Get It On (T. Rex song)
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| "Get It On" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by T. Rex | ||
| Released | 1971 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | 1971 | |
| Genre | Glam rock | |
| Length | 4:25 | |
| Label | Fly (UK); Reprise (US) | |
| Writer(s) | Marc Bolan | |
| Producer(s) | Tony Visconti | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| T. Rex singles chronology | ||
| Hot Love (1971) |
Get It On (1971) |
Jeepster (1971) |
"Get It On" (retitled "Bang a Gong" in the US) 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 18, 1971 ("Hot Love" was #1 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 #10 in January 1972.
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[edit] Lyrics
The song is about a woman (possibly June Child, the wife of singer and songwriter Marc Bolan), whom the narrator claims is clad in black, and that he loves her. He then goes on to suggest that she succumbs to his sexual prowess and that she's built like a car with "a hubcap diamond-star halo". The narrator also says he wants to "take a chance on the stage" with the woman, and that she also has a "groove up her shoes". At the end of the song, he moans "take me" (which was extremely risqué at the time).
It had outrageous lyrics for its time, and many radio stations in America refused to play it. In the UK the BBC strangely had no such qualms and played the song (and its B-side, "Raw Ramp" containing the line "girl I really dig your breasts"). Other equally suggestive songs of the period (such as Paul McCartney and Wings' "Hi, Hi, Hi"), were actually banned.
[edit] Influence, acclaim and trivia
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.
It is seen by many to be the greatest single of the glam rock era, with its wailing feedback and its elegant strings counterpointing against its (much imitated) riff. However, Bolan claims to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and says that the riff is totally 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 (deliberately or subconsciously) the song's main riff, notably the band Oasis, who controversially plagiarised "Get It On" on their 1994 hit "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".
The retitling of the song in the U.S. was to avoid confusion with a song by the same name by the group Chase. Nontheless, 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 Tracks.
[edit] Covers, samples and media appearances
- The song was covered as "Bang A Gong (Get It On)" by the rock band, Power Station in 1985; it was a hit single from their album Power Station. The track was a minor hit on the UK singles chart reaching #22, but it peaked at #9 (one place higher than the original) on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.
- The British production group, Bus Stop, sampled the vocals from the 1971 original, in their 2000 version of the song.
- The song was featured in the 2005 movie Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes.
[edit] Track listing
- "Get It On"
- "There Was a Time"
- "Raw Ramp"
| Preceded by: "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle Of The Road |
UK number one single July 20, 1971 |
Succeeded by: "I'm Still Waiting" by Diana Ross |
