"Stripped" is a song by British electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album Black Celebration (1986) on 10 February 1986, through Mute Records. Written by the band's lead songwriter Martin Gore, "Stripped" has been described as an "ominous and intriguing pop song." It incorporates various samples into its instrumental; most notably, the sound of an idling motorcycle engine was recorded, altered slightly, and inserted as a percussive element. It was the band's sixth consecutive single to enter the UK Top 20, peaking at number 15. Elsewhere, it peaked at number 4 in Germany and reached the top 10 in Finland, Sweden and Switzerland. German metal band Rammstein later covered the song for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses. Composition John Freeman of The Quietus described "Stripped" as an "ominous and intriguing pop song" that is lyrically akin to other songs written by Martin Gore featuring sensual lyrics about the human body. Parts of the song's instrumental are constructed from audio samples. The beginning of the song samples the sound of the ignition of lead singer Dave Gahan's Porsche automobile, while the underlying beat is the sound of an idling motorcycle engine distorted and slowed. The ending also incorporates the sound of fireworks. Release The 7" B-side for "Stripped" is "But Not Tonight". The other two B-sides are "Breathing in Fumes" and "Black Day". "Breathing in Fumes" was a new song using samples from "Stripped", mixed by the band and Thomas Stiehler. "Black Day" is an acoustic, alternate version of "Black Celebration" sung by Martin Gore and co-written by him, Alan Wilder, and producer Daniel Miller—the only Depeche Mode song for which Miller receives a writing credit. "But Not Tonight" was included on the American release of Black Celebration as the 12th and final track on the album, following "New Dress"; the album's initial UK CD release also includes the extended remix of "But Not Tonight", along with "Black Day" and "Breathing in Fumes", as bonus tracks. "But Not Tonight," which was heard in the film Modern Girls, was released as the A-side of the "Stripped" single in the U.S. Martin Gore expressed his frustration with the American release in the 2007 documentary The Songs Aren't Good Enough, There Aren't Any Singles and It'll Never Get Played on the Radio:The worst thing, though, about "Stripped" was the Americans,