When was the first time sex mattered?

The phrase "feeling music from the waist down" is so sufficiently dirty that I'm going to make it my site's tagline right NOW. That's an awesome thing to say. I hope you don't mind me stealing it. Tell me how to give you props and I'll do it.

Anyhow, I don't know if I can answer it about the music itself per se. Clearly Massive Attack's Protection is better sex music than, say, DMX and all his barking, but I don't know. The overall sound of any particular song doesn't get to me. However, one sure musical element I'm bound to find sexy is the presence of Jarvis Cocker. His voice just does it. He could be reading aloud scenes from Monty Python and it'd be sexy. His voice is soooo sexy to me that I overlook his numerous other faults, i.e. he is not good looking, and find him a sexy individual - to even tie in the question you weren't asking. And that's really it. I have no clue why this is my particular "thing" either. I've certainly never found the typical "sexy song elements" sexy. Good sure, but sexy no.

That's the closest I come (har har) to being able to answer this question :)

Go ahead - intellectual property rights waived!

"When" really means which records (in case it wasn’t clear).

For me waist-downers from the past include: the entire James Brown output from 1965 – 1975; some of the Prince singles from the Parade to Alphabet St period; almost the entire output Def Jam in 1986/7 – especially their answer to the Jacksons, The Junkyard Band’s ‘Sardines’.; Mantronix ‘Needle to the Groove’; Troublefunk (especially ‘Troublefunk Express’ & ‘Pump me up’ plus other Go-Go (a forgotten genre?) including Macattack’s ‘The art of drums’. Positive Force ‘We got the funk’ has a very sexy rhythm. Donna Summer’s ‘I feel love’ ( the 17 minute mix of course); plus masses of disco - Lipps Inc ‘FunkyTown springs to mind.

I suppose for me sexy records tend to be groove driven. Funk rhythms especially. Daft Punk’s ‘da funk’ was a musical aphrodisiac. I love house music of course but like hi-energy its speedier pace (often 20bpm faster than funk, go-go or hip-hop) generally makes it seem less sexually charged, more drug crazed, it’s a whole different set of pleasures.

Very few British bands make waist-downers that work for me.

First time was Prince, He really scared me for some weird reason. Later on Madonna and... uh... The Cure's LoveCats.

I'm sorry, but the idea of the Cure's 'Lovecats' being the soundtrack to someone's sexual awakening makes me feel a bit queasy.

Actually, the whole idea of sexual awakenings makes me feel a bit queasy.

Bye bye, I'm off to analysis.

Yes, yes, Prince absolutely. And just to make Nick feel even more queasy, I'll always have a soft spot for - ahem - Kate Bush's 'The Sensual World' (just the single, mind...)

I'm afraid I don't think I share the question's terms of reference at all. Music is not, as far as I can recall, a sexual activity. The excitement is offers has (for me) no more to do with sexuality than it does with lemonade.

You obviously haven't seen Elvis shaking his pelvis.

Absolutely. But I would argue that the sound is what's really sexy - Elvis is an ok dancer, he's quite good looking, but the interplay between that voice and the taut rhythms of the band... that's the real sex (and sort of the point I'm trying to suggest about the way music works at a sensual level).

The first music I really "felt from the waist down" was almost certainly Paula Abdoul. "He's a cold hearted lover, look into his eyes..." at a super-young age, the song and video combined suggested all the dangerous things in the whole world.

I was always intrigued by the idea that Merzbow performs live in Japan with "Bondage Performers." The idea of seeing people tied up with hoses and so forth while his music cranks over the sound system is just too transgressive for words. It's not a turn on at all for me (honest!), in fact it sounds terrifying. But interesting in the extremity of the expresssion.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking...seeing verybody naked and disfigured, by god, that made my high school daze feel good.

I was a very young and impressionable (pre)adolescent.

The song in question was "Just Like Honey" by the Jesus and Mary Chain.

The video featured attractive Scotsmen with interesting hair in unfeasibly tight leather trews rolling around on the floor with the word "candy" project on their heads, while singing lyrics in which they begged to be my "plastic toy".

My life was never the same again.

It was the sheer onrush of the gorgeous dronerock post-velvets feedback guitars. Yeah, honest! Check my record collection today if you don't believe me!

I stepped on a very skinny cat once... this may not seem like much to you, but the cat didn't seem to be so blythe. What does that do for you? Oh, he moved from the waist down... and out... and all over the neighbors' porch... I had to clean that up. I don't think this question is very fair. How do you make this button stop?