"The Sweetest Taboo" is the lead single

Lead single

A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...

 from the English group Sade

Sade (band)

Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....

's second studio album, Promise

Promise (Sade album)

Promise is the second studio album by the English group Sade. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 November 1985 by Epic Records and in the United States on 21 December 1985 by Portrait Records....

(1985). While the song peaked at number 31 on the 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 ...

, it fared considerably better in the United States, where it reached number five on the 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...

 in March 1986, remaining in the top 40 for 13 weeks. It also became the band's second consecutive number-one hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

 chart, following "Smooth Operator

Smooth Operator

"Smooth Operator" is a song by the English group Sade, released as the fourth and final single from their debut album Diamond Life . It was released as a 7" single with "Spirit" as its B-side, and as a 12" maxi single with "Smooth Operator" and "Red Eye" on side A and "Spirit" on side B...

".

"The Sweetest Taboo" is mentioned in the lyrics of Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

's 2005 charity single "S.S.T.

S.S.T.

"S.S.T." is a song by Prince which was recorded and released directly after the impact of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. It was officially released as a digital download by the NPG Music Club on September 3, 2005 and reached number one on the iTunes R&B chart. It was later made available as a CD single...

", as well as in Mos Def

Mos Def

Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

's 1999 song "Ms. Fat Booty

Ms. Fat Booty

"Ms. Fat Booty" is the first single from Mos Def's 1999 album, Black On Both Sides. It is produced by Ayotollah. The song and its chorus are both driven by multiple samples of Aretha Franklin's "One Step Ahead," a rare Columbia single released in 1965....

".

The French duo Les Nubians

Les Nubians

Les Nubians is an R&B Grammy-nominated duo composed of sisters Hélène and Célia Faussart from Paris, France. In 1985 the sisters moved with their parents to Chad. Seven years later, they returned to Bordeaux, France, and began singing a cappella, producing poetry slams in Bordeaux and Paris, and...

 recorded a song called "Tabou" on their 1998 album Princesses Nubiennes, credited as a French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 adaptation of "The Sweetest Taboo", although the lyrics are significantly different.

British artists Glamma Kid

Glamma Kid

Iyael Iyases Tafari Constable better known as Glamma Kid, is a British ragga and dancehall toaster and former Royal Air Force trainee of part Jamaican descent.-Career:...

 and Shola Ama

Shola Ama

Shola Ama is an English singer who scored her biggest hit in 1997 with a cover of Turley Richards' "You Might Need Somebody".-Early life and career:...

 sampled the song in 1999 in a somewhat more upbeat version with both a ragga and R&B feel to it. It was released as a single only.

Track listings and formats

UK 7" single

• Side A: "The Sweetest Taboo" – 4:25
• Side B: "You're Not the Man" – 5:20

UK 12" single

• Side A: "The Sweetest Taboo" (Extended Version) – 5:30
• Side B: "You're Not the Man" – 5:20

U.S., Dutch, and New Zealand 7" single

• Side A: "The Sweetest Taboo" – 4:24
• Side B: "You're Not the Man" – 5:09

Dutch 12" single

• Side A: "The Sweetest Taboo" (Extended Version) – 5:27
• Side B: "You're Not the Man" – 5:09

U.S. 12" promo single

• Side A: "The Sweetest Taboo" (Long Version) – 5:27
• Side B: "The Sweetest Taboo" (Short Version) – 4:24

Charts

Chart (1985)	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...	24
Dutch Top 40 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...	14
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...	30
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...	28
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...	11
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...	14
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 ...	31
Chart (1986)	Peak position
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...	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles 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,...	3
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...	1