"Sex Type Thing" is the debut single of American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released from their debut studio album, Core, in March 1993. "Sex Type Thing" also appears on the greatest hits compilation album Thank You. The song spawned a music video which received moderate rotation on MTV (at the height of the early 1990s grunge music scene). The single peaked at number 23 on the US Album Rock Tracks chart.
| "Sex Type Thing" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 One of several covers used in the UK | ||||
| Single by Stone Temple Pilots | ||||
| from the album Core | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | March 15, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | May 1992[1] | |||
| Genre | Grunge[2] | |||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | Scott Weiland | |||
| Producer(s) | Brendan O'Brien | |||
| Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
"Sex Type Thing" | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Sex Type Thing" on YouTube | ||||
Live performances
Over the years, "Sex Type Thing" became the band's traditional closer at live shows. During some performances from 1999 until STP's 2002 break-up, the band would extend the song's ending into a jam session where Weiland would strip naked in front of the audience and then wrap his lower body in an American flag.
Music video
During the grunge explosion of the 1990s, the music video for "Sex Type Thing" is usually denoted as the single factor that drove Stone Temple Pilots into the scene. The video was in medium-heavy rotation on MTV during the time, and helped make STP a contender in the grunge era. The video itself hosts a very dark motif, showing the band performing in a dungeon chamber, with singer Scott Weiland having bleached his hair blond, interspersed between clips of a dancer swinging on a chain and a woman in a prom dress surrounded by a ring of fire who then is being menaced before she rips her clothes off. Footage of a wild man dancing plays throughout. This video is rather distinctive because it is the first to showcase Scott Weiland's trademark "dance".[3]The set was used again for Sunny Day Real Estate's "In Circles" music video in 1994.[4]
Controversy
Upon the success of "Sex Type Thing", controversies regarding the song's lyrics emerged while STP was on tour opening for Megadeth. Weiland found himself in the position of defending "Sex Type Thing" to individuals who took the first-person approach he used in the song literally. In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone, Weiland expressed his frustration with the song's reception by saying "It was, 'All right, the "Cop Killer" controversy's dead, let's try to find something else'...I never thought that people would ever seriously think that I was an advocate of date rape."[5]
Track listings
All live tracks were recorded at the Reading Festival 1993.
CD single 1
- "Sex Type Thing" – 3:38
- "Piece of Pie" – 5:28
- "Wicked Garden" (live) – 4:26
- "Sin" (live) – 7:52
CD single 2
- "Sex Type Thing" – 3:38
- "Piece of Pie" – 5:28
- "Dead and Bloated" (live) – 4:53
- "Sex Type Thing" (live) – 4:01
European CD Single
- "Sex Type Thing - 3:38
- "Wicked Garden - 4:04
- "Plush (Acoustic)" - 3:52
Charts
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC)[6] | 60 |
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[7] | 23 |
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | January 1993 | Radio | Atlantic | |
| United Kingdom | March 15, 1993 |
| [8] | |
| United Kingdom (re-release) | November 15, 1993 |
| [9] |
Appearances and covers
- The song appeared in notable TV shows and video games including Gran Turismo 2. Charmed, Rock Band 3, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
- The song has been covered live by Velvet Revolver, a supergroup in which Weiland fronted from 2003 to 2008.
- Evanescence, Fuel, Papa Roach and Theory of a Deadman have also covered the song live.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic covered part of "Sex Type Thing" in his song "The Alternative Polka" off the album Bad Hair Day.
- An electronic reworking of the song appeared in the episode "Let it Bleed" of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.[10]
- The song was released as downloadable content on June 1, 2010, as part of Stone Temple Pilots Track Pack with "Plush" and "Between the Lines" for Guitar Hero 5.[11]
- "Into Sandy's City", a MIDI track from Doom II: Hell on Earth, is based on Sex Type Thing.
- Psychosexual/Psycho Synner covered this song off the covers álbum Songs to Stalk You By.