"Sex Drive"
Single by Grace Jones
from the album Black Marilyn
B-side"Typical Male"
ReleasedSeptember 23, 1993
GenreHouse[1]
Length5:08
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)Sheep on Drugs
Producer(s)
Grace Jones singles chronology
"Evilmainya"
(1993)		 "Sex Drive"
(1993)		 "Love Bites"
(1996)
Digital cover

"Sex Drive" is a song by American model, singer and actress Grace Jones, released in September 1993.

Background

"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, whom 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 didn't 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]

Critical reception

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]

Track listings

  • CD single (Germany)
  1. "Sex Drive" (Hard Drive Mix) – 5:08
  2. "Sex Drive" (Sex Pitch Mix) – 7:17
  3. "Sex Drive" (Dominatrix Mix) – 5:36
  • CD single (US)
  1. "Sex Drive" (Hard Drive Mix) – 5:08
  2. "Sex Drive" (Sex Pitch Mix) – 7:17
  3. "Sex Drive" (Dominatrix Mix) – 5:36
  4. "Typical Male" (The Real Mix) – 5:48
  • 12" single
A1. "Sex Drive" (Hard Drive Mix) – 5:08
A2. "Sex Drive" (Sex Pitch Mix) – 7:17
B1. "Sex Drive" (Dominatrix Mix) – 5:36
B2. "Typical Male" (The Real Mix) – 5:48
  • 12" promotional single
A1. "Sex Drive" (Sex Pitch Mix) – 7:17
A2. "Sex Drive" (Sexstrumental) – 6:36
B. "Sex Drive" (Hard Drive Mix) – 5:08

Charts

Chart performance for "Sex Drive"
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

References

  1. ↑ Walters, Barry (25 August 2015). "As Much as I Can, as Black as I Am: The Queer History of Grace Jones". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020. At first she stuck to her hits, including that year's house excursion "Sex Drive".
  2. ↑ "Grace Jones: Book Grace Jones For Concerts and Events Worldwide". www.bookingentertainment.com. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  3. ↑ Jones, Grace; Morley, Paul. I'll Never Write My Memoirs. Simon & Schuster. pp. 231–233. ISBN 978-1-4711-3521-7.
  4. ↑ "Spotify – The Grace Jones Story". Spotify. January 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  5. ↑ True, Everett (1993-12-11). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 27. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  6. ↑ Frost, Danny (1993-12-11). "Singles". NME. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  7. ↑ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 1993-11-27. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  8. 1 2 "Grace Jones". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  9. ↑ "Grace Jones Album & Song Chart History". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-12-21.
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