Rock and Roll (Gary Glitter song)
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- For the Taiwanese beverage, see HeySong.
| "Rock and Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Original 7" single |
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| Single by Gary Glitter | ||||
| from the album Glitter | ||||
| A-side | "Rock and Roll Part 1" | |||
| B-side | "Rock and Roll Part 2" | |||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Genre | Glam rock, Pop rock | |||
| Length | 3:02 (Part 1) 2:58 (Part 2) |
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| Label | Bell Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Gary Glitter, Mike Leander | |||
| Producer | Mike Leander | |||
| Gary Glitter singles chronology | ||||
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"Rock and Roll", also known as "The Hey Song", is a song performed by British glam rocker Gary Glitter that was released in 1972 as a single and on the album Glitter. Co-written by Glitter and Mike Leander, the song is in two parts: Part 1 is a vocal track reflecting on the history of the genre, and Part 2 is a mostly instrumental piece. Both parts were popular in Britain, and the single went to #2 on the British charts. In concert, Glitter merged both into one performance.
In the US, the instrumental portion (Part 2) attracted most of the attention; it hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the years since, Part 2 of the song has often been played at various sporting events in Canada and the United States, particularly when the home teams scores (or wins). It was played first in a sport setting at Colorado Rockies hockey games in the late 1970s,[1] and the Denver Broncos are the first NFL team to play the song during games.[2]
The nickname "The Hey Song" refers to fact that 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. At sporting events, fans often insert their own "hey," or sometimes other chanted syllables.
"Rock and Roll" was one of over 20 UK hit singles for Glitter. Part 2 of this song has been used in the soundtrack to many movies, including The Sandlot (1993), Reality Bites (1994), D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), Eddie (1996), The Full Monty (1997), Small Soldiers (1998), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Beautiful Game (1999), Bedazzled (2000), The Replacements (2000), Sugar & Spice (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), Meet the Fockers (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Semi-Pro (2008), and Four Christmases (2008).
[edit] Reaction to Glitter conviction
In 2005-2006, Glitter was convicted on child sexual abuse charges in Vietnam. After the conviction was upheld in court, the NFL asked teams to stop playing the song, although Glitter had already been convicted and imprisoned on child pornography charges in Britain in 1997. The NFL has allowed a cover version of the song by the Tube Tops 2000 to be played.[3] Subsequently, some professional and college teams in the US and Canada have discontinued using the song.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Swimming Through History", Westword, 4 October 2001
- ^ "The Vibes Of Victory", Sports Illustrated, 30 November 1992
- ^ "Column: Why did NFL muzzle Gary Glitter?". Yahoo! Music news. 2006-09-15. http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/35824326. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
