| "Sex Drive" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Grace Jones | ||||
| from the album Black Marilyn | ||||
| B-side | "Typical Male" | |||
| Released | September 23, 1993 | |||
| Genre | House [1] | |||
| Length | 5:08 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Sheep on Drugs | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Grace Jones singles chronology | ||||
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| Digital cover | ||||
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"Sex Drive" is a song by American model, singer and actress Grace Jones, released in September 1993.
"Sex Drive" is a cover version of the Sheep on Drugs 1992 song "Track X". It was written by band members themselves and produced for Grace by Mark Pistel and Philip Steir. It was released on 23 September 1993, by Island Records with a cover of the Consolidated song "Typical Male" as the B-side. The single met with considerable success, topping the US dance chart. [2]
Both songs were to be featured on Jones' then-forthcoming Black Marilyn album, planned for a 1994 release, but eventually shelved due to Jones being dissatisfied with the mixes and her collaborations with producers, who she felt were overly reliant on sampling her vocals and not interested in her as a performer. In I'll Never Write My Memoirs, Jones said: "They made an album that could not be mixed. It was like a bag of broken bits that did not fit together. My songs [...] had been minced." The experience put her off working on music, and for a decade before making her album Hurricane (2008), avoided recording as it had become an "ordeal". [3]
Two remixes of "Sex Drive" were later included on a 1996 compilation Island Life 2 , a France-only re-release of Island Life , as well as an edited version of the song on the 2006 compilation The Grace Jones Story . [4]
Everett True from Melody Maker wrote in his review of the song, "It's as vibrant and throbbing and sleazy as you'd expect." [5] Danny Frost from NME named it Pervy Sex Single of the Week, adding, "Grace Jones and Sheep on Drugs: a marriage made in Ann Summers' idea of heaven — and a drop-dead brilliant record to boot." [6]
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Club Chart ( Music Week ) [7] | 27 |
| US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [8] [9] | 1 |
| US Dance/Electronic Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [8] | 31 |
Island Life is the first greatest hits album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released in December 1985, summing up the first nine years of her musical career. The album sits among Jones' best-selling works.
"Day & Night" is a song by English singer turned actress Billie Piper. The song was written by Piper, Eliot Kennedy, Mark Cawley, Mike Percy and Tim Lever for Piper's second album Walk of Life (2000). It was released as the album's lead single on 15 May 2000 to positive reviews from music critics. It was a commercial success, reaching number one in the United Kingdom and receiving a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
"Open Up" is a song by British electronic duo Leftfield featuring John Lydon. It was released as a single on 1 November 1993 by Hard Hands label. The single reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, number one on the Music Week Dance Singles chart and number 39 in both Australia and New Zealand. NME reported in their 18 September 1993 issue, "This is the record that people have always wanted Lydon to do." In 2014, the same publication ranked "Open Up" at number 444 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". A black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single, directed by British director Lindy Heymann.
The Grace Jones Story is a 2006 anthology of songs recorded and released by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, spanning from 1977 to 1993. It was released on 4th April 2006 as a joint venture from Island Records and Universal Music.
"Drive" is a song by English electronic group Client, released as the third single from their third studio album, Heartland. It reached number ninety in Germany. The song was used in a club scene in the beginning of the 2008 film The Ramen Girl, along with "Lights Go Out".
"Pull Up to the Bumper" is a 1981 song by Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress Grace Jones, released by Island Records as the third single from her fifth album, Nightclubbing (1981). Sonically, it is an uptempo electro-disco, post-punk, dance-pop and reggae-disco song with dub production, "pulsing drums and chic new-wave licks", as well as being described as a hybrid of funk and R&B. Its lyrics were written by Jones alone, while she, along with Kookoo Baya and Dana Manno, are credited as its composers. The song's instrumental part was originally recorded in 1980 during the Warm Leatherette sessions; however, it did not make the album as Chris Blackwell found its sound not fitting in the rest of the material. It was completed for the 1981 critically acclaimed Nightclubbing album and became its third single in June 1981. The song peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and number 53 on the UK Singles Chart. When re-released in 1986, it peaked at number 12 in the UK. The track has come to be one of Jones' signature tunes and her first transatlantic hit.
"Hard Day" is a song by English singer and songwriter George Michael from his debut studio album, Faith (1987). It was released on 30 October 1987 as the album's third single. The song was written and originally produced by Michael, and was released solely in the United States and Australia. No music video was made for the song. The lyrics are apparently addressed to a woman which the singer is obsessed with; in the final verse, Michael voices her by altering his own voice, in the same style as Prince's imaginary alter ego Camille.
"Stay" is a song written by Bob Khozouri and Mark Stevens, and originally recorded by American singer Glenn Jones. It was released in 1990 by Jive Records from his fifth album, All for You (1990), reaching number six on the US Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. The song became a worldwide hit for British girl group Eternal in 1993 and 1994.
"Private Life" is a 1980 song written by Chrissie Hynde, and released by both English band The Pretenders, and Jamaican singer Grace Jones in 1980.
"Walking in the Rain" is a 1976 song by Australian band Flash and the Pan. The song was covered by Grace Jones and released as a single from her album Nightclubbing.
"My Jamaican Guy" is a single by the Jamaican singer and actress Grace Jones, released in 1983.
"Amado Mio" is a song from the classic 1946 film noir Gilda, written by Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts. The piece was lip-synched by Rita Hayworth and sung by Anita Kert Ellis. Grace Jones's rendition of the song on her 1989 album Bulletproof Heart was released as a single in a special "Brazilian Mix" in 1990. It became a significant dance hit in the US.
"Love on Top of Love" is a song by Grace Jones released in 1989 as the first single from Jones' ninth studio album Bulletproof Heart.
"Love Bites" is a 1996 song by Grace Jones.
"Thank You" is a new jack swing song by American R&B/soul group Boyz II Men, released as the third single from their second studio album, II (1994). The song was co-produced by Dallas Austin and Boyz II Men. It did not perform as well as its predecessor and reached a peak position of #21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Singles Sales on March 18, 1995, and March 25, 1995, respectively, and also reached #17 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs. "Thank You" performed moderately well in the UK eventually peaking at #26 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also peaked at #17 on the New Zealand RIANZ singles chart, #27 on the French singles chart and #33 on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. The album version of the song is a cappella, consisting only of sounds created by the human voice, bringing to mind one of their first hit songs, "Motownphilly".
"If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" is a single by American recording artist Meshell Ndegeocello. It was released in 1993 on Maverick Records. It also appears on her debut album Plantation Lullabies, that was released on October 19, 1993. The single reached number 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 74 in the UK, and number 79 in Australia. Colin Larkin called it a "provocative post-feminist statement" in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music. The single earned Ndegeocello nominations for both Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 37th Grammy Awards.
Grace Jones' discography consists of 10 studio albums, eight compilation albums and 53 singles.
"Sex Bomb" is a song by Welsh singer Tom Jones. Performed in collaboration with German DJ and record producer Mousse T., the song was released in 1999 in several European countries; in January of the following year, it was issued across the rest of Europe except the United Kingdom, where it was not released until May 2000. Outside the UK, the track served as the second single from Jones' 34th album, Reload, while in the UK, it served as the fourth single.
"Gabriel" is a song by Roy Davis Jr. and Peven Everett.
"Imagine" is a song by English singer Shola Ama, released as the second single from her 1999 second studio album In Return. It was produced by Fred Jerkins III and written by Jerkins, Harvey Mason Jr., LaShawn Daniels, and Ama. In April 2000, the song reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart due to the garage remix by Club Asylum. NME included the remix of "Imagine" in their "25 essential UK garage anthems" list.
At first she stuck to her hits, including that year's house excursion "Sex Drive".
