Rock and Roll (Gary Glitter song)

"Hey song" redirects here. For the Taiwanese beverage producer, see HeySong Corporation.

"Rock and Roll"
Song
A-side	"Rock and Roll Part 1"
B-side	"Rock and Roll Part 2"

"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. The US mono 45, which is mixed different from the LP, clocks in at 3:10 while the on the US LP, it runs 2:58. In France; Part 1 was the successful side, reaching #1. In the UK, "Rock and Roll" was one of over 20 hit singles for Glitter.

Use in sporting events

Part 2 of the song has often been played at various sporting events in Canada and the United States, particularly when the home team scores (or wins). It was played first in a sport setting at Kalamazoo Wings hockey games in 1974 when Kevin O'Brien, the public relations and marketing director, started using it during games. When he went to work for the Colorado Rockies hockey team in 1976, he brought the song with him. After the demise of the Colorado Rockies, the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos picked up the tradition and are the first NBA and NFL teams to play the song during games.

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.

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, even though 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. Other professional and college teams in the US and Canada have discontinued using the song.

Sports teams

• Anaheim Ducks
• Carolina Hurricanes
• Chicago Bulls
• Colorado Avalanche
• Colorado Rockies
• Dallas Stars
• Denver Broncos
• Detroit Red Wings
• Florida Panthers
• Hartford Whalers
• Indianapolis Colts
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Kings
• Miami Heat
• Michigan Wolverines
• Minnesota North Stars
• Nashville Predators
• New Jersey Devils
• New York Islanders
• Norfolk Admirals
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Quebec Nordiques
• San Francisco 49ers
• San Francisco Giants
• San Jose Sharks
• New York Knicks
• Sydney Thunder
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Vancouver Canucks
• Washington Capitals
• Brooks Bandits
• Calgary Flames

In popular culture and sampling

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)
• Sudden Death (1995)
• 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)
• Lizzie McGuire episode "One of the Guys" (2001)
• Moonlight Mile (2002)
• Like Mike (2002)
• Meet the Fockers (2004)
• Ni tú Ni Nadie (2004)
• The Longest Yard (2005)
• Ice Princess (2005)
• Semi-Pro (2008)
• Four Christmases (2008)
• South Park episode "Elementary School Musical" (2008)
• "Causa y Efecto" (2009)

Cover versions

Punk band D.I. covered this song on their 1983 EP Team Goon.

The song is the opening track to Phish's widely-acclaimed 1999 live album, Hampton Comes Alive.

The Human League recorded a version on their UK-released EP Holiday '80, appearing also on some issues of the Travelogue album. The band's debut performance on BBC TV's Top of the Pops was of this cover version, in May 1980 when the said EP charted.

A band called DNA formed by Rick Derringer and Carmine Appice released a cover version of "Rock and Roll, Part 2", complete with crowd cheers, on their 1983 album Party Tested.

"Doctorin' the Tardis", a novelty electronica single by The Timelords, alias The KLF, included a re-setting of "Rock and Roll"'s chorus with the lyric "Dr Who, Dr Who, hey! The Tardis", and reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1988.

The song was also used from 1998-1999 on the Channel 4 breakfast show The Big Breakfast in the UK. When a member of the film crew misbehaved, disagreed or undermined the presenters, Johnny Vaughan would banish them to the "Steps of Woe". As the shamed crew member departed the Big Breakfast house, the presenters and the rest of the crew would sing "Steps of Woe, Steps of Woe, hey!" until they reached the steps of the band stand at the bottom of the garden.

Sammy Hagar used a re-worked version of this song as the basis for his song "Mas Tequila" on the album Red Voodo

The Black Keys built the song "Howlin' For You" around the distinctive drum beat in "Rock and Roll." The song also has a similar guitar riff to the Gary Glitter song.