Sometimes, a one-hit wonder will blow up in popularity and inspire other musicians and creatives for years to come. That was the case for \u201cWe Don\u2019t Have To Take Our Clothes Off\u201d by Jermaine Stewart, a dance-pop delight with a funky edge from 1986 that made waves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In fact, this addictive little tune peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in the day. Stewart, sadly, would never reach the Top 20 on that particular chart again. Though, his 1987 track \u201cSay It Again\u201d did decently well and peaked at No. 27.<\/p>\n
So, what is it about this song that\u2019s so inspirational? On the surface, one might think this song was an artist\u2019s attempt at being subversive and doing something totally different from what everyone else was doing at the time. This song is about not getting freaky. And just about every charting hit that year involved or celebrated getting freaky in some form. However, there\u2019s so much more to this song. And it\u2019s a little devastating, to be honest.<\/p>\n
The One-Hit Wonder \u201cWe Don\u2019t Have To Take Our Clothes Off\u201d by Jermaine Stewart Ended up Inspiring Filmmakers and Bands Alike<\/p>\n
\u201cWe Don\u2019t Have To Take Our Clothes Off\u201d inspired quite a few creatives, and not just musicians. Kevin Smith used the song in the 2008 comedy Zack And Miri Make A Porno, decades after the song was released. The tune has also appeared in a ton of other media, including the television series Scrubs and television commercials. Just as well, plenty of musicians have covered it, from Lil\u2019 Chris to Ella Eyre to Clea, among others. Gym Class Heroes even interpolated the hook of \u201cWe Don\u2019t Have To Take Our Clothes Off\u201d in their 2007 song \u201cClothes Off!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jermaine Stewart\u2019s one-hit wonder about not having sex wasn\u2019t an attempt to just stand out from the crowd. Rather, it reflected on the AIDs epidemic that was sweeping through the country and claiming thousands of lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it made a lot of people\u2019s minds open up a little bit,\u201d Stewart said in 1988<\/a> of his hit song. \u201cWe didn\u2019t 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\u2019t have to do all the negative things that society forces on you. You don\u2019t have to drink and drive. You don\u2019t have to take drugs early. The girls don\u2019t have to get pregnant early. So the clothes bit of it was to get people\u2019s attention. Which it did and I\u2019m glad it was a positive message.\u201d<\/p>\n