“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
Label Bell
Songwriters Gary Glitter and Mike Leander
Producer Mike Leander
Charted No.7 in US; No.2 in UK; No.4 in West Germany; No.3 in Canada; No.4 in Ireland; No.1 in France.
Glitter had a role on a TV show in England called Ready, Steady, Go, where among is duties was warming up the audience. This is where he met Mike Leander, who used some studio time when a singer named David Essex (“Rock On”) didn’t show up for a session. He had Glitter and a bunch of their friends improvise different sounds over a beat he had from a song called “Shag Rag, That’s My Bag.” They ended up with a 15-minute dance song, which they edited some more and called “Rock And Roll Parts 1 And 2.”
There is a “Rock And Roll Part 1,” with lyrics that repeat “Rock And Roll” instead of “Hey.” It was on the same album and released as the flip side of the single. Glitter and Leander didn’t know which one to release as a single, so they released it as a double A-side and let radio stations pick. Part 2 was the winner.
“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, (especially in American football), as a number of professional teams began to play the song during games to invigorate the audience.
Glitter Band
John Rossall – trombone, saxophone (1973–1974; died 2021)
Harvey Ellison – saxophone, guitar, piano, backing vocals (1973–1977; died 2017)
Pete Gill – drums (1973)
Bob Edmunds – saxophone (1973–74)
Gerry Shephard – guitar, lead and backing vocals (1973–1979, 1981–2001) (born 1951 – died 2003)
Tony Leonard – drums (1973–1977, 1981–1985)
