Divining Rod

Rod was my first.

Concert, that is. I saw him on his Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? tour at Madison Square Garden, and even with my older sister for a chaperone, I’m surprised my parents let me go—I mean, this was a kid who wasn’t allowed to see a movie unless it was deemed “unobjectionable” by the Long Island Catholic newspaper. Had the editors got a load of Rod, all humping and bumping in his leather and spandex, no way would I have been standing there in my borrowed Candies heels (which I wound up ruining somehow—I can still see a greasy spot on the perforated beige leather) with my three fellow Most Holy Trinity schoolmates.

I don’t remember much of the concert, but I can still recall holding the album in my 5th-grader hands (Blondes Have More Fun!), and singing the song from whence the tour took its name—supposedly Rod’s answer to the Stones’ “Miss You”—with my classmates, screaming with laughter and having no idea if he was sexy or not, mainly because I didn’t have a working definition of sexy.

We were too young for Rod to be included on our “cute” radar (which likely targeted no male older than 15), but not too dull that we didn’t get his overall appeal. He was like one of those satin baseball jackets popular at the time, all fancy and slick and shiny, and certainly not as threatening—to young me, at least—as, say, Led Zeppelin. (I remember being unsettled and kind of frightened by “The Lemon Song,” and would always pick up the needle and plunk it down on the next track, the way, way more digestible “Thank You." ) Yes, I know, there’s a delicious irony—and something so sweet, too—in a bird-watching, sticker-collecting, genuflecting, funny-looking misfit of a little girl saving up to buy the even-then old Led Zeppelin II, isn’t there? Admittedly, I wasn't advanced enough to have made the Rod/Faces/Jeff Beck connection, though.

Anyway, thank you, Rod, for putting out (at the concert, people!) and for being a true showman. Bonus points for the meezer, too.

Supporting materials for getting your Rod on
Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? video
HA!! I found the squats particularly jarring, but overall a classic.

Everything you always wanted to know about Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Something about the layout of the page is very endearing. Is it the melon-and-tangerine freshness? Favorite bit: “This song was used in an animated TV commercial for Chips Ahoy! where a cartoon cookie sings.”