Songfacts®:

• "Stuff Like That" began life as a perfectly respectable instrumental rhythm track, minding its own business, before Quincy Jones decided it needed a little something extra. And by "a little something extra," he meant an all-star upgrade. He enlisted songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson, the vocal dynamo Chaka Khan, and a team of musicians, including drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Eric Gale, percussionist Ralph MacDonald, and pianist Richard Tee. They transformed what was essentially a jam session into a full-fledged single that pulsated with the electric energy of the late '70s disco era.
  
  "My favorite work with Quincy was when he asked Nick and I to write 'Stuff Like That,'" Valerie Simpson recalled to Uncut magazine. "He gave us the title and did a track with some musicians and we wrote the song on top of that."
  
  "Maya Angelou once told me that if somebody isn't pushing you forward, they need to leave," she continued. "That's what Quincy did – he pushed you with the right energy, so you did your best. When we did stuff like that, the energy flowing of Chaka Khan was visible. You could feel it."
• Lyrically, the song revels in themes of indulgence, attraction, and the tantalizing allure of the unknown. It explores what compels people to dive headfirst into the moment. The repeated refrain - "What makes you feel like doing stuff like that?" - nods to that universal impulse to surrender to rhythm, revelry, and the occasional questionable decision.
• Then there's the structure: A shout chorus - sometimes called an out chorus - is traditionally the grand, climactic finale of a big band arrangement. But Quincy Jones took that ecstatic, full-throttle moment and stretched it across the song, letting it loop and build like the best kind of party that refuses to wind down.
• George Young played the alto saxophone solo. Not to be confused with former Easybeats band member of the same name, American jazz saxophonist George Young has worked with the likes of James Taylor and Dr. John. (Music history is nothing if not a labyrinth of identical names doing very different things).
• The song topped the R&B singles chart and peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jones included it on his Sounds...and Stuff Like That!! album that same year.
• Quincy Jones updated the song for his 1995 album Q's Jook Joint. This time Brandy, Charlie Wilson and Ray Charles joined Ashford & Simpson and Chaka Khan on the mic.
• "Stuff Like That" featured in a 2002 Gap commercial directed by Peter Lindbergh, starring Will Kemp.