“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 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 team scores (or wins). It was played first in a sport setting at Colorado Rockies hockey games in the late 1970s, and the Denver Broncos are the first NFL team to play the song during games. The song is also played at Baltimore Orioles 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 France; Part 1 was the successful side, reaching #1. In the UK, “Rock and Roll” was one of over 20 hit singles for Glitter.
[via Lars K. Andersen in Buenos Aires’ son!]
New Music United 