BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1978

DISCO FRIDAY!

R E Q U E S T

“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” is a song co-written and recorded by Rod Stewart. It was written with Carmine Appice, and produced by Tom Dowd. The song spent one week at the top of the British charts in December 1978 and four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, starting 10 February 1979. 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.

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.”

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 Ben. Stewart admits “unconscious plagiarism” of the Ben Jor tune in his 2012 autobiography.

SPECIAL NOTE:
Most copies of the US 12″ include the album track “Scarred And Scared” as the b-side however this pressing contains the Jim Burgess “Special Disco Mix” on both sides. As a special bonus I have included the rare live version of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” taken from the 1979 “A Gift Of Song” The Music For Unicef Concert album as the b-side. I hope that you like it.

SIDE A:
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (Special Disco Mix) 6:29
Remix – Jim Burgess
Written-By – Carmine Appice, Rod Stewart

SIDE B:
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (Music For Unicef Live Version) 6:12
Narrator [Intro] – Henry Winkler
Written-By – C. Appice*, R. Stewart*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint (company)

CHARTS:

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records – WBSD 8727
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1978
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Disco
Credits: Producer – Tom Dowd

NOTES:
From the Warner Bros. Album BSK 3261 “Blondes Have More Fun”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi