"Rock and Roll"
Original 7-inch single
Single by Gary Glitter
from the album Glitter
A-side"Rock and Roll Part 1"
B-side"Rock and Roll Part 2"
Released3 March 1972 (1972-03-03)
Recorded1971
GenreGlam rock[1][2]
Length
  • 3:04 (Part 1)
  • 3:00 (Part 2)
LabelBell
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mike Leander
Gary Glitter singles chronology
"Rock and Roll"
(1972) 		"I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock and Roll)"
(1972)

"Rock and Roll" is the debut single by English glam rock singer Gary Glitter that was released in 1972, from his debut studio album Glitter. Co-written by Glitter and Mike Leander, the song is in two parts: Part 1 is a vocal track with a "Rock and Roll, Rock" chorus and some verses reflecting on the history of the genre, while Part 2 is an instrumental piece aside from the regular exclamation of the word "Hey" in different tones as the only lyric.

Both parts of "Rock and Roll" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, staying at number two for three consecutive weeks and was kept off the number one spot by Donny Osmond's cover of "Puppy Love".[3] In concert, Glitter often merged both parts of "Rock and Roll" into one performance.

"Rock and Roll" is Glitter's only top ten single in the United States. It was also in North America that "Rock and Roll Part 2" became popularly associated with sports, as a number of professional teams began to play the song during games to invigorate the audience. Since Glitter's convictions for child sex offences, the song's continued use has been controversial.

In the UK, "Rock and Roll" was one of over 25 hit singles for Glitter. In the US, the instrumental version (Part 2) attracted the vast majority of the attention; it hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] The running time of the US mono 45, which is mixed different from the LP, is 3:10 whilst it is 2:58 on the US LP.

In France, "Rock and Roll Part 1" was the most successful side, peaking at number one.

Popular use

Sports

In North America, "Rock and Roll Part 2" became popularly associated with sports, as a number of professional teams adopted the song for use during games, primarily to signify scores and victories, or to otherwise invigorate the crowd. It is often referred to as "The Hey Song", as the only intelligible word in Part 2 is the exclamation of "Hey", punctuating the end of several instrumental phrases and repeated three times at the song's chorus. It was played first in a sport setting in 1974 at games for the Kalamazoo Wings of the high-minor International Hockey League by Kevin O'Brien, the team's public relations and marketing director.[5] When he went to work for the NHL's Colorado Rockies in 1976, he brought the song with him. After the Rockies moved to New Jersey as the New Jersey Devils in 1982, the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos picked up the tradition and were the first NBA and NFL teams to play the song during games.[5] At sporting events, fans often insert their own "Hey," or sometimes other chanted syllables (such as "you suck!"—which controversially led to a decision by the Devils to switch to a song by New Jersey-native Bon Jovi instead).[6]

In 1999, Glitter was convicted of downloading child pornography in England, and in 2006 of child sexual abuse charges in Vietnam. After the second conviction was upheld in court, the NFL asked teams to stop playing the song.[7] The NFL allowed a cover version of the song by the Tube Tops 2000 to be played, but in 2012, the NFL instructed teams to "avoid" the song following negative reaction from British media to the New England Patriots' use of the song. In 2014, Billboard reported that the song was slowly falling out of favour due to both the controversies, and teams electing to replace it with newer songs.[8][9][10]

Film

In 2019, "Rock and Roll Part 2" appeared in Todd Phillips' film Joker as Arthur Fleck dances down a staircase, generating public controversy. Some sources indicated that Glitter, as co-writer of the song, would receive a lump sum and royalties for its use.[11] According to the Los Angeles Times, Glitter does not receive payment when the song is used as he has sold the rights, and the US rights to the song are now owned by Universal Music Publishing Group.[12]

Chart performance

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set Top 40)[13] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 4
Canadian RPM Top Singles[15] 3
France (SNEP)[16] 1 (Part 1)
9 (Part 2)
Irish Singles Chart[17] 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 6
New Zealand (Listener)[20] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 4
UK (Official Charts Company)[22] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 7
West Germany (Official German Charts)[23] 4

Cover versions

A cover version of Part 1, entitled 'Rock 'n' Roll', was recorded and released by British electronic music group The Human League and included on their EP Holiday '80 (1980).[24] The group also performed the track on Top of the Pops in May 1980, although the single failed to make the Top 40.[25] Another version of the Human League's recording makes a direct segue into a cover version of the Iggy Pop track "Nightclubbing".[26]

Part 2 was sampled in the Timelords' hit "Doctorin' the Tardis".[27]

Part 2 is used as the tune for "Boris Johnson Is Still a Fucking Cunt" by the Kunts.[28]

References

  1. ^ Dave Thompson. "Rock & Roll, Pt. 2 review on Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 July 2013. "It was Mike Leander, Glitter's producer and co-writer, who conceived the song, basing it around an earlier, failed, recording called "Shag Rag, That's My Bag." (...) Trimmed to 15 minutes, they called it "Rock & Roll." Edited down to an even more manageable length, they renamed it "Rock & Roll (Pts. 1 and 2)," and launched Gary Glitter as one of the brightest stars on the entire glam rock firmament."
  2. ^ Stuart Rosenberg (2009). iUniverse (ed.). Rock and Roll and the American Landscape: The Birth of an Industry and the Expansion of the Popular Culture, 1955-1969. p. 181. ISBN 978-1440164583. "Glam rock would bring considerable success to a number of British artists, such as Gary Glitter (nee Paul Gadd), who hit number 7 in 1972 with "Rock and Roll Part 2.""
  3. ^ "1972 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 8th July 1972". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Gary Glitter awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b Lisa Twyman Bessone. "Sports fans know that the strains of 'Rock and Roll Part 2' can turn chumps to champs". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  6. ^ "NJ Devils fans boo new Bon Jovi goal song, yearn for Gary Glitter". Puck Daddy. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  7. ^ Bradley, Lloyd, Glitter, Gary (1992) Leader: The Autobiography of Gary Glitter. Time Warner Paperbacks p. 129 ISBN 0751500097
  8. ^ "Column: Why did NFL muzzle Gary Glitter?". Yahoo! Music. 15 September 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2008.[dead link]
  9. ^ "Why Convicted Child-Sex Offender Gary Glitter's 'Hey Song' Is Still Getting Played". Billboard. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  10. ^ "NFL bosses ban Gary Glitter's 'Rock And Roll Part 2' from the Super Bowl". NME. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  11. ^ Meredith, Sam (7 October 2019). "Convicted pedophile Gary Glitter set to earn big royalties from 'Joker' movie". CNBC. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  12. ^ Appleford, Steve (11 October 2019). "Will a convicted pedophile make a fortune from a 'Joker' song?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Rock and roll in Australian Chart". Poparchives.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  14. ^ "Gary Glitter – Rock And Roll Part 2!" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  15. ^ "Rock and roll part 2 in Canadian Top Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  16. ^ "Rock and roll in French Chart" (in French). Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013. You have to use the index at the top of the page and search "Gary Glitter"
  17. ^ "Rock and roll part 2 in Irish Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 18 July 2013. Only one result when searching "Rock and roll part 2"
  18. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Gary Glitter - Rock And Roll" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  19. ^ "Gary Glitter – Rock And Roll Part 2!" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  20. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz.
  21. ^ "Gary Glitter – Rock And Roll Part 2!". Swiss Singles Chart.
  22. ^ "1972 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive - 8th July 1972". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Gary Glitter – Rock And Roll Part 2!" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 28 February 2019. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Gary Glitter"
  24. ^ "The Human League – Holiday 80 / Rock 'N' Roll". Discogs.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  25. ^ "HOLIDAY 80 (EP) by Human League". Official Charts. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  26. ^ "The Human League – Holiday '80". Discogs.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  27. ^ Donnelly, Kevin J. & Hayward, Philip (2013). Music in Science Fiction Television: Tuned to the Future. Routledge. pp. 141–142. ISBN 9780415641074.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ Jones, Danny (9 December 2021). "Campaign launched to get 'Boris Johnson Is Still A F*****g C**t' to Christmas number one". JOE. Retrieved 9 December 2021.

External links

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