A Swaggering Echo of Rebellion That Shook the Stadiums
In the spring of 1972, Gary Glitter unleashed “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 2)”, a primal, stomping instrumental that roared to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 by August of that year, cementing its place as his only top-ten hit in the United States. Released as part of his debut album, Glitter, this track—co-written with producer Mike Leander—didn’t just climb charts; it stormed into the collective soul of a generation. For those of us who recall the ‘70s, when the world seemed louder, brasher, and unapologetically alive, this song is a sonic time machine—its relentless beat and chanted “Hey!” conjuring images of packed arenas, sticky floors, and the electric hum of youth refusing to sit still. It’s the anthem of an era when rock wasn’t just music; it was a way of being.
The story behind “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 2)” is as wild as the man who made it. Born Paul Francis Gadd, Glitter had been kicking around the music scene since the late ‘50s, a journeyman with a string of failed aliases—Paul Raven among them—until he reinvented himself as the flamboyant, glitter-drenched persona that defined glam rock’s excess. This track started as a sprawling 15-minute jam, whittled down to a tight, three-minute explosion of drums, handclaps, and a detuned guitar riff that Leander twisted into something feral. Recorded in London’s Audio International Studios, it was the B-side to “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 1)”, a vocal-driven ode to the genre’s roots, but it was Part 2’s raw simplicity that caught fire. Its slow burn to success—boosted by Glitter’s outrageous Top of the Pops performance—turned it into a phenomenon, especially in North America, where it morphed into “The Hey Song,” a sports anthem blaring from stadium speakers for decades.
What does “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 2)” mean? It’s less a song and more a visceral pulse—a celebration of rock’s unruly spirit stripped to its bones. With no verses, no narrative, just that booming rhythm and a shouted “Hey!” punctuating the air, it’s pure, unfiltered defiance. For older fans, it’s the sound of freedom—the roar of a crowd, the thrill of a goal, the rush of a night that wouldn’t end. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, it became synonymous with victory, adopted by teams like the Kalamazoo Wings in 1974 and later immortalized in films like Happy Gilmore. Yet its legacy is shadowed by Glitter’s fall—convicted in 1999 and again in 2006 for heinous crimes, his name became a stain, prompting arenas to mute the track by the 2010s. The 2019 Joker film reignited debate, its use of the song a dark nod to chaos, though Glitter, having sold the rights in 1997, saw no royalties.
Still, for those who lived it, “Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 2)” remains a rebel yell—a gritty, glorious echo of a time when the music hit hard and the world felt wide open. It’s the anthem of our untamed years, a beat that refuses to fade, even as its creator’s shadow looms.
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