Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"
Single by Rod Stewart
from the album Blondes Have More Fun
B-side	"Dirty Weekend" (UK) "Scarred and Scared" (US)
Released	10 November 1978
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded	1978
Genre	Disco, pop rock
Length	5:28 (Album version) 6:29 (12" Version) 4:05 (Single Version)
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Rod Stewart, Carmine Appice, Duane Hitchings
Producer(s)	Tom Dowd
Rod Stewart singles chronology
"I Was Only Joking" (1978) "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978) "Ain't Love a Bitch" (1979)

"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" is a 1978 song by the British singer Rod Stewart. It is credited as being written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings,^[1] though it incorporates substantial elements of the melody from a song by Jorge Ben Jor.

The song featured on Stewart's album Blondes Have More Fun, and was released as a single in November 1978. It spent one week at the top of the British charts in December 1978 and four weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 1979. Billboard ranked it number four on its Top Singles of 1979 year-end chart.^[2] It also topped the charts in Australia for two weeks.

Royalties from the song were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Stewart performed the song at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979.^[3]

Rolling Stone ranked the song at #308 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[4]

Background and writing

Carmine Appice, who played drums on this song told Songfacts: "This was a story of a guy meeting a chick in a club. At that time, that was a cool saying. If you listen to the lyrics, 'She sits alone, waiting for suggestions, he's so nervous...' it's the feelings of what was going on in a dance club. The guy sees a chick he digs, she's nervous and he's nervous and she's alone and doesn't know what's going on, then they end up at his place having sex, and then she's gone."^[5] In a 2007 interview, co-writer Duane Hitchings noted that "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" was

"a spoof on guys from the 'cocaine lounge lizards' of the Saturday Night Fever days. We Rock and Roll guys thought we were dead meat when that movie and the Bee Gees came out. The Bee Gees were brilliant musicians and really nice people. No big egos. Rod, in his brilliance, decided to do a spoof on disco. VERY smart man. There is no such thing as a "dumb" super success in the music business."^[6]

Criticism

The song was criticized by many in the rock press as a betrayal of Stewart's blues-oriented rock roots, due to its disco-like arrangement, but Stewart and others were quick to point out that other widely respected artists, such as Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones, had also released disco-flavoured songs. It was also alleged that Stewart created the song through partial musical plagiarism. A copyright infringement lawsuit by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor claimed the song had been derived from his song "Taj Mahal". The case was "settled amicably" according to Jorge Ben Jor.^[7] Stewart admits "unconscious plagiarism" of the Ben Jor tune in his 2012 autobiography, which cannot be true since he learned about this tune during a visit to Rio de Janeiro with local music producer Luiz Fernando Borges, who took Stewart to a Jorge Ben Jor concert where they were playing this song.^[8] However, the song has since experienced some retrospective acclaim as Rolling Stone placed the song at #308 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[9]

Charts and certifications

N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart version

"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"
Single by N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart
from the album Happy Hour
Released	13 October 1997
Format	CD single
Genre	Eurodance
Length	3:59
Label	Sony
Writer(s)	Rod Stewart, Carmine Appice, Duane Hitchings
Producer(s)	Curds, Whey
N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart singles chronology
"The Mind of the Machine" (1997) "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1997) "Paradise City" (1998)

In 1997, the song was remixed by English techno-house group N-Trance for their second album Happy Hour and features lyrics from the Millie Jackson version (as performed by vocalist Kelly Llorenna). It was featured in the film A Night at the Roxbury the following year.

Chart positions

Cover versions

• Gene Summers and Crossfire covered "Sexy" on a single in 1979 on LeCam Records. It was reissued that same year as Gene Summers & Dea on Country Disco Records.
• The Finnish singers Pentti Oskari Kangas and Seitsemän Seinähullua Veljestä covered the song as a single "Kelpaisiko seksi" in 1979, translated to Finnish^[48]
• Recorded by British Standard Unit (Morgan Fisher) as "D'Ya Think I'm Sexy?" on the 1979 album Hybrid Kids Vol. 1: A Collection of Classic Mutants.
• In 1980, Polish singer Zdzisława Sośnicka covered the song on her album Odcienie samotności; the title of the Polish cover is "Nuda" ("Boredom").
• Pop group Brotherhood of Man recorded a version for their album 20 Disco Greats (1981).
• The song was later recorded by Millie Jackson for her one of her 1982 releases titled, Live & Uncensored.
• By Sabrina on her 1987 album Sabrina.
• The Revolting Cocks included a cover of the song (with more sexually explicit lyrics than the original version) on their 1993 album Linger Ficken' Good. A music video was also made, featuring the band performing the song at a nightmarish strip club.
• Those Darn Accordions covered the song on the 1996 album No Strings Attached, with vocals by tattooed octogenarian accordionist Clyde Forsman.
• Brooklyn art-punk band Les Savy Fav incorporate a riff from the song on their track "Cut It Out" from their 1997 debut 3/5.
• N-Trance released the previously-mentioned cover version in 1997.
• Swedish pop group Miio included the song on their 2003 album.
• A reformed Vanilla Fudge featuring Carmine Appice covered the song too in 2004.
• The Girls of FHM made a cover in 2004, making number ten in the UK Singles Chart. British music artist Tina Barrett, formerly of S Club 7, Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton, formerly of Atomic Kitten and Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young, formerly of Liberty X are among the women featured in the music video for the song.
• Paris Hilton recorded the song for her 2006 debut album Paris. It is the final track on the album, and it was released only on Italian airplay. The song was used for the spot for 3 Mobile.
• Korean singer K covered the song for his Japanese single "Brand New Map" and his cover album The Timeless Collection Vol. 1 in 2007.
• Garou recorded "Sexy" for his cover album Gentleman cambrioleur in 2009.
• Tiny Tim, falsetto singer and novelty ukulele player covered the song twice, once with a contemporary disco beat, and another with a Tin Pan Alley-style arrangement. The disco cover, performed live, demonstrated his surprising ability to switch between a warmer tenor and shrill falsetto on a moment's notice. The Tin Pan Alley arrangement was sung entirely in Tiny Tim's regular (non-falsetto) register.
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood released a version of this with the Sexmix compilation in 2012. Vocals were performed by Paul Rutherford.
• The Warblers from TV series Glee covered the song; it is included on the album Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers. It is led by Darren Criss, who plays Warbler Blaine Anderson.
• In 1999, Antonis Remos covered the song, which was titled "Mi Zitas Signomi" ("Don't Apologize"), written by Natalia Germanou and featured on his album Pali Ap'Tin Arhi (Again from the Beginning).

Miranda Sings covers the song in her "How To Flirt" video.

Live cover versions, sampling and remixes

• In 1980, the song was covered by Japanese pop singers Pink Lady on an episode of their American variety show Pink Lady and Jeff.
• Jars of Clay sampled it on their song "Truce", which appeared on their album Stringtown, recorded in the spring of 1998 at the Ryman Auditorium with the Nashville String Machine.
• In 1998, hip-hop group The LOX sampled the song for their first single, "If You Think I'm Jiggy".
• Sean Kingston used a sample of the chorus rhythm on "Take You There".
• Ham Sandwich, an Irish indie rock band from Kells, played the song on The Podge and Rodge Show.
• In 2005, Chico sang this song during week one on The X Factor; judge Simon Cowell compared his performance to that of a stripper.
• Japanese hip hop artist YOU THE ROCK★ (real name Hiroshi Tademae) sampled part of the song for his 1999 hit "THE PROFESSIONAL ENTERTAINER".
• Hip-hop group Inner City Posse sampled the song on their song "Ghetto Zone", from their 1991 album Dog Beats.
• This Morning presenter Matt Johnson performed the song as Rod Stewart on week 5 of the ITV show 'Your Face Sounds Familiar', securing a place in the final.
• The Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah looped "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" for approximately 30 minutes before every set of their 2012 world tour.
• Beck and Jenny Lewis famously covered the track in Redmond Washington on August 20, 2014. This marked the very first time in Human History that these two particular individuals covered this track in front of a live audience.

Pop culture

• The song appears twice in Star 80, a film about the life and death of Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten.
• Radio Active's Salute to New York programme included the song "Da Ya Think I'm Sexist?" by 'Rod McStewart', in which a promiscuous rock star shows his double standards.
• Chicago disk jockey Steve Dahl parodied the song as "Do You Think I'm Disco?" in which a superficial disco fan repents and gets into rock and roll.
• Comedians Bob and Ray performed the song on a 1979 Saturday Night Live special, sitting in chairs and dressed in their usual business suits.
• Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) sang "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" in the WKRP in Cincinnati episode "Put Up or Shut Up" (1/21/80).
• As a joke, ukulele player Tiny Tim sang the song in a 1979 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and in 1982 made a music video of the song.
• In The Simpsons episode "I Love Lisa", Ned Flanders sings a clean version of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" to his wife Maude on Valentine's Day, which says: "If you think I'm cuddly, and you want my company. Come on, wifey, let me know".
• In the Married... with Children episode "Nightmare on Al's Street", Steve Rhoades sings the song.
• In the 1993 film So I Married an Axe Murderer, Mike Myers in his dual role as father and son Stewart and Charlie McKenzie, does a comedic scene, where Stewart performs the song with a bagpiper in his thick Scottish accent at Charlie's wedding reception while Charlie looks on.
• The Fairly OddParents character Juandissimo occasionally used the title as his catchphrase.
• British DJ and comedian Kenny Everett performed this on his show dressed as Stewart. On each cutaway, his backside gets more inflated until it floats him away like a balloon.
• Actor and comedian Andy Dick performed a cha-cha-cha on Dancing with the Stars with the song playing as his music.

References