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Rock and Roll (Part 1)

"Rock and Roll"
GaryGlitter Rock and Roll.jpg
Original 7" single
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"
Recorded 1971
Genre Glam rock
Length 3:02 (Part 1)
3:10 (Part 2)
Label Bell
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Mike Leander
Gary Glitter singles chronology
"Rock and Roll"
(1972)
"I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock and Roll)"
(1972)
"Rock and Roll"
(1972)
"I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock and Roll)"
(1972)

"Rock and Roll" (also known as "The Hey Song") is a song by English glam rock singer 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 No. 2 on the British charts. In concert, Glitter merged both into one performance.

"Rock and Roll" is Glitter's only US Top 10 hit. It was also in North America that the "Part 2" became popularly associated with sports, as a number of professional teams adopted the song for use during games — primarily to signify scores and victories. It is often referred to as "The 'Hey' Song", as 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 the UK, "Rock and Roll" was one of over 25 hit singles for Glitter. In the US, the instrumental version (Part 2) attracted most of the attention; it hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The US mono 45, which is mixed different from the LP, clocks in at 3:10, while it runs 2:58 on the US LP. In France, "Part 1" was the successful side, peaking at number-one.

Part 2 of the song has become a standard at sporting events, particularly in North America. It was played first in a sport setting in 1974 at games for the Kalamazoo Wings of the high-minor International Hockey League by Kevin O'Brien, the team's public relations and marketing director. When he went to work for the NHL's Colorado Rockies in 1976, he brought the song with him. After the Rockies moved to New Jersey as the New Jersey Devils in 1982, the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos picked up the tradition and were the first NBA and NFL teams to play the song during games.


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