Play it Again, Sam #7a - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"

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99° here in Golden, Colorado, as I write this. So why not make today's edition of Play it Again, Sam, about the hot nights of 70's disco! As always, Play it Again, Sam is a two part discussion consisting of an original song followed by a cover of that song. We are at #7a, the "original:" "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" by Rod Stewart. Mod rock and roller Rod Stewart must have had a blast with his smash 1978 disco hit, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", from his album, Blondes Have More Fun. Written by Stewart, legendary rock drummer Carmine Appice (who also played drums on the track,) and keyboardist Duane Hitchings, the song was an intentional spoof on the disco movement, and the movie, Saturday Night Fever, in particular (as Hitchings put it, rock and roll guys thought they were "dead meat" when the movie was released, particularly with the success of the Bee Gees-laden soundtrack. "The Bee Gees were brilliant musicians and really nice people...Rod, in his brilliance, decided to do a spoof on disco. VERY smart man." While Stewart donated the royalties from the single to UNICEF, the tune was not without controversy. Stewart was sued by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor, who claimed that the song's chorus was taken from his song, "Taj Mahal" (Stewart claimed "unconscious plagiarism" and settled out of court,) and Stewart has admitted using the string section of Bobby Womack's "(If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It" as the basis for "Sexy's" synthesizer riff. UNICEF probably received a fortune from the song's proceeds, however. The single, including the Billboard Hot 100, reached #1 in seven countries, and charted in a total of 21 countries, failing to land in the Top 10 in only Japan and Sweden. Spoof though it may be, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" remains one of the strongest, most memorable disco tunes of the era. Stay tuned! (Info verified by Wikipedia)