"People Are Still Having Sex"
Single by LaTour
from the album LaTour
ReleasedMarch 1991 (1991-03)[1]
GenreTechno
Length
  • 5:31 (original edit)
  • 4:08 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)William LaTour
Producer(s)William LaTour
LaTour singles chronology
"Involved"
(1991)		 "People Are Still Having Sex"
(1991)		 "Blue"
(1992)
Music video
"People Are Still Having Sex" on YouTube

"People Are Still Having Sex" is a song written and performed by American musician LaTour. It was released in March 1991 as the first single from his self-titled debut album, LaTour (1991). The song reached number one on both the US and Canadian dance charts. It also peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 15 in the United Kingdom.

Background and release

Massachusetts-born LaTour worked 11 years as Production Director in radio. He started as a DJ in Phoenix and moved to Chicago. A radio station in Detroit got a cassette copy of "People Are Still Having Sex" and began playing the song — it suddenly became the Number One requested record.[2]

LaTour told about the song in an interview, "The reaction has been 95 percent positive and the rest negative due to the word 'Aids' in the song. I guess people weren't really listening to the song very closely and when they heard the word Aids come up they'd freak out, begin to call the radio stations and say 'This is a pretty strong song — you shouldn't be playing this'. So radio stations were taking it off the air! But I'm not saying anything positive about Aids in the song. I'm not saying anything positive about SEX — it's just the way it was taken. The people complaining about it were getting into the dance beat and didn't really listen to the lyrical content."[2]

Content

The song features a monologue expounding the narrator's observations that "people everywhere" are "still having sex"; no matter what authority figures such as parents and counselors advise, and despite the risk posed by AIDS,[3] "nothing seems to stop them". In the album edit of the song, the lyrics were originally written as "This AIDS thing's not working". It was changed to "This safe thing's not working" for radio airplay.

The song is built around an electronica based instrumental dance beat background and also includes LaTour’s spoken word voice speaking various lines. An audio sample of a woman saying "Hello, lover" is taken from the 1987 horror film Evil Dead II.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that "People Are Still Having Sex" is "one of the quirkier tunes now breaking out of the Chicago club circuit", noting that "a hypnotic techno beat is topped with a detached male voice reporting the frequency at which folks continue to fornicate." He added, "Industrialists will find "Mark's Missionary Mix" by Mark Picchiotti most useful, while "Mo's Sleazy Mix" by Maurice Joshua will please house enthusiasts."[4] A reviewer from Cashbox said the song "is excellent primer for the rest of the disc."[5] Marisa Fox from Entertainment Weekly commented, "In a dry, radio-announcer tone, LaTour (appropriately, a former producer of commercials) declares over a soundscape of racy rhythms, tinges of electronic melody, and hard-hitting beats that "People Are Still Having Sex"." She added that "this hit song, about the AIDS generation's irrepressible lustfulness, has been causing controversy, mostly because it contained the word AIDS until radio censors had their way."[6] Stephen Dalton from NME declared it as "a solidly pumping bottom line of bleep-driven beats woven into LaTour's distant, deadpan commentary on biological bedroom habits."[7]

Music video

The song's accompanying music video features early 1990s computer animation, and also features various animated backgrounds, some of which relate to the song's topic, and LaTour's live face is seen at the left and right of the screen during his speaking parts, while animation occupies the rest of the screen. The video was conceived by H-Gun, creator of early videos by Nine Inch Nails and Ministry.

The video of the song was featured on the animated MTV series Beavis and Butt-head, on the episode "Temporary Insanity", which aired on December 10, 1994, and in the Top40 Breakers on the 13 June 1991 broadcast of Top of the Pops, where presenter Jakki Brambles said that LaTour planned a follow-up called People Are Still Having Lunch. LaTour then appeared live in the studio on the 20 June 1991 broadcast of Top of the Pops with various backing artists, as the single climbed up the charts.

The song was used by American figure skater Tonya Harding for her short program in the 1991–1992 season, including at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games in Albertville. The music was one of the only one of her programs to be included in the 2017 film I, Tonya, where the program was recreated by actress Margot Robbie.

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States March 1991
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • cassette
 Smash [1]
United Kingdom May 27, 1991
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Polydor [23]

Real McCoy version

"People Are Still Having Sex"
Single by Real McCoy
Released2007
Genre
Length3:19
LabelPhears
Songwriter(s)William LaTour
Producer(s)Daniel Peter
Real McCoy singles chronology
"Follow My Heart"
(2006)		 "People Are Still Having Sex"
(2007)

In 2007, German rapper Olaf Jeglitza released a cover of the song under the name Real McCoy through his independent label, Phears. The single was produced by Daniel Peter.

Track listing

  • CD maxi single
  1. "People Are Still Having Sex" (radio cut) – 3:19
  2. "People Are Still Having Sex" (instrumental) – 3:18
  3. "People Are Still Having Sex" (LaLa's Sunshine Remix) – 6:26

References

  1. 1 2 Flick, Larry (April 6, 1991). "New on the Charts". Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 14. p. 29. ...the song has been rapidly picking up club adds since its commercial release two weeks ago.
  2. 1 2 Lewis, Pete (June 22, 1991). "La Tour De Force". NME. p. 51. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  3. ↑ Billboard, August 19, 1995: Page 98
  4. ↑ Flick, Larry (March 23, 1991). "Dance Trax: Riding High On The Wave Of Hot New Releases" (PDF). Billboard. p. 31. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Pop Reviews: Albums" (PDF). Cashbox. May 11, 1991. p. 5. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  6. ↑ Fox, Marisa (May 24, 1991). "LaTour". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  7. ↑ Dalton, Stephen (July 20, 1991). "Long Play". NME. p. 32. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ "LaTour – People Are Still Having Sex". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  9. ↑ "LaTour – People Are Still Having Sex" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  10. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1552." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 1561." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 27. July 9, 1991. p. 45. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  13. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "LaTour". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 143. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ "LaTour – People Are Still Having Sex" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – People Are Still Having Sex". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  16. ↑ "LaTour – People Are Still Having Sex". Top 40 Singles.
  17. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. June 8, 1991. p. 22. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. May 25, 1991. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Dance Singles Sales". Billboard. May 25, 1991. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Dance Club Songs". Billboard. May 11, 1991. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  22. ↑ "RPM Dance Tracks of 1991". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  23. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. May 25, 1991. p. 21.
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