Rod Stewart — Da Ya Think I'm Sexy？

JUL 01 1978 · 12:00

Rod Stewart — Da Ya Think I'm Sexy？ (1978) Director: Bruce Gowers Era: Disco Era / Late Classic Rock Transition (1978) - Peak of the disco crossover moment, when rock veterans pivoted to four-on-the-floor production; Rod Stewart's most commercially transformative single, filmed as a pre-MTV promotional clip at the dawn of the music video era. Tier-1 artifact of the pre-MTV music video canon. As one of the earliest narrative-performance hybrid promo films produced by a major rock act, directed by the same filmmaker responsible for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (1975), this video holds foundational significance for any archive tracing the evolution of the music video as a commercial art form. Its quantitative profile — slow pace, warm low-contrast lighting, minimal motion — is a direct fingerprint of 1978 promo conventions and provides an invaluable comparative baseline against the faster-cut, higher-saturation MTV era that followed within three years. Context: Released in November 1978, 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' arrived at the cultural apex of the disco era and represents one of the most commercially calculated rock-to-disco pivots of the decade. Co-written by Stewart, drummer Carmine Appice, and Duane Hitchings, the song incorporates melodic elements from Jorge Ben Jor's 'Taj Mahal' — a copyright dispute Stewart later settled, donating royalties to UNICEF. The video, directed by Bruce Gowers just as he was relocating to the US following his breakthrough 'Bohemian Rhapsody' clip, is historically significant as one of the earliest purpose-made promotional music films for a major rock act, predating MTV's 1981 launch by nearly three years. The production is a foundational artifact of the pre-MTV promo era. Director notes: The 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' music video is confirmed as directed by Gowers, listed on IMDb (tt6863816), FilmAffinity, and multiple obituary sources. It was produced in 1978 for Warner Bros. Records as a promotional clip for the lead single from Stewart's ninth studio album 'Blondes Have More Fun.' The video features Rod Stewart, drummer and co-writer Carmine Appice, and Norwegian model Lillian Müller (Playboy Playmate of the Year 1976) as the female lead. Paul Flattery served as producer — Gowers and Flattery were frequent collaborators, described as among the very earliest practitioners of the music video format in the pre-MTV era. Gowers directed multiple Rod Stewart videos, including 'The Killing of Georgie,' 'I Don't Want to Talk About It,' and 'Young Turks.' The slow shot pace (avg 16.35s) and warm low-contrast aesthetic are consistent with Gowers' controlled, theatrically lit live-performance style documented across his 1970s catalog.