"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", also written "Da' Ya' Think I'm Sexy", is a song by British singer

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

from his ninth studio album, ''

Blondes Have More Fun ''Blondes Have More Fun'' is Rod Stewart's ninth album, released in November 1978. As was the popular musical trend at the time, it is Stewart's foray into disco music. The album was commercially successful, reaching number 3 in the UK and numbe ...

'' (1978). It was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it incorporates the melody from the song "Taj Mahal" by

Jorge Ben Jor Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba, ...

and the string arrangement from the song "(If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It" by Bobby Womack.Stewart, Rod. ''Rod: The Autobiography'' (2012)
225-226
/ref> The song was released as the first single from ''Blondes Have More Fun'' in November 1978. It spent one week atop the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in December 1978 and four weeks atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in February 1979. ''Billboard'' ranked it number four on its Top Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It also topped the charts in Canada for four weeks and in Australia for two weeks. Royalties from the song were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund (

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

) and Stewart performed the song at the

Music for UNICEF Concert The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. It was intended to raise money for UNICEF world hunger programs and to mark the b ...

at the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

in January 1979. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song at number 308 in its 2004 list of the

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

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." In a 2007 interview, co-writer Duane Hitchings noted that "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" was It has been noted that Stewart created parts of the song through

musical plagiarism Music plagiarism is the use or close imitation of another author's music while representing it as one's own original work. Plagiarism in music now occurs in two contexts—with a ''musical idea'' (that is, a melody or motif) or ''sampling'' (ta ...

. A copyright infringement lawsuit by Brazilian musician

claimed the chorus of the song had been derived from his song "Taj Mahal". The case was "settled amicably" according to Jorge Ben Jor, in Ben Jor's favor.Interview with Ben Jor
Expatica.com Stewart admitted in his 2012 autobiography to "unconscious plagiarism" of the Ben Jor song, which he had heard while attending the

Rio Carnival ) , image = File:Desfile Portela 2014 (906185).jpg , caption = A float at Rio Carnival, 2014 , celebrations = Parades, parties, open-air performances , longtype = cultural, religious , type = christian , signi ...

in 1978. He also admitted that he had consciously lifted the song's signature synthesizer riff from the string arrangement on Bobby Womack's "(If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It". Stewart contends that it is legal to lift a line from any song's arrangement as long as the core melody line is not copied.

Reception

The song was criticised by many in the rock press as a betrayal of Stewart's blues-oriented rock roots, due to its

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

-like arrangement, but Stewart and others were quick to point out that other widely respected artists, such as

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

, had also released disco-flavoured songs. However, the song has since experienced some retrospective acclaim as ''

'' placed the song at number 308 in its 2004 list of the

. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it has "a clipping bass line y Phil Chen">Phil_Chen.html" ;"title="y Phil Chen">y Phil Chen steady kick drum and soaring synthesized strings" as well as "alternately gentle and dashing rhythm guitar work and a commanding saxophone, sax solo."

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Revolting Cocks version

Industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

supergroup

Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984: Origin ...

(featuring

Richard 23 Richard Jonckheere (born 20 January 1963), better known by his stage names Richard23 and Richard JK, is a Belgian musician. He has been a member of Front 242 (which he joined in 1983) and was a founding member of Revolting Cocks (which he left ...

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation Fr ...

Luc van Acker Luc Van Acker is a Belgian singer, songwriter, and music producer. He began writing and releasing solo material in 1982, contributed guitar on Shriekback's 1984 album ''Jam Science'', and collaborated with Anna Domino on the track "Zanna" for hi ...

, and Al Jourgensen of

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

) recorded a version of Da Ya Think I'm Sexy for their album

Linger Ficken' Good ''Linger Ficken' Good ... and Other Barnyard Oddities'' is the third studio album by American industrial rock band Revolting Cocks. The title is a satirical spoonerism of the advertising slogan employed by KFC in the 1970s—"''Finger'' ''Lickin ...

. The song was released as a single in September 1993 with the songs "Sergio Guitar" and "Wrong Sexy Mix" as B-sides. This version includes slightly altered lyrics (the lyric "Give me a dime so I can call my mother" is replaced with "Give me a buck so I can buy a rubber" and "He says, I'm sorry, but I'm out of milk and coffee." is replaced with "He says, I'm sorry, but I'm out of KY Jelly.")http://www.songlyrics.com/revolting-cocks/do-ya-think-i-m-sexy-lyrics/

N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart version

In 1997, the song was

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed by English electronic dance music group N-Trance for their second album, '' Happy Hour'' (1998), and features lyrics from the Millie Jackson version (as performed by vocalist

Kelly Llorenna Kelly Llorenna (born 1975) is an English dance music singer, who was born in Slough, Berkshire and raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester. She is best known as the former lead vocalist for the dance group N-Trance in the 1990s. Their biggest hit ...

). It was featured in the film ''

A Night at the Roxbury ''A Night at the Roxbury'' is a 1998 American comedy film based on a recurring sketch on television's long-running ''Saturday Night Live'' called "The Roxbury Guys". ''Saturday Night Live'' regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon, Mark ...

'' the following year. This version became a hit in late 1997, topping both the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

for three weeks and the Czech Republic singles chart. Additionally, the song peaked at number seven on the

and earning a double-platinum sales certification in Australia, where it charted at number three.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as "another slice of flashback fever". He noted that "with its recognizable hook, booty-shakin' baseline, guest rap by Ricardo da Force, diva wailings by Kelly Llorenna, and Stewart himself, this updated remake could very well become the surprise radio hit of the summer. Of course, it could also become this month's novelty record." British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated N-Trance's version four out of five in their review.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

2017 DNCE remix version

On August 25, 2017, Rod Stewart released a

version featuring a guest appearance from American band DNCE. He sings along with the lead singer of the band,

Joe Jonas Joseph Adam Jonas (born August 15, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to fame as a member of the pop rock band the Jonas Brothers, alongside his brothers Kevin Jonas, Kevin and Nick Jonas, Nick. The group released their ...

Live performances

They performed the song at

2017 MTV Video Music Awards The 2017 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 27, 2017 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, honoring music videos released between June 25, 2016 and June 23, 2017. It was hosted by Katy Perry. The 34th annual award show aired live from th ...

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

2021 Carmine Appice/Fernando Perdomo Project version

In 2021, Appice and

Fernando Perdomo Fernando Jose Perdomo (born August 17, 1980) is an American musician best known for his work as a producer and session bassist and guitarist. Career Fernando started his career as a session guitar player after playing in Miami Bands, Avenging ...

released an instrumental rock album, ''Energy Overload'', that includes what Eric Harabadian of Music Connection Magazine describes as a "harmonic and rhythmic renovation" of Do Ya Think I'm Sexy.

Parodies

*In 1979, Steve Dahl along with his band Teenage Radiation released a parody titled "Do You Think I'm Disco?"

References

{{Authority control 1978 singles 1978 songs 1979 singles 2017 singles All Around the World Productions singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles British disco songs Cashbox number-one singles DNCE songs Gene Summers songs Music videos directed by Bruce Gowers N-Trance songs Number-one singles in Israel Reprise Records singles Republic Records singles Rod Stewart songs Sabrina Salerno songs Paris Hilton songs Sire Records singles Song recordings produced by Tom Dowd Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs involved in royalties controversies Songs written by Carmine Appice Songs written by Duane Hitchings Songs written by Rami Yacoub Songs written by Rod Stewart UK Singles Chart number-one singles Warner Records singles