Right Said Fred

Right Said Fred came out of East Grinstead as the vehicle of brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass, who had been knocking around the music business for years before "I'm Too Sexy" made them famous in 1991. As the Actors they had toured with Suicide and opened for Joy Division at the Factory club in Manchester. Richard went on to play session bass for Boy George, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, turning up as the bassist in Bowie's short film Jazzin' for Blue Jean, and Fred played guitar in the Bob Dylan film Hearts of Fire in 1987.

They took the band's name from Bernard Cribbins's 1962 novelty hit, which tells you how seriously to take them. Richard sang and played bass, Fred played guitar, and after early drummer Ray Weston left for Wishbone Ash and guitarist Dan Kruse moved on, Rob Manzoli joined on guitar in 1990 and stayed until 1997.

Signed to Charisma, they struck with "I'm Too Sexy": deadpan, strutting pop rock with a bassline that won't quit and a vocal that preens like it's rehearsing in front of a mirror. It's a novelty record, sure, but one with a groove sturdy enough to outlast the joke.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.