69 sexy songs to get you in the mood
69 sexy songs to get you in the mood
Today, men and women across the world will be making a concerted effort to get their rocks off.
Some will proffer flowers and cards, others will treat their beloved to expensive meals, shower them with jewelery or simply send a saucy email pointing out the romantic potential of the office stationary cupboard. It's a day for expressing your feelings, even if that's via an anonymous card.
Here at MusicRadar, we like to encourage this sort of thing. We're lovers, not haters. So, in order to get you in the mood we've selected 69 of the sexiest songs we could think of, from sultry soul to raunchy rock and roll and everything in between*.
Click through for our selection of some of the hottest, most seductive and downright rudest records, and prepare yourself for a Valentine's Day to remember.
*But no Barry White. Never Barry White - you'll thank us in the long run.
Bob Marley - Turn Your Lights Down Low
Probably the sexiest slice of reggae ever committed to tape, this steamy little number popped up on 1977 masterpiece Exodus following the achingly beautiful Waiting In Vain, all its "good good loving" coming on like a reward for the poor sap who didn't want to do all that waiting.
The Beatles - Why Don't We Do It In The Road
In the road Paul? Are you sure? I'm pretty sure plenty of people will see us, actually. Oh, go on then...
Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Need Your Love So Bad
Fleetwood Mac's earliest incarnation were always fond of a close-to-the-knuckle schoolboy gag, from Mick Fleetwood's pair of wooden balls (not a euphemism) to hilariously suggestive songs like Rattlesnake Shake.
On Need Your Love So Bad though, the jokes were replaced by desperation as Peter Green's aching guitar petitioned somebody, anybody, to get up close and personal.
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
If Al Green's voice doesn't make you want to hop on the good foot and do the bad thing, it's entirely possible that there's something quite serious wrong with you.
Let's Stay Together, quite apart from being one of the greatest soul songs of all time, is brilliant for any number of reasons, but one we particularly like is the proposition implicit in the song's title: let's stay together... and get down to it, baby. Oh yeah.
Faces - Stay With Me
It's when the break-neck intro slows down that Stay With Me turns into something altogether deeper and dirtier.
Rod Stewart's vocals have rarely sounded as charged as he lets his latest conquest - all "red lips, hair and fingernails" know that all he's after is the good stuff - and nothing else.
Otis Redding - These Arms Of Mine
A towering performance from one of the greatest singers ever to have picked up a microphone, These Arms Of Mine packs more raw heartache and intensity into two minutes and thirty five seconds than most artists can manage in an entire career.
Prince - Adore
In which a typically fruity Prince promised to be there for that special someone until the end of time. As closer to Sign 'O' The Times, arguably his greatest album, this had to be a climactic affair - in every sense.
LL Cool J - Doin It
LL Cool J sets his stall out early - "conventional methods of love kind of bore me" - but it's scant preparation for the filth-fest that follows. At 4.54 it lasts an impressively long time too...
The White Stripes - Ball And Biscuit
The slinky riff, Meg's thudding, insistent drums banging away like a headboard and Jack White's lascivious lyrics make this one of The White Stripes' filthiest blues jams.
Lewis Taylor - Damn
Pearls like this one demonstrate why Lewis Taylor is one of British music’s great lost talents. With a shape-shifting chord progression, glorious harmonies and even a cheeky homage to the opening guitar lick from Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On, it’s a lament to a love never wanted.
Blackstreet - No Diggity
When Bill Withers wrote a song about his grandmother’s hands, little did he know that one day this seemingly asexual ode would be sampled to form part of one of ‘90s RnB’s filthiest grooves.
Portishead - Glory Box
Fans of the euphemism can have plenty of fun with the title of this one (we’ll thank you to take your minds out of the gutter), but the sultry string sample and squalling guitar indicate all kinds of pre-coital tension. Probably.
Silk - Freak Me
‘Freak me baby’ - whatever can he mean? This slice of Silk slickness might be awash with the classic ‘80s DX7 piano sound so beloved among balladeers, but the lyrics leave far less to the imagination than your typical pop smoocher.
Just to confirm: he wants to lick you up and down.
INXS - Need You Tonight
Offering an iconic chugging guitar riff, a breathy vocal, an award-winning video and - above all - Michael Hutchence at his most charismatic, Need You Tonight seems to roll more than it rocks. And that, lest you were wondering, is a good thing.
D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel)
Proving that neo soul really did have soul, this tribute to Prince bears many of the hallmarks of the Purple One’s finest ballads. It is, to put it bluntly, baby-making music; in fact, the video convinced many female viewers that they’d like to be making babies with D’Angelo himself.
Air - Sexy Boy
The song that introduced the world to Air’s brand of widescreen ambient electronica remains one of their finest. Full of coquettish charm, it proves that even men with synthesizers can do sexy.
Madonna - Like A Virgin
As you may be aware, Madonna has touched on the subject of sex various times during her career, but she made her name by going back to the very first time. We’re still not sure what that lion’s doing in the video, though.
Goldfrapp - Ooh La La
When the French use this phrase it can be used to express everything from surprise to disappointment or distress, but we reckon we know what Alison Goldfrapp is referring to here. Full marks for making the sound of ‘70s glam-pop not only fashionable, but also sexy.
Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man
From the opening bars, it's clear that Hoochie Coochie Man is about one thing, and it's not filling in a tax return. Lewd, rude, dangerous and, if we're being honest, a little bit scary.
Jimi Hendrix - Foxy Lady
Foxy Lady is Jimi Hendrix's appetite for the ladies given song form. The Jimi of Foxy Lady will not be stopped from getting what he wants, which in this case is a lady hot enough to make him growl like a wild animal.
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You
Since I've Been Loving You is total Led Zep seduction. The opening licks of Jimmy Page's guitar deftly undo the flies of everyone listening as Robert Plant whispers in their ears with a voice dripping with depravity. Filth.
The Cure - Close To Me
If Robert Smith's breathy, borderline obscene vocals aren't enough to clue you in to what's going on here, then there may be no hope for you. Suffice to say, a bloke in lipstick has never made the prospect of a bit of good old fashioned rumpy-pumpy seem so close at hand.
Derek And The Dominos - Layla
We all know the story behind Layla, but the force of the song is never quite diluted, no matter how many classic rock compilations it finds its way onto. Because, at its core, Layla is a song about a man almost driven insane by a woman, and if that's not love, then we don't know what is.
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game
The judicious application of tremelo and a vocal that ebbs and flows from throaty suggestiveness all the way up to lightheaded falsetto is enough to make Wicked Game an essential addition to any making out mix. Having Helena Christensen in the video doesn't hurt its case either.
Band Of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You
Ben Bridwell may look like a homeless man, but he has the voice of a heartbroken angel, which means he can dress however he damn well pleases. No One's Gonna Love You's delay drenched balladry is pretty much guaranteed to ensure the object of your affection is in your arms by the time it's finished.
T-Rex - Get It On
Marc Bolan could sing the dictionary and make it sound dirty, and On Get It On he's let off the leash to deliver a masterclass in nudge-nudge, wink-wink filth to a hip-swinging slice of peerless glam rock.
Elvis Presley - One Night
The man with the most dangerous hips in history gets his freak on. The King rarely sounded more ready to knock boots.
Peggy Lee - Fever
The perfect evocation of things getting so steamy that you need a little sit down. So sexy it shouldn't be legal.
Boys II Men - I'll Make Love To You
As Boyz II Men prove with their 1994 classic, while it can be fun to flirtatiously skirt around the issue with delicate innuendo, few things are as genuinely sexy as directly and succinctly outlining one’s proposed sexual intentions in as straightforward a manner as possible. Particularly if one happens to be wearing an immaculate white suit at the time.