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Get It On (T. Rex song)
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"Get It On" (retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" in the U.S.) was the second UK number one song for the British rock group T. Rex. It was released from their best-known album, Electric Warrior.
While it only spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting July 24, 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March-May), it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK.
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Encyclopedia
"Get It On" (retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" in the U.S.) was the second UK number one song for the British rock group T. Rex. It was released from their best-known album, Electric Warrior.
While it only spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting July 24, 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March-May), it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK. It peaked on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number ten in January 1972, becoming the band's only major U.S. hit. The song reached #12 in Canada in March 1972.
Influence and acclaim
At concerts (notably at the famous Empire Pool gig in 1972) singer Marc Bolan would rub a tambourine up and down the fretboard of his white Fender Stratocaster during the song's climax.
Bolan claims to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and says that the riff is taken from the Berry song. In fact, a line (And meanwhile, I'm still thinking) of "Little Queenie" is said at the fade of "Get It On".
Numerous artists have copied the song's main riff, notably the band Oasis, who used a very similar riff from "Get It On" on their single "Cigarettes & Alcohol". The band AC/DC (whose Malcolm Young was a Bolan fan) used a similar sounding riff on their album track "High Voltage" in 1975. Prince also used a similar riff on his U.S. chart-topper "Cream". "Cactus" by the Pixies uses a very similar riff, this was later covered by David Bowie who was along with Marc Bolan one of the defining musicians of the glam rock movement. The 1974 Rolling Stones song, "It's Only Rock'n Roll (But I Like It)" also uses a similarly styled riff. A close but not exact rendition can be found on KISS' 1976 classic "Mr. Speed" from their Rock and Roll Over album.
Very admittedly, Def Leppard used the riff on their 1988 single "Armageddon It". The tone and production of the song is more similar to the Power Station version. Def Leppard has also covered "Get It On" numerous times live as well as covering 20th Century Boy on their album Yeah!.
The retitling of the song in the U.S. was to avoid confusion with a song by the same name by the group Chase. Nonetheless, it remains arguably the group's best-known song, and one of the songs most closely associated with the era.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Get It On" at number 36 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Track
A cover of the song is available as a downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band.
Power Station version
"Get It On (Bang a Gong)" was covered by The Power Station in 1985. Their version was released as the second single from their debut album. The track was a minor hit on the UK Singles Chart (reaching number 22) but it peaked at number nine (one place higher than the original) on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. When Robert Palmer heard that the other Power Station members had recorded demos for "Bang a Gong", he asked to try out vocals for it. Before long, the band had decided to record the entire album with Palmer. This single, along with "Some Like It Hot", became the Power Stations' signature songs.
The song was performed live on Miami Vice with Michael Des Barres on vocals, where all of the then-touring group had cameos.
Tracklisting
7": Parlophone / R 6096 (UK)
- "Get It On" (45 Mix) - 3:43
- "Go To Zero" - 4:57
12": Parlophone / 12 R 6096 (UK)
- "Get It On" - 5:31
- "Get It On" (45 Mix) - 3:43
- "Go To Zero" - 4:57
Covers, samples, TV and Film appearances
- Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry included a cover of it on Once a Rocker, Always a Rocker, a 1983 album by his side project, aptly named The Joe Perry Project.
- Kingdom Come covered it on their self-titled 1988 album. (Actually, this is not the Bolan song, but a Lenny Wolf song with more than a passing resemblance to Led Zeppelin's Kashmir).
- The 1980s British "sophisti-pop" band The Blow Monkeys performed the song live; two such performances are documented on the DVDs Animal Magic and Live in London.
- The British dance act Bus Stop (known in the U.S. as "London Bus Stop") sampled the vocals from the T. Rex original in their 2000 version of the song, which charted at #59 in the UK.
- The 2001 reissue of Blondie's classic 1978 album Parallel Lines included a live recording of the song (from 1977 or '78) as a bonus track.
- Anglo-American rock supergroup Power Station covered Get it on on their 1985 album The Power Station
- The song is a downloadable track in the game Rock Band.
- Rick Wakeman played the piano heard in the background of "Get it On".
- The song is heard multiple times in the 1994 comedy The Stoned Age.
- The song was featured in the 1995 British surf film Blue Juice.
- The song was featured in the 2000 film Billy Elliot.
- In the mid-1990's, the channel Sony Entertainment Television showed promo videos that followed this song's tune; the lyrics, however, were changed to "Turn It On."
- It is featured in the opening scene of the season two premiere of Friday Night Lights, "Last Days of Summer."
- It was used in the film Meet the Fockers.
- British band Top of the Poppers covered the song on their Top of the Pops, Volume 18 album.
- The song was featured in the 2002 film The Trip.
- The song was also featured in the 2004 South Korean Film "Flying Boys".
- The song was featured in the 2005 movie Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes.
- Los Bunkers a rock band from Chile included on their album "Vida de Perros"(2005) one studio version of this song.
- Ministry covered "Bang a Gong" on their 2008 covers album Cover Up.
- The song is featured in the opening scene of the 2008 film The Bank Job.
- The song was covered by Howard Stern's band The Losers on his radio show.
- The song was used in the 2008 ABC series Life on Mars.
Track listing
UK 7" vinyl single:
- "Get It On"
- "There Was a Time"
- "Raw Ramp"
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