Old Time Rock and Roll
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"Old Time Rock and Roll" is a song made famous by Bob Seger and featured in his 1978 album Stranger in Town. It is a nostalgic look at the music of a previous generation. The song was featured in the Tom Cruise film Risky Business and gained widespread notoriety because of its inclusion. The track was also featured on WKRP in Cincinnati on the episode "Pilot: Part Two" shortly after its initial release. The song was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. The famous piano "false start" at the beginning of the song was actually an error caused by the tape operator at the legendary recording studio. Seger and his management, however, liked how the "mistake" sounded and kept it in the final mix.
Bob Seger's version is actually quite different from the original. He said in 2006 (and also on the Stranger in Town episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard a few years earlier):
All I kept from the original was: Old time rock and roll, that kind of music just soothes the soul, I reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock and roll. I rewrote the verses and I never took credit. That was the dumbest thing I ever did. And Thom Jones and George Jackson know it too. But I just wanted to finish the record [Stranger in Town]. I rewrote every verse you hear except for the choruses. I didn't ask for credit. My manager said: "You should ask for a third of the credit." And I said: "Nah. Nobody's gonna like it." I'm not credited on it so I couldn't control the copyright either. Meanwhile it became a Wendy's commercial because I couldn't control it. Oh my God, it was awful![1]
Although Seger's version only reached number 28 on the U.S. pop charts when released as a single in 1979, it achieved substantial album-oriented rock radio airplay. A version of the song was released as a single in 2000 by Status Quo and featured on their Famous in the Last Century album.
In Australia, the song was released twice and charted for a total of 55 weeks. The first run was in 1983 after its use in the film "Risky Business". The second run saw it reach #3 in late 1987.
In 2001 the song was chosen by RIAA as one of the Songs of the Century. On 30th November 2006 it was featured on BBC soap Eastenders with Gary and Minty dancing to the song on the radio.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Sharp, K.: Classic Rock, Issue 102, page 59. Future Publishing, 2007.
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