"I'm Too Sexy" is a song by Englishpop bandRight Said Fred, released in July 1991 byTug Records as their debut single from their first album,Up (1992). The song was written by band members and brothersFred Fairbrass andRichard Fairbrass with Rob Manzoli, and produced byTommyD, peaking at number two on theUK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, it topped the charts in seven countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United States. James Lebon directed the music video for the song, featuring various clips of models walking on thecatwalk. In 2023,Billboard magazine ranked "I'm Too Sexy" among the 500 best pop songs of all time.[4]
The idea for the song came about when the Fairbrass brothers were running a gym in London where, according to Richard, there was "lots of narcissism and posing". One day, he took his shirt off and started singing "I'm too sexy for my shirt" in front of a mirror as a joke. The band originally recorded it as anindie rock song.[5]
It was rejected by multiple record companies before they played it toradio plugger Guy Holmes. He was initially unimpressed after playing it on his car stereo, but his passengers latched on to the song's "I'm a model, you know what I mean" hook, and Holmes asked the band if they could rework it as a dance track.[5]
DJTommyD, an acquaintance of Richard Fairbrass, programmed electronics around the original vocal, whilst guitarist Rob Manzoli added a riff borrowed from theJimi Hendrix song "Third Stone from the Sun".[5]
In May 1992, the song was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Best Selling 'A' Side.[7] "I'm Too Sexy" was the act's first of several hits, particularly in the United Kingdom. They went on to have a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart with "Deeply Dippy" in April 1992.
"I'm Too Sexy" was successful on the singles charts worldwide, becoming a hit on several continents. It made its way to the number-one position in Australia, Austria, Canada (The Record chart), Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and the U.S., where the single topped theBillboardHot 100 as well as theBillboardHot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart. The song reached the next best chart position at number two in Canada (theRPM Top Singles chart), Norway, and the UK, where it peaked in its fourth week on the UK Singles Chart on August 11, 1991.[8] It debuted on the UK chart at number 37 and was held off the number-one spot byBryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". "I'm Too Sexy" spent six weeks at #2 before dropping to #5, #7, and #9, and then leaving theUK Top 10 in October 1991. In the U.S., the song peaked at #4 on both theBillboardHot Dance Club Play chart and theCash Box Top 100, as well as at #28 on theBillboardModern Rock Tracks chart. Additionally, it was a top-10 hit in Belgium (#3), Ecuador (#5), Greece (#5), and Sweden (#8).
"I'm Too Sexy" was certifiedgold in Australia (70,000 copies sold), Austria (25,000), Canada (50,000), New Zealand (5,000), and the UK (470,000). In the U.S., the single receivedplatinum status with a sale of 1 million units.
AllMusic editor Stephen Schnee described the song as a "humorous yet misunderstood swipe at self-centered male bodybuilders and models."[9]J.D. Considine fromThe Baltimore Sun wrote, "With its prodding piano and insistently tuneful bass line, 'I'm Too Sexy' is an insidiously catchy single - the sort that sticks in your memory whether you want it to or not. Fortunately, head FredRichard Fairbrass handles the vocals with enough good humor that the single's annoyance factor remains relatively low.[10] David Taylor-Wilson fromBay Area Reporter called it "a campy send-up of the fashion world."[11]Larry Flick fromBillboard magazine commented, "Thoroughly fun and goofy ditty recently heated up international dance floors and radio airwaves. Fred cheekily boasts about his physical attributes over a festivepop/house groove, which should have no trouble duplicating its success here."[12] Andy Kastanas fromThe Charlotte Observer stated, "This midtempo "techno/house" beat has a catchyhook and unusual, deep male vocals (à laElmer Fudd on steroids) that'll put a meltdown on any ladies in the vicinity. You'll dance whether you like it or not, and the lyrics are sure to give you some chucks when you sing along (and you WILL sing along)... "I'm too sexy for my car, too sexy for your party, too sexy for this song, too sexy it hurts" and on and on."[13]
British magazineMusic Week deemed it an "eccentric"[14] and "amusingly muttered 121.7bpm pop rattler".[15] Clark and Devaney fromCashbox said, "Here is a fun, tongue-in-cheek dance tune that should get lots of club play." They concluded that the group "have put together a clever dance/club put-down of what could only be the whole fashion-model "poser" attitude that's so much in vogue."[16]David Quantick fromNew Musical Express stated, "'I'm Too Sexy' is a great record, not least because it's a piss-take of people who fancy themselves sung by people who fancy themselves."[17] A reviewer fromPeople Magazine described it as a "dopey dance tune mocking fashion models and voguers—but it'll keep you moving."[18]Spin wrote, "This12-inch, along with its video, is the most inescapable assault on mass consciousness since 'Gypsy Woman'. Prepare to be impaled on a throbbing slice of masculinity courtesy of three roughnecks who've already hadMick Jagger down on all fours (they were once his trainers). Lie back and enjoy it."[19]
A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by James Lebon.[20][21][22] In a 2017 interview,Fred Fairbrass told that they had borrowed £1,500 pounds sterling to make the single and then another £3,000-£4,000 to make the video.[23] In it, the group performs while humorously posing as models on a runway set,[24] surrounded by female photographers wearing bikinis. In between, there are clips of real models walking thecatwalk at differentfashion shows. James Muretich fromCalgary Herald described the video as "campy".[25] In the clubs, many people would imitate the band's "catwalk" dance as seen on the video, which was released in January 1992.[26]
NME ranked "I'm Too Sexy" number 15 in their list of "Singles of the Year" in December 1991.[27] In 1993, the song was awarded one ofBMI's Pop Awards in the category for Most Performed College Radio Song of 1992.[28] In June 2007, it was voted No. 80 onVH1's list of "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s".[29] In April 2008, the song was rated No. 49 on "The 50 Worst Songs Ever! Watch, Listen and Cringe!" byBlender.[30] In April 2011, it was voted No. 2 on VH1's "40 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '90s".[31] In 2017,BuzzFeed ranked it No. 90 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s", adding, "Yes, this song is cheesy as hell, but it doesn't ever try to be anything other than what it is: a fun, catchy, campydance song."[32] In 2019,Billboard magazine listed the song at No. 210 in their ranking of "Billboard's Top Songs of the '90s".[33] Four years later, in October 2023, the magazine ranked it at No. 475 in their "Best Pop Songs of All Time" list.[4]
In 2021, Canadian rapperDrake released the song "Way 2 Sexy" with American rappersFuture andYoung Thug, which samples and interpolates the track. The song also topped the Hot 100.[78][79]
In 2022, American singerBeyoncé released the song "Alien Superstar" as part of her seventh studio albumRenaissance, which interpolates the track.[80]
^Rutherford, Kevin (2 August 2018)."Rewinding the Charts: In 1992, Right Said Fred Wasn't 'Too Sexy' for No. 1".Billboard. Retrieved8 September 2023.In 1991, British brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass and Rob Manzoli — who had dubbed themselves Right Said Fred — released their debut song, "I'm Too Sexy," a Eurodance number satirizing the narcissism of fashion culture.
^Pennanen, Timo (2006).Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi.ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
