The Sweetest Taboo

The "Sweetest Taboo" is the height of sexual pleasure. In this song, Sade sings lovingly about a man who gets her there. With him, every day is Christmas, every night is New Year's Eve.

The line, "There's a quiet storm," is a reference to the Quiet Storm radio format, which is filled with baby-making music like this song. The Quiet Storm indicates a sensual sexual experience.

Sade is the name of the band and also the first name of the lead singer, Sade Adu. Formed in London, their first album, Diamond Life, with the hit "Smooth Operator," was released in the UK in 1984 almost a year before it appeared in America in 1985. They earned the BRIT Award for Album Of The Year and the Grammy for Best New Artist. Promise, their second album, was released in both territories later in 1985 with "The Sweetest Taboo" the first single. The cantankerous British press made life difficult for Sade Adu, accusing her of giving lackluster performances and cultivating a homogenized lounge-act sound. In America, where she wasn't a tabloid story, the music did the talking, and "The Sweetest Taboo" spoke volumes, getting lots of airplay on a variety of formats. It was most successful on the Adult Contemporary chart, where like "Smooth Operator," it went to #1.