The little-known radio moment that made Right Said Fred global icons
The little-known radio moment that made Right Said Fred global icons
The little-known radio moment that made Right Said Fred global icons
Gary Oberholzer
The little-known radio moment that made Right Said Fred global icons
Before Right Said Fred became global chart stars, they were still working shifts at a London gym… and struggling to convince anyone in the music industry to believe in them.
It’s hard to imagine now, considering how instantly recognisable “I’m Too Sexy” became in the early 1990s. The cheeky, self-aware anthem topped charts around the world, reached number one in the United States, and turned brothers Fred and Richard Fairbrass into unlikely international stars. But according to the duo, the song almost never made it onto radio at all.
The band admits that record companies initially wanted nothing to do with the track. That’s when their young manager, Tamsin, came up with a bold plan: skip the labels entirely and get the song directly to radio DJs.
And somehow… it worked!
Listen to the Backstory below:
Source: uDiscover Music
The breakthrough moment came when legendary Simon Bates played a pre-release copy of the song on BBC Radio 1, while broadcaster Gary Crowley spun the extended 12-inch version. The reaction was immediate.
According to the band, Radio 1’s switchboard “went insane”.
Back at the gym where they were still working at the time, their own phones started ringing off the hook too — with tabloids, television bookers, and suddenly, the opportunity to appear on Top of the Pops.
The song would eventually peak at number two in the UK — famously held off the top spot by Bryan Adams and his blockbuster hit “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”. But in America, “I’m Too Sexy” went all the way to number one, something even the band themselves never expected.
Did You Know?
“I’m Too Sexy” was reportedly inspired by the brothers overhearing self-obsessed behaviour at fashionable gyms and clubs in London. The song began as a tongue-in-cheek joke about vanity — but became one of the defining pop hits of the decade.
And it all started because a few radio DJs took a chance on a song the music industry had already dismissed.
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