Get It On (T. Rex song)

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"Get It On"
File:T.Rex Get It On single cover.jpg
Single by T. Rex
from the album Electric Warrior
B-side "There Was a Time" / "Raw Ramp"
Released July 2, 1971 (1971-07-02)
Format 7" single
Genre
Length 4:25
Label Fly (UK)
Reprise (US)
Writer(s) Marc Bolan
Producer(s) Tony Visconti
T. Rex singles chronology
"Hot Love"
(1971)		 "Get It On"
(1971)		 "Jeepster"
(1971)

"Get It On" is a song by the British glam rock group T. Rex, featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by frontman Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart-topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by the group Chase.[3]

History

Bolan claimed to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and said 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".[4]

This was the song that virtually ended the once-solid friendship between Bolan and John Peel, after Peel made clear his lack of enthusiasm for the song on air after playing his advance white label copy. Bolan and Peel only spoke once more before the former's death in 1977.[5][6]

During a December 1971 Top of the Pops performance, Elton John mimed a piano on the song.[7][8] This performance is usually the video clip for the song which has aired on various music-video outlets such as VH1 Classic.

The track was recorded at Trident Studios, London and the piano on the record was performed by either Rick Wakeman or Blue Weaver. Mark Paytress notes that both pianists may have played separate piano parts on the song, with Wakeman contributing only the piano glissandos that feature several times throughout the song. [9]

Saxophones were played by Ian McDonald of King Crimson. Producer Visconti later recalled: "He played all the saxes, one baritone and two altos. I kept the baritone separate but bounced the altos to one track. I bounced the backup vocals to two tracks, making an interesting stereo image."[10] Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan provided back up vocals on the song.[11]

Track listing

  • US: Reprise / 1032
  • UK: Fly Records / BUG 10
  • Germany: Ariola / 10 327 AT
  • Denmark: Stateside / 6E 006-92700
  • France: Columbia / CBS 7393 (without "There Was a Time")
  1. "Get It On" (Marc Bolan) – 4:25
  2. "There Was a Time" (Marc Bolan) – 1:00
  3. "Raw Ramp" (Marc Bolan) – 4:14

Personnel

Chart performance

It spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting 24 July 1971[12] ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March to May[13]), and it was the group's biggest hit overall, selling nearly a million copies in the UK[citation needed]. It peaked on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart at number ten[14] in January 1972, becoming the band's only major US hit. The song reached No. 12 in Canada in March 1972.[15]

Chart (1971/1972) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[12] 1
Australian Singles Chart 11
Canadian RPM Top Singles[15] 12
German GfK chart[16] 3
Dutch Top 40[17] 15
Irish Singles Chart[18] 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[19] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[20] 3
US Billboard Pop Singles[14] 10
Preceded by UK number-one single
24 July 1971 – 14 August 1971 (1971-08-14) (4 weeks)[12]		 Succeeded by
"I'm Still Waiting" by Diana Ross[22]
Preceded by Ireland number-one single
12 August 1971 – 19 August 1971 (1971-08-19) (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"Never Ending Song of Love" by The New Seekers

Power Station version

"Get It On (Bang a Gong)"
File:Power Station Get It On single cover.jpg
Single by The Power Station
from the album The Power Station
B-side "Go to Zero"
Released 29 April 1985
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded 1984
Genre Hard rock
Length 3:43 (45 Mix)
5:31
Label Parlophone
Writer(s) Marc Bolan
Producer(s) Bernard Edwards
The Power Station singles chronology
"Some Like It Hot"
(1985)		 "Get It On (Bang a Gong)"
(1985)		 "Communication"
(1985)

"Get It On" was covered by The Power Station in 1985. Their version – titled "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" – was released as their second single from their debut album. The track was a strong hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the single peaked at number nine (one place higher than the original) in the summer of 1985.[23] Meanwhile, in the UK, the song reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart.[24] 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.[25] This single, along with "Some Like It Hot", became The Power Station's signature songs.

On 13 July 1985, The Power Station (as well as Duran Duran), had a participation at Live Aid, on the Philadelphia concert, in which the band performed the song, this time, with the British singer Michael Des Barres on vocals.[26]

The female dancer featured in the video is American dancer/singer-songwriter Sara Carlson.[27]

The song also was performed live on the Miami Vice episode "Whatever Works", with Michael Des Barres on vocals,[28] where all of the then-touring group had cameos.

Track listings

7" vinyl single

  • US: Capitol Records / B-5479
  • UK: Parlophone / R 6096
  • Australia: EMI / A1510
  • Europe: EMI / 20 0632 7
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Get It On"   Marc Bolan 3:43
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Go to Zero"   Guy Pratt, Robert Palmer 4:57

12" vinyl single

  • US: Capitol Records / V8646
  • UK: Parlophone / 12R 6096
  • Europe: Parlophone / 1C K 060 20 0631 6
  • Canada: Capitol Records / V 75107
Side one
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Get It On"   Bolan 5:31
Side two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Get It On" (45 Mix) Bolan 3:43
2. "Go To Zero"   Pratt, Palmer 4:57

Chart performance

Chart (1985) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 9
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks[23] 19
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[23] 47
Irish Singles Chart[29] 12
UK Singles Chart[24] 22

Other cover versions

  • In 1979, studio disco group Witch Queen released a disco version of the song, simply titled, "Bang A Gong". It peaked at number eight on the disco charts.[30]

Sampling and References

British dance act Bus Stop (known in the US as "London Bus Stop") sampled the vocals from the T. Rex original in their 2000 pseudo-cover of the song, which charted at No. 59 in the UK.[31]

The alt-country band Old 97's referenced the line "you got the teeth of the Hydra upon you" on the track "Singular Girl" from the album Satellite Rides.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Blair Jackson, "Classic Tracks: T. Rex's 'Bang a Gong (Get It On)'", Mix at the Wayback Machine (archived August 30, 2006)
  4. ↑ Paytress, Mark, Bolan: The Rise And Fall Of The 20th Century Superstar, p. 182, Omnibus Press (2003), ISBN 978-0-7119-9293-1
  5. ↑ Paytress, Mark, Bolan: The Rise And Fall Of The 20th Century Superstar, p. 182-3, Omnibus Press (2003), ISBN 978-0-7119-9293-1
  6. ↑ Peel, John, Margrave of the Marshes, p.236, 238–9, Bantam Press (2005), ISBN 978-0-593-05252-5
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Paytress, Mark, Bolan: The Rise And Fall Of The 20th Century Superstar, p. 182, Omnibus Press (2003), ISBN 978-0-7119-9293-1
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Sara Carlson music dance art|My Story @saracarlson.net Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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