I'm almost embarrassed to say, I've never seen the video for Word Up... almost embarrassed... I had no idea what you meant about the reference to "the red rubber codpiece" until, well, there it was! Let's elevate this musical footwear discourse just a little bit:
Hearing Pekka Kuusisto go from playing a rustic, baroque interpretation of Sibelius' Violin Concerto to an intimate yet earthy encore was breathtaking. Here's one of his encore pieces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6jH6L_bHo0