Jermaine Stewart

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Jermaine Stewart
Jermaine Stewart, circa 1986
Background information
Born	September 7, 1957(1957-09-07)
Origin	Columbus, Ohio
Died	March 17, 1997 (aged 39)
Genre(s)	pop, R&B, soul, funk, funk-rock, New Wave, dance
Occupation(s)	Singer, dancer
Years active	1984 — 1997
Label(s)	Arista Records, Reprise Records
Associated acts	Shalamar, Culture Club

Jermaine Stewart (September 7, 1957 — March 17, 1997) was an American pop singer, best known for his Billboard hits, "The Word Is Out" from his 1984 debut album of the same name, and "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" in 1986, from the album Frantic Romantic.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, to parents Ethel M. Stewart and Eugene Stewart, Jermaine always enjoyed dancing and in school would often give dance lessons to other children for $1 a lesson. In 1972, the Stewart family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he took his first steps toward a career in entertainment. This was followed by stints on both American Bandstand and later Soul Train as a dancer.

Soon he became a backup singer and dancer for several artists such as The Chi-Lites, The Staple Singers and Shalamar while recording backup vocals for such artists as Culture Club. He was featured prominently on the group's 1983 album Colour by Numbers and as a result the group used their influence to help him land a solo recording deal with Arista Records.

Jermaine hit big with 'The Word Is Out' from the album of the same name. The 1986 Frantic Romantic album with the hit single "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" quickly went on to become a million seller, and a second single, "Jody," was released, the inspiration of the song being Jody Watley of Shalamar. A modest success, "Jody" reached both the United Kingdom and United States top 50. A UK-only ballad, "Don't Ever Leave Me," reached 76 on the British charts.

Jermaine's third album was probably his most successful internationally. Titled Say It Again, the production was handled largely by André Cymone who had previously worked with Prince and Jody Watley. The result was a collection of pop and dance funk tracks, of which almost any song could have been a successful single.

Supported by international live dates with his band, "The Party", the title track became Jermaine's second U.S. top 40 Billboard hit and also reached the R&B top 10. In the UK, it made it all the way to number 7, helping the album into the top 40.

The next three singles all received their remix treatment from the production company behind such hits as "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." "Get Lucky" (UK #13), "Don't Talk Dirty To Me" (UK #61), and "Is It Really Love" (did not chart) found considerable European success, particularly in Germany, where "Don't Talk Dirty To Me" was one of the biggest selling records of 1988, making the top 5.

At this point, Jermaine was highly focused on the mainstream pop market. His fourth and final album under his contract with Arista Records, What Becomes a Legend Most?, was filled with radio-friendly pop tunes. The first single, "Tren De Amor," reached number 76 in the UK charts, while the followup, "Every Woman Wants To," reached number 95. Commercial success eluded this album, and a label change followed.

In 1989 Jermaine sang "Hot and Cold", co-written by Andy Summers, which featured over the closing credits on the film Weekend at Bernie's.

In 1992, Jermaine teamed up with Chicago producer Jesse Saunders for his last recorded work, an album for Reprise Records. Titled Set Me Free, the album marked a return to the dance funk style of Say It Again. The title track was released as a single in the U.S., but sold poorly. The album remains unreleased.

After a long illness, Jermaine Stewart died in 1997 of liver cancer caused by AIDS.

His hit "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" referred to the AIDS scare of the 1980s. In 2003, the song placed #76 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders. In 2005, a compilation CD celebrating Jermaine's underrated contribution to '80s R&B, including several of his hits and a few previously unreleased tracks, was released by BGF Records, an Ohio record label run by Jermaine's brother.

[edit] Solo Discography

1984: The Word Is Out
1986: Frantic Romantic
1988: Say It Again
1989: What Becomes a Legend Most
1992: Set Me Free (unreleased)

[edit] Covers

On the album Welcome Back by Mase, the song "Keep It On" has a chorus that is similar to the chorus for "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off."
In 2006, Atlanta, Georgia singer Terrance O'Neal covered the Jermaine Stewart club classic, "The Word Is Out". The song is scheduled to be released in late summer.
In 2005, British girl band Clea collaborated with production group Da Playaz to cover "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off".
Gym Class Heroes sample the song "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off!" in their song "Clothes Off", changing the hook to "We have to take our Clothes Off." which peaked at #4. [1]
Toronto Queer Rockers -"Kids on TV" cover "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" on the 2007 album "Mixing Business with Pleasure".
Lil Chris did a cover version of "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off', which was released in September/October 2007.