Get It On (T.Rex song)

Infobox Single
B-side:"There Was A Time" + "Raw Ramp" + "Electric Boogie"
Name = Get It On


Artist = T. Rex
from the Album = "Electric Warrior"
Released = 1971
Format = 7" single
Genre = Glam Rock
Length = 4:25
Label = Fly (UK); Reprise (US)
Writer = Marc Bolan
Producer = Tony Visconti
Chart position =

• #1 (UK), (Ireland)

• #10 (USA)

[Reviews =] *
Last single = "Hot Love"
(1971)
This single = "Get It On"
(1971)
Next single = "Jeepster"
(1971)

"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. Fact|date=September 2008

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".Fact|date=September 2008

Numerous artists have copied the song's main riff,Fact|date=September 2008 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". 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 have 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 "Rock Band".

Power Station version

Infobox Single
Name = Get It On (Bang a Gong)


Artist = The Power Station
from Album = "The Power Station"
B-side = "Go to Zero"
Released = 1985
Genre = Rock
Writer = Marc Bolan
Producer = Bernard Edwards
Label = Parlophone - R 6096
Chart position =
* #22 UK Singles Chart
* #9 Billboard Hot 100
Last single = "Some Like It Hot" (1985)
This single = "Get It On (Bang A Gong)" (1985)
Next single = "Communication" (1985)

"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 and media 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.
*Los Bunkers a rock band from Chile included on their album "Vida de Perros"(2005) one studio version of this song.
*The song was featured in film "Billy Elliot".
*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.
*The song was featured in the 2005 movie "Jarhead", directed by Sam Mendes.
*The song was featured in the 2002 film "The Trip".
*Americano-British 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".
*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".
*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 1995 British surf film "Blue Juice".
*The song was also featured in the 2004 South Korean Film "Flying Boys".

Track listing

UK 7" vinyl single:
*"Get It On"
*"There Was a Time"
*"Raw Ramp"