 While writing and recording for her debut album , Stefani cited her major influences as Club Nouveau , Lisa Lisa , Prince , New Order , The Cure and early Madonna and advised the producers and writers that she wanted a similar sound for the album . According to MTV 's Jennifer Vineyard , musician and sonwwriter Linda Perry " put Gwen in a headlock " during a party after the Grammys and told her they could make beautiful music together " ; however , Stefani felt scared and insecure about working with Perry . While recording at Perry 's house , Stefani was initially insecure about her writing process and " would go into another room to try to write some lyrics , and when she came back , Perry would already have the whole song nailed . " After a writing session where " What You Waiting For ? " was created , Stefani became less insecure and felt more comfortable when making songs . After working with other musicians , Stefani and Perry worked together on " The Real Thing " . On October 3 , 2005 , Interscope Records released the song as a promotional single exclusively in the Philippines . The label released a CD single , which featured the album version and a remix by Wendy & Lisa of the song . 
