In 1966, he sang for Ireland in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest with the song, "Come Back to Stay". He entered as a solo artist and finished fourth in the Contest. This song also became a number one hit in Ireland. Rock was the subject of a well-known Irish catchphrase—"spit on me Dickie", the origin of this being that rebellious young women in the 1960s wanted to be covered in his saliva in a manner similar to American women idolising the hips of Elvis. The phrase took off in Belfast in the 1960s and spread all over Ireland.

The online Urantia Book claims that (historically) saliva was a potent fetish. Apparently, "devils could be driven out by spitting on a person" and "for an elder or superior to spit on one was the highest compliment"...

much of the online literature on spitting fetishes (as opposed to saliva fetishes) appears to be rooted in BDSM and is usually referred to as 'spitting domination'. The dominant partner may spit into their submissive partner's face and/or mouth. The submissive partner may also be forced to swallow the liquid spit if their mouth is spat into. Many of the online articles about spitting fetishes see parallels between the act of spitting and the act of ejaculation – particularly in relation to 'facials' (i.e., the act of men ejaculating onto someone's face) and the practice of bukkake (i.e., the act of many men simultaneously ejaculating onto someone's face and/or body)...

Compared to all other paraphilic and fetishistic behaviours concerning sexual arousal to human bodily fluids, there is significantly less written about saliva and spitting fetishes. Whether academic and/or clinical research is needed is – at present – debatable.