The Sweetest Taboo

Infobox Single
Name = The Sweetest Taboo


Artist = Sade
Album = Promise
B-side = "You're Not the Man"
Released = 12 October 1985 (UK)
23 November 1985 (U.S.)
Format = 7" single, 12" single
Genre = Soul, jazz, R&B
Length = 4:38 (album version)
4:24 (7")
5:30 (12")
Label = Epic, Portrait
Writer = Sade Adu, Martin Ditcham
Producer = Robin Millar
Last single = "Smooth Operator"
(1984)
This single = "The Sweetest Taboo"
(1985)
Next single = "Never as Good as the First Time"
(1986)

"The Sweetest Taboo" is the lead single from the English group Sade's second studio album, "Promise" (1985). The song peaked at number thirty-one on the UK Singles Chart. It fared considerably better in the U.S., where it topped out at number five on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in March of 1986, remaining in the Top 40 for thirteen weeks. It was also a number one hit on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart.

"The Sweetest Taboo" is mentioned in the lyrics of Prince's 2005 song "S.S.T.".

The French duo Les Nubians recorded a song called "Tabou" on their 1998 album "Princesses Nubiennes". The song is credited as a French adaptation of the Sade song "The Sweetest Taboo," although the lyrics are significantly different.

This song, along with "Smooth Operator", was included in the "80 hours of the 80s" program on VH1 in 2008.

Charts

References

*"The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits", 6th Edition, 1996