THE YEAR IS 1991!
- Right Said Fred is comprised of the buff brothers Richard and Fred Fairbrass, and at the time, guitarist Rob Manzoli. The Fairbrass Brothers were managers at a London dance studio called the Dance Attic, where they came across lots of narcissism and posing. As Rich Fairbrass tells it, they had a loop playing on the computer, and inspired by his dance studio experience he spontaneously took his shirt off and started singing, “I’m too sexy for my shirt.” The guys thought it was hilarious and worked up the song around the phrase. A demo found its way to the ears of a music promoter named Guy Holmes, who contacted the band, had them remix the song into a dance track (it was originally a rocker), and shopped it to record labels.
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The guitar riff was interpolated from a 1967 Jimi Hendrix song called “Third Stone From The Sun”. This was the work of the group’s guitarist, Rob Manzoli; since the Fairbrass brothers weren’t familiar with Hendrix deep cuts, they had no idea the riff came from another song until the Hendrix estate threatened legal action.
- The group started of as a serious rock act, but when this song took off, the Fairbrass brothers took on the personas of the character in this song, dressing the part and preening appropriately. The group quickly settled in as a dance music act with a humorous bent. Their litmus test for a good song became: Does it make you laugh? Most UK listeners were in on the joke, but American audiences often perceive the Right Said Fred frontmen as being just as dippy as they appear.
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