"I Want Your Sex" was a single

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

 which first charted in June 1987, appearing on George Michael

George Michael

George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...

's Faith

Faith (George Michael album)

Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987 via Columbia Records/Epic Records. The album has won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and received diamond certification from...

 album, and the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tony Scott. It is the first sequel in the Beverly Hills Cop series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills, California to track down a joint robbery/gun-running ring...

.

The song consists of three separate versions called "Rhythms." The first one, subtitled "Lust," is the version released as a single and banned by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. It appears both on Faith

Faith (George Michael album)

Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987 via Columbia Records/Epic Records. The album has won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and received diamond certification from...

 and the Beverly Hills Cop Part 2 soundtrack. The second, subtitled "Brass in Love," is the B-side of the "Lust" Rhythm, and appears on Faith

Faith (George Michael album)

Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987 via Columbia Records/Epic Records. The album has won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and received diamond certification from...

. The third and final Rhythm, "A Last Request, appears only on the 12" single of the song and on Faith

Faith (George Michael album)

Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987 via Columbia Records/Epic Records. The album has won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and received diamond certification from...

.

Chart performance

"I Want Your Sex" became George Michael's second number-one single in the World after the song "I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)

I Knew You Were Waiting (for Me)

"I Knew You Were Waiting " is a song performed by Aretha Franklin and George Michael as a duet in 1987. It was written by Simon Climie and Dennis Morgan.-Music video:...

" (Duet With Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

)

Despite censorship and airplay issues, a censored version of the song's music video received ample airplay on North America's music channels, fueling its popularity there. The single eventually reached #2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 singles chart, the week of August 8, 1987, behind I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's second single in May 1987...

 by U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

. Moreover, the single remained in the Top 10 for six weeks and the Top 40 for a total of 14 weeks, becoming one of the most popular dance-pop singles of the summer

Summer

Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...

 of 1987. It also climbed to #2 in Canada, where it ended up becoming the 13th most popular single of the year.

The song charted up to #3 in Britain, where the song's reprise maintained an audience for many years thanks to BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 breakfast show host Simon Mayo

Simon Mayo

Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...

 using a looped version as backing music for his daily feature On This Day in History.

Music video

The video featured George Michael's girlfriend at the time (make-up artist Kathy Jeung) to emphasize that he was in a monogamous relationship; at one point, he is shown using lipstick to write the words "explore" and "monogamy" on her back. A Spanish model was also used for naked scenes in a way that allowed the audience to assume they were the same woman; these shots are interspersed with intentionally blurred footage of George Michael dancing and singing the song.

In 2002, MTV2

MTV2

MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

's countdown of MTV's Most Controversial Videos Ever to Air on MTV included the video for I Want Your Sex at #3.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...	2
Canadian RPM Top Singles RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...	2
Dutch Singles Chart Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	1
French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...	11
German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...	3
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	1
Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy....	2
New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...	2
Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...	3
Spanish Singles Chart	4
Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....	8
Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...	4
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	3
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	2
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	2
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	43

Certifications

Country	Certification
Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...	Gold
Netherlands NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry...	Gold
United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...	Platinum

7": Epic / LUST 1 (UK)

1. "I Want Your Sex" (Rhythm 1 Lust) – 4:44
2. "I Want Your Sex" (Rhythm 2 Brass in Love) – 4:43

12": Epic / LUST T1 (UK)

1. "I Want Your Sex" (Monogamy Mix) – 13:12
   • "Rhythm 1 Lust"
   • "Rhythm 2 Brass in Love"
   • "Rhythm 3 A Last Request"
2. "Hard Day" – 4:51

CD: Epic / CD LUST 1 (UK)

1. "I Want Your Sex" (Monogamy Mix) – 13:12
   • "Rhythm 1 Lust"
   • "Rhythm 2 Brass in Love"
   • "Rhythm 3 A Last Request"

CD: Epic / 654 601-3 (UK)

1. "I Want Your Sex" (Parts 1 & 2) – 9:13
2. "A Different Corner" – 3:59
3. "Careless Whisper" (Extended mix) – 6:30
   • released in 1989

Trivia

• In 2008, the ABC television show Eli Stone
  Eli Stone
  Eli Stone is an American TV series, and also the name of the title character.San Francisco lawyer Eli Stone begins to see things, which leads him to discover a brain aneurysm...
  
   featured a teenage girl who was expelled from her school for playing "I Want Your Sex" in protest of her school's abstinence-only sex education program.

Cover versions

It was also covered by Big Daddy

Big Daddy (band)

Big Daddy was an American satire/parody band, that was among the first groups to create mashups - in this case, of oldies and modern pop songs.-History:...

 in 1991.

In 2010 British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 duo Freemasons

Freemasons (band)

Freemasons are an English dance band from Brighton, East Sussex, England. The act consists of producers Russell Small and James Wiltshire .-2005-2007: Early Career:Their name is taken from the Brighton pub, Freemasons Tavern, Hove, which they frequently...

 have remixed the song, and is being played on Gaydar Radio

Gaydar Radio

GaydarRadio is a British digital radio station for gay men, lesbians and gay friendly people. It is available on DAB multiplexes in London and Brighton and also online. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, with live programming from 5am to midnight during the week, 7am to midnight at weekends.-Format:The...

.