We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off

"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" (released in the United Kingdom as "We Don't Have To...") is American R&B vocalist Jermaine Stewart's first of three singles from 1986. The song was included on his second album Frantic Romantic, released that same year. "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" remains Stewart's biggest commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Outside of the United States, "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
Single by Jermaine Stewart
from the album Frantic Romantic
B-side"Brilliance"
ReleasedMay 27, 1986
Recorded1985
Genre
Length
  • 4:54 (album version)
  • 4:05 (edited single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Narada Michael Walden
Jermaine Stewart singles chronology
"I Like It"
(1985)		 "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
(1986)		 "Frantic Romantic" / "Versatile"
(1986)
Music video
”We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off” on YouTube
Alternate cover
UK 12" cover of "We Don't Have To..."

Background

"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" was written by producer, drummer, and singer-songwriter Narada Michael Walden and Preston Glass. Stewart recorded it during 1985 and it was released across the world the following summer, peaking at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and also peaking within the top ten of the charts in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

The single seemed to reflect more modesty regarding sex due to the AIDS pandemic 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).

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'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 and versions have been released by British girl group 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 European B-side was "Brilliance" which appeared on Stewart's 1984 debut album The Word Is Out as the final track. "Brilliance" was written by Stewart and Julian Lindsay.[4] 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

7" single (American release)

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

7" single (Canadian release)

  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

7" single (European release)

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

7" single (UK and Australian release)

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

12" single (American and Canadian release)

  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

12" single (European release)

  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

12" single (UK release)

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

Chart performance

Original release
Weekly chart performance for "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
Chart (1986–87) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 37
Canadian Singles Chart[6] 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[7] 7
Dutch Singles Chart[8] 13
French Singles Chart[9] 91
Irish Singles Chart[10] 4
New Zealand Singles Chart[11] 27
UK Singles Chart[12] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 5
US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart[14] 64
US Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[15] 41
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart[16] 35

Year-end charts
1986 year-end chart performance for "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
Chart (1986)Rank
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[17] 82
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[18] 18
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19] 62
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[20] 94
UK Singles (OCC)[21] 14
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[22] 60
US Cash Box Top 100[23] 81

2011 reissue
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart[10] 30
UK Singles Chart[12] 29
UK R&B Singles Chart[24] 7

Personnel

Album version

Taken from the Frantic Romantic liner notes.[25]

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
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
Single by Clea vs. Da Playaz
from the album Trinity
ReleasedSeptember 2005 (UK)
2006 (Europe)
Genre
LabelUpside Records
Songwriter(s)
Clea vs. Da Playaz singles chronology
"Stuck in the Middle"
(2004)		 "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
(2005)		 "Lucky Like That"
(2006)

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.

Charts
Chart (2005) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 35

Lil' Chris version
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
Single by Lil' Chris
from the album What's It All About
ReleasedOctober 2007 (UK)
GenrePop
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Lil' Chris singles chronology
"Figure It Out"
(2007)		 "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off"
(2007)

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

CD single

  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)

7" vinyl

  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

Charts
Chart (2007) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 63

Other performances

References
  1. "In Memory Of Jermaine Stewart - 1988 Interview With Donnie Simpson". Jermainestewart.org. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  2. Easley, Terri (August 2008). Seasons of Destiny. Xulon Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-60647-152-4.
  3. "Cadbury advert The Charity Shop". YouTube. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-06-02.
  4. "Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 294. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  7. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Jermaine Stewart" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  8. Steffen Hung. "Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  9. "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  10. Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Group. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  11. Steffen Hung. "Jermaine Stewart - We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off". charts.nz. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  12. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  13. "Jermaine Stewart - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  14. "Jermaine Stewart - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  15. "Jermaine Stewart - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
  16. "Jermaine Stewart". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  17. "Jaaroverzichten 1986: Singles". Ultratop Flanders (in Dutch). Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  18. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0760." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  19. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1986". Dutch Top 40 (in Dutch). Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  20. "Jaaroverzichten - Single 1986". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  21. "January to December 1986: Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Music Week. January 24, 1987. p. 26. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  22. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 27, 1986). "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 98 (52): Y-21.
  23. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1986". Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Cash Box magazine.
  24. "2011-05-28 Top 40 R&B Singles Archive". Official Charts Company. 2011-05-28. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  25. Jermaine Stewart - Frantic Romantic album back cover/liner notes.
  26. Snapshot24: Golden Buzzer Singer Calum Scott Stunned the Crowd with Amazing Rendition of “We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off”
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