In 1978 disco was a bandwagon just waiting to be jumped on. Acts as unlikely as Kiss and the Rolling Stones were happy enough to climb aboard for the ride, but there was surely no more unlikely a passenger than Mr Rod Stewart. And it's apt to namecheck Kiss here because Paul Stanley had obviously been paying close attention to 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' (no question mark) when he wrote 'I Was Made For Loving You' in that it follows the same low key verse leading into a hook of a chorus, and in so doing paid heed to the missteps of Stewart's attempt and deftly avoiding them.
That 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' fails to spark is down to many failings, but it's useful to start at the actual structure. The verses therein follow the familiar Stewart device of a story in song but they're far too fussy for this genre; boy meets girl in a bar and they go back to his place for sex. Not much of a story granted, but Stewart takes three long verses to tell it and with it comes the impression of an old, half finished demo of a song rescued from the vault with a disco beat and chorus melody stolen wholesale from Jorge Ben's 'Taj Mahal' plastered over the top with the rather crass repetition of "If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, let me know" on the chorus. And it's a chorus that fits ill with the lack of confidence from both parties that Stewart gives the pair in the verses "He's so nervous avoiding all her questions, his lips are dry, her heart is gently pounding".
But in saying that, you can look at the lyrics every which way and never be sure if it's the boy, the girl or both who are making that "If you want my body......." statement, and that's because neither of them are really - it's Rod himself speaking. He knows he's not all that good at this disco thing but he can still pull the birds right? RIGHT??? The medium itself is almost secondary to taking the opportunity to test the water to see if he's still got it, but that cover picture speaks volumes and the lack of attention is telling.
Stewart's voice is naturally geared toward blues/R&B stylings and it comes as no surprise that he makes no concessions to the genre here which makes his vocal not so much out of its depth as swimming in a different pool to the tune. And as far as that goes, the music is a clueless wooze of disco by numbers with blaring synths announcing a half hearted fanfare that amounts to not that much really, just chippy guitar lines and a loose bass that's more dull than sheen and the sum total fails to sparkle any glitterball; it's not that 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' isn't very good compared with 'Maggie May', it's just not very good. Full stop. Rod always had ego to burn, but to see a mid life crisis laid out so nakedly and opportunistically is all rather unsavoury - how sexy do ya think that sounds Rod?
That 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' fails to spark is down to many failings, but it's useful to start at the actual structure. The verses therein follow the familiar Stewart device of a story in song but they're far too fussy for this genre; boy meets girl in a bar and they go back to his place for sex. Not much of a story granted, but Stewart takes three long verses to tell it and with it comes the impression of an old, half finished demo of a song rescued from the vault with a disco beat and chorus melody stolen wholesale from Jorge Ben's 'Taj Mahal' plastered over the top with the rather crass repetition of "If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, let me know" on the chorus. And it's a chorus that fits ill with the lack of confidence from both parties that Stewart gives the pair in the verses "He's so nervous avoiding all her questions, his lips are dry, her heart is gently pounding".
But in saying that, you can look at the lyrics every which way and never be sure if it's the boy, the girl or both who are making that "If you want my body......." statement, and that's because neither of them are really - it's Rod himself speaking. He knows he's not all that good at this disco thing but he can still pull the birds right? RIGHT??? The medium itself is almost secondary to taking the opportunity to test the water to see if he's still got it, but that cover picture speaks volumes and the lack of attention is telling.
Stewart's voice is naturally geared toward blues/R&B stylings and it comes as no surprise that he makes no concessions to the genre here which makes his vocal not so much out of its depth as swimming in a different pool to the tune. And as far as that goes, the music is a clueless wooze of disco by numbers with blaring synths announcing a half hearted fanfare that amounts to not that much really, just chippy guitar lines and a loose bass that's more dull than sheen and the sum total fails to sparkle any glitterball; it's not that 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' isn't very good compared with 'Maggie May', it's just not very good. Full stop. Rod always had ego to burn, but to see a mid life crisis laid out so nakedly and opportunistically is all rather unsavoury - how sexy do ya think that sounds Rod?
No comments:
Post a Comment