

Release

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 ''The Word Is Out'' is the first album by Jermaine Stewart, released in 1984. It includes " The Word Is Out", his first major single and first to enter the chart. Track listing # " The Word Is Out" (3:27) (Stewart, Greg Craig) # "I Like It" (3:1 ...

'' and was written by Stewart and Julian Lindsay. A dance remix of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was made by Lewis A. Martineé.

Formats

7" single (American release) #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:57 #"Give Your Love to Me" – 4:20 7" single (Canadian release) #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (short version) – 4:05 #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dub mix) – 6:40 7" single (European release) #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 4:05 #"Brilliance" – 4:43 7" single (UK and Australian release) #"We Don't Have To..." – 4:05 #"Brilliance" – 4:43 12" single (American and Canadian release) #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dance remix) – 5:45 #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dub) – 6:40 #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (short version) – 4:05 12" single (European release) #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (extended) – 5:45 #"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 4:05 #"Brilliance" – 4:43 12" single (UK release) #"We Don't Have To..." (extended version) – 5:45 #"We Don't Have To..." – 4:05 #"Brilliance" – 4:43

Charts

Original release

2011 reissue

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

Album version

Taken from the ''Frantic Romantic'' liner notes. *

– lead vocals * Narada Michael Walden – Drums, programming ( Linn drum machine) * Greg "Gigi" Gonaway – Simmons drum fills * Preston "Tiger Head" Glass, Walter "Baby Love" Afanasieff – Keyboards, synthesizer * Corrado Rustici – guitar * Randy "The King" Jackson –

Moog Source The Moog Source is a monophonic Z80 microprocessor-controlled analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music from 1981 to 1985. The Source was Moog's first synthesizer to offer patch memory storage. The design was also the first (and only) Moog sy ...

bass synth *

Marc Russo Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ri ...

, Premik Russell Tubbs – saxophones * Jeanie Tracy, Jim Gilstrap, Karen "Kitty Beethoven" Brewington, Laundon Von Kendricks, Sylvester, The Lala Gang (Sudhahota, Anukampa Walden, Carl Lewis, Kim Carter) – backing vocals

Additional personnel on single release

* Art direction – Donn Davenport * Design – Rebecca Tachna * Stylist – Jane Hoffman * Photography – Steve Prezant * Guitar on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – Chris Amigo * Keyboards on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – Fro Sossa * Mix engineer – Mike Couzzi * Mixer on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – Lewis A. Martineé * Producer, arranger on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – Narada Michael Walden * Remixer on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (short version) – Lewis A. Martineé * Remixer on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dub mix) – Lewis A. Martineé * Remixer on "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (dance remix) – Lewis A. Martineé * Producer on "Brilliance" – Peter Collins * Producer on "Give Your Love to Me" – Narada Michael Walden * Writers of "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – Narada Michael Walden, Preston Glass * Writers of "Brilliance" – Jermaine Stewart, Julian Lindsay * Writers of "Give Your Love to Me" – Jakko J., Jermaine Stewart

Clea version

The song was covered by English girl group

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 The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

''.

Charts

Lil' Chris version

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

. This was his last single before his death in 2015.

Track listing

CD single # "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:04 # "Taste Me" (live in Manchester) # "I Never Noticed" (Live in London) 7" vinyl # "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" – 3:04 # "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (Media Virus Remix) – 5:53

Charts

Ella Eyre version

The song was covered by

and appeared first on ''Virgin Records: 40 Years of Disruptions'', a record released on October 5, 2013, by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

celebrating 40 years in business. 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 British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI) in 2022.

Charts

Certifications

Other performances

* Calum Scott, a competitor in ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

'' performed the song in the 2017 semi-finals of the show.Snapshot24: Golden Buzzer Singer Calum Scott Stunned the Crowd with Amazing Rendition of “We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off”
/ref> * The Hot Stewards (Currently The Dirty Daddies) covered this song on their 2007 debut album 'Cover Up'

References

{{Authority control 1986 songs 1986 singles 2005 singles 2007 singles Jermaine Stewart songs Clea (group) songs Lil' Chris songs Ella Eyre songs Songs written by Narada Michael Walden Song recordings produced by Narada Michael Walden Songs written by Preston Glass Virgin Records singles Arista Records singles RCA Records singles Music videos directed by David Fincher