Gary Glitter – Rock And Roll

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“Rock and Roll” – Single by Gary Glitter from the album Glitter. A-side: “Rock and Roll Part 1”. B-side: “Rock and Roll Part 2”. Released 3 March 1972. The German version has  A-side “Rock and Roll Part 2” (picture above).
Charted: No.2 in UK and No.7 in US

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”. In concert, Glitter often merged both parts of “Rock and Roll” into one performance.

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. 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.

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Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll Part 2

Gary Glitter - Rock and Roll Part 2 (4K)03:10

This is better known as the “Hey” song because of the chant in the chorus… “da da da da da da da… Hey!” It’s probably the greatest example of “glam rock,” which was characterized by male lead singers dressed in outrageous, usually feminine clothes singing anthemic songs with massive drums. The glam popularized by David Bowie had a lot more nuance, including well-written lyrics that were foreign to Glitter, who by his own admission wasn’t very good at music. He was known more for his appearance and his wild stage shows that featured motorcycles, pyro, and plenty of other distractions.

This got a big boost when Glitter was asked to perform it on the British TV show Top Of The Pops. For the show, Glitter had to put together a band, but since the performances on the show were lip-synched, they didn’t need anyone to actually play. Glitter and Leander found a bunch of people to hold instruments and pretended to play during the show as “The Glitter Band.”

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Gary Glitter - Rock And Roll

gary glitter rock and roll03:00

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