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Stewart was known for his soulful blues and folk ballads, but this gave him a new look. Stewart gained many new fans with this, but alienated most of his old ones, who had no interest in Disco. As a member of The Faces, he earned a reputation as hard-rocking party animal, but this changed that image.

Most of the music for this song was written by drummer Carmine Appice, who had recently joined Stewart's band. Appice told us: "We were in the studio and 'Miss You' by The Rolling Stones was a big hit. Rod was always a guy that used to listen to what was going on around him. He was always looking at the charts and listening. He was a big fan of The Rolling Stones, so when they came out with Miss You, Disco was really big at the time, so he wanted to do some kind of Disco-y song, something like 'Miss You,' nothing like Gloria Gaynor. With the band, he would always tell us, 'I want a song like this' or 'I want a song like that,' so I went home and I came up with a bunch or chords and a melody. I presented it to him via a friend of mine, Duane Hitchings, who is a songwriter who had a little studio. We went in his studio with his drum machines and his keyboards, and he made my chords sound better. We gave Rod a demo of the verses and the bridge, and Rod came up with the chorus. We played it with the band many, many ways before we got the correct arrangement with Tom Dowd. Unfortunately, they put so much stuff on it that it dwarfed the sound of the band. It made the band sound smaller because it had strings and 2 or 3 keyboard players, congas, and drums. When we were doing it, we thought it was going to be more like The Rolling Stones with just the band playing it. It came out and went to #1 everywhere."

The distinctive riff came from an instrumental song called "Taj Mahal" by a Brazilian musician named Jorge Ben. When Ben filed suit, Stewart agreed to give proceeds from the song to UNICEF. There is a Blues guitarist named Taj Mahal who made his own version of the song using this same riff. The title, and also the only lyrics in the song, is "Jorge Ben."

Appice: "If you look at the lyrics, it was a story. Rod told stories in his songs: 'The Killing Of Georgie' was a story, 'Tonight's The Night' was a story. Any of his songs are like little mini-stories. 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." (Thanks to Carmine for speaking with us about this song. His website is carmineappice.net.)

Stewart claims this song is not about him, as it is sung in the third person.

Stewart used the title as the name of his 1978 tour. He would wear tight spandex and gyrate on stage. When he sang the title line, hoards of women would scream back, "Yes!"

This went along with the Hollywood lifestyle Stewart had adopted. He moved from England to Los Angeles in 1975 and quickly fit in with the glamorous crowd. Dating blonde models was his specialty.

This was promoted by an unusual "video-within-a-video." It showed people watching him perform this on a "television screen." The concert footage was taped first - whenever Stewart forgot the lyrics, he'd turn his face away from the camera. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)

Stewart was ahead of his time from a marketing standpoint. Not only did he make a video for this before MTV was even a glimmer, but he also released a limited edition 12" version, which was guaranteed to be a collector's item because only 300,000 were made. The album was also released as a limited edition picture disc, which contained graphics printed directly on the vinyl as well as a cardboard pull-out of Stewart's face. 100,000 copies were pressed.

A Chicago disc jockey named Steve Dahl released a parody of this called "Do You Think I'm Disco" which became a weapon in the war to rid the world of Disco. Read about Dahl's Disco Demolition Night in Song Images.

Paris Hilton recorded this in 2006 on her first album.

This was used in an animated TV commercial for Chips Ahoy! where a cartoon cookie sings.

Comments:

Great song by an amazing artist.
- Scott, Honolulu, HI

heart beating like a drum, yeah thats how I feel when I hear this song
- JoAnn, Portsmouth, VA

Listening to Bobby Womack's "If You Want My Love, Put Something Down On It" from the 1975 album "I don't know what the world is coming to" couldn't help but notice the string motif was familiar... Immediately thought of checking out "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (1978) to realize the riff is almost entirely lifted off of this album, released three years earlier... Hmmm...
- james, montreal, QC

This song is an absolute classic. It represents the day Disco jumped the shark.
- MrCleaveland, Cleveland,

Duane Hitchings also was co-writer !! Why do I know ? I am Duane Hitchings !! LOL !! The credits got messed up plus a few other glitches - long story. Trust me, I am getting paid. Neither Rod nor I or I think Carmine was to crazy about Sexy --- but it went ballastic ! And yes, Rod was making a statement about the cocaine cowboys and their gold chains in the 70s. Conclusion, if many poeple likes the song, we did our job. That is our job - trying to make people happy !
- Duane Hitchings, Hendersonville, TN, TN

This song is so ridiculously bad, that it's actually good.
- Jeff, Austin, TX

On Alice!, Alice and Mel Sharple's Mom was singing this at Lenny's house of Veal and they did great! On So I married an Ax Murderer the dad kept sing it over and over. I love this song!
- Jennifer Harris, Grand Blanc, MI

He stopped performing this song in concert LONG before 2005. I think he quit singing it sometime in the mid-80s. I saw him in 93 or so (the Unplugged and Seated tour) and he sang about 30 seconds of it, stopped the band and said something along the lines of, "Nope. Not gonna do that one!" Then he went into a real song. Never been a big fan of this one. I always thought that "Passion" was better...and it wasn't all that great, really.
- Mark, Austin, TX

I hate this song by Rod Stewart. I'm shocked that they stole the riff from Jorge Ben from his 1972 song, Taj Mahal, and then said they gave the proceeds to UNICEF! yeah right they did. I just hope that Jorge Ben got his fair share from the international success from this song.
- dave, London, England

I HATE this song.
- Jude, Ashland, OH

Rod Wears it well (meaning) his age,His talent, His life, and his Music. ughhh, come on we all get older, but he wears it well.
- mike, Clarksville, TN

I actually like this song. Rod Stewart has a great voice but he hasn't always had the best song material to work with.
- Mike, Hueytown , AL

Paul - the 1990s cover version was actually by N-Trance, not N-Sync, and it sucked
- Dave, Cardiff, Wales

Ever hear "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies? 1970 or so? These are also the first words of DYTIS. I could name a few other songs with similarities. Now Rod's a musician, and the subconscious being what it is, why wouldn't there be similarities in music? It's a form of art; Stewart isn't necessarily a hack. If you listen to "Blondes Have More Fun" (the entire album), you will see a broad range of musical styles, and this, I think, makes the album one of the best of the Seventies. DYTIS and songs like it were part of that era. Hey, I was just a kid, and I didn't like disco, but I sure dug this one, as well as the entire album--appreciating it more and more as time goes by.
- J.D., Tampa, FL

No-one ever mentions the fact that Rod and Jagger went to the Sao Paulo music festival in 77, which is where they heard Taj Mahal by Jorge....so then Carmine must have just picked up on the vibe in the studio, huh ? What total bogue-ness.
- DJ, london, England

I dont care what anyone says about this song, it might be bad but Rod stewart is the man!!!!!
- Brittany, Richmond, KY

In a 2005 interviews, Rod Stewart said that he no longer performs this song in concert, saying it would be a bit "silly" for a man of his age to be asking that!
- Ken, Louisville, KY

The late and great Kenny Everett once did a wonderful parody of this on the BBC when he dressed up as Rod and performed the song but with an expanding arse that floated him up to the ceiling. Hilarious fun! N-Sync also did a rap cover version of the song in the 1990's which was rather catchy.
- Paul, Worcs, England

I vaguely recall reading many many years ago an interview of, or quotation attributed to, Rod Stewart suggesting that he was sorry for having recorded this song and this kind of music. I think he blamed a European (Dutch?) model for having influenced him in this direction. Does anyone else recall reading something like this? I also remember watching a CBS "60 minutes" segment in fall of 1980 on the craze the song inspired among the costume/bikini clad roller skaters on Venice Beach, California. Anyone else remember that?
- T., Lahore, Pakistan

hmmm, number 1 in the uk and the us, rare.
- Charlie, Thomaston, CT

I can't stand the song. Someone said (and of course I don't believe it) that some GUY (?)wrote it to Stewart.
- John, Seattle, WA

Rod has a concert here in New Orleans that has been sold out
- jon, Harvey, LA

And yet, through it all, nobody caught on to Rod's joke. The whole thing was written and recorded as a parody of disco - Do you think I'm sexy? Get it? Maybe not. I got it back in 1979 when I was only 11 - well, my mother gave me a clue and then Rod confirmed it later on.
- John, Greeneville, TN

This song was played by bagpiper Jek Cunningham in the movie "So I Married An Ax Murderer" during the wedding party scene. He fell down while playing, and Charlie's father, who was singing along, uttered the famous line "We have a piper down!"
- Erik, Davis, CA

This song was co-written with Rod by Vanilla Fudge's Carmine Applice. He played the drums in the song, too.
- DC, Hilo, HI

I still like him. Always have, always will. He's got a great voice and puts so much into his songs.
- Susie, Jacksonville, FL