Do Ya Think I’m Sexy
Sugar
Sugar
mmm … ooh
She sits alone waiting for suggestions
He’s so nervous avoiding all her questions
His lips are dry, her heart is gently pounding
Don’t you just know exactly what they’re thinking?
If you want my body and you think I’m sexy
Come on, sugar, let me know
If you really need me just reach out and touch me
Come on, honey, tell me so
He’s acting shy looking for an answer
Come on, honey, let’s spend the night together
Now hold on a minute before we go much further
Give me a dime so I can phone my mother
They catch a cab to his high rise apartment
At last he can tell her exactly what his heart meant
If you want my body and you think I’m sexy
Come on, sugar, let me know
If you really need me just reach out and touch me
Come on, honey, tell me so
His heart’s beating like a drum
‘Cause at last he’s got his girl home
Relax, baby, now we are alone
They wake at dawn ’cause all the birds are singing
Two total strangers but that ain’t what they’re thinking
Outside it’s cold, misty and it’s raining
They got each other, neither one’s complaining
He says I’m sorry but I’m out of milk and coffee
Never mind, sugar, we can watch the early movie
If you want my body and you think I’m sexy
Come on, sugar, let me know
If you really need me just reach out and touch me
Come on, honey, tell me so
Tell me so, baby
January 1st, 2006
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” Rod Stewart (Warner 8724)
THE TOP FIVE – Week of February 10, 1979
#1. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy – Rod Stewart
Through the seventies, Rod Stewart stuck to a simple philosophy: Give the people exactly what they want. And what they wanted from him was spectacle, showmanship, and his own brand of sensuality.
Tea Leaf Green exhibited the song on 12-31-2005.
Rod developed into one of the most moving singers of the decade. His voice was little more than a hoarse rasp, yet was capable of both hard rock and deep emotion. He was streetwise tough with a soft heart — and millions thought he was very sexy indeed.
In 1976, his “Tonight’s the Night” became the largest-selling single in Warner Brothers history. It came from the album A Night On The Town. With a new backup band, Stewart cut Footloose and Fancy Free. In 1978, Rod bolstered the band by adding Nicky Hopkins on piano and Carmine Appice on drums. Together, they recorded his most spirited album of the seventies — Blondes Have More Fun. “It’s Stewart in a playful mood,” wrote one critic. “The music is rowdy and irreverent.” Another called it “smutty self-indulgence.” Regardless, it sold nearly four million copies in six months. Additionally, the album was released in a limited edition of 100,000 picture discs, featuring disc imprints of front- and back-cover album graphics, as well as a cardboard pull-out of Stewart’s face, also taken from album artwork.
The standout track, of course, was “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
“I wrote the verse, chords and the melody for the bridge,” recalled Carmine Appice. “Rod wrote the bridge. It’s the kind of stuff he likes — sort of singalong music. And when we did the song live, the audience reaction, worldwide, was amazing. Whenever we started playing it, they started singing it. And when you get fifteen or twenty thousand people going ‘Do ya think I’m sexy, da-da-dada-da-da,’ it’s incredible. Even in Japan, where they don’t even speak English, they were singing along anyway.”
In concert, Rod’s rendition of “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was met by a tidal wave of screaming fans — mostly female — shouting, “YES!” It underlined his image as “rock’s premier playboy of the seventies.”
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was selling 250,000 copies a week in February 1979, the month it made number one. It was the fastest-selling single in Warner history and their first platinum single of the year. A special twelve-inch version was said to be the first 48-track disco mix ever made (only 300,000 copies were pressed as collector’s items). The song topped charts in eleven countries, including France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Belgium, England, Australia, and Canada.
The record also sparked a parody, “Do You Think I’m Disco?,” recorded by Chicago deejay Steve Dahl. An antidisco anthem, it sold over 300,000 copies for Ovation Records, without breaking into the national Top 40.
Rod didn’t make much off “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?,” since Brazilian singer Jorge Ben sued him in court, claiming the tune was too similar to his work, “Taj Mahal.” Ben won the rights to the song, then asked Rod to donate all his publishing royalties from “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” to UNICEF.
January 2nd, 2006
Yes!