Rock On (song)

"Rock On" is a song recorded in 1973 that was composed and sung by English singer/songwriter David Essex. In March 1974, it reached number one in Canada on the RPM national Top Singles chart^[1] and was a Top 5 song (reaching the number five position) on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop-music chart. It was Essex's only Billboard Top 40 hit. The song also reached the number three spot on the UK Singles Chart. "Rock On" was the title track to Essex's 1973 debut album and was also featured on the soundtrack album to the 1973 film That'll Be the Day, in which Essex had a starring role. The song is still frequently played on classic rock and oldies radio stations.

Essex later re-recorded the song in 1988 with an updated lyric. The version, which was remixed by Shep Pettibone, appeared on Essex's 1989 album Touching the Ghost. A single release of the updated version reached number 93 on the UK charts. The recording is featured in the movies Dick, The Devil's Rejects and Sunset Strip, as well as in episodes of The Sopranos and Cold Case.

Arrangement and Context

The song features a slow-tempo vocal performance in a minor key, along with a minimalist, heavily bass-driven instrumental accompaniment to Essex's vocals. The lyric pays homage to early rock and roll and its surrounding youth subculture, and notably to 1950s iconic rebel James Dean. The musical arrangement is quite distinctive. While Essex's voice is overlaid with reverb, which itself echoes early rock-n-roll production, Herbie Flowers' bass guitar is inflected with an obtrusive delay effect, a sort of slowed down reverb sound. "Rock On" can be linked to Don McLean's 1971 song, "American Pie", as a mysterious valediction for the recent past. The song might otherwise be located within the 1950s nostalgia strand in popular music of the 1970s; though in this context, Essex's allusive, ambiguous song is quite unlike typical expressions of the nostalgia boom, for example the hits of the UK band Showaddywaddy.

Michael Damian version

"Rock On" was covered by soap opera star and singer Michael Damian in 1989 and featured in the teen film, Dream a Little Dream, starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, among others. It became his first hit in eight years, since his 1981 cover of Eric Carmen's song, She Did It.

Damian's version, which he also released from his independent album Where Do We Go From Here on the Cypress Records label, which A&M Records distributed, was a harder-edged interpretation that employed none of the vocal or instrumental distortion Essex's version had used. It reached the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, thus outperforming Essex's original Billboard ranking. However, the song did get to #1 for Essex in '74 on the US Cashbox charts, the same week it was at #11 on the Billboard Charts. In addition, Haim, Feldman, and Meredith Salenger all appeared in the music video for the song.

This version was ranked #99 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s (despite the fact that Damian actually had four Billboard charting singles during the '80s).

Other versions

• The English hard-rock band Def Leppard covered the song on their 2006 album, Yeah!, which features cover versions of 1970s rock hits. It was released as the second single from the album. It became a staple in their live setlist for the ensuing tours.
• The American alternative-rock group The Smashing Pumpkins included a live cover version of "Rock On", performed during their Sacred and Profane tour, on their 2001-release album Judas O, a bonus disc (containing B-sides and rarities) which accompanied the group's greatest hits album Rotten Apples.
• The Dave Howard Singers released their version as a single in 1986.
• The Canadian artist Betty Moon covered the song on her debut album under the name "Bambi" in 1987. The song became a regional hit in Southern Ontario.
• The song was covered by power/heavy metal band Heavens Gate on its EP Open The Gate And Watch in 1990.
• The song was covered by Toni Basil on her album Word of Mouth.
• The song was covered by Adam Freeland, on the album Cope.
• The song was covered by Garland Jeffreys on the USA release of his album The King of In Between (2012). In Europe it was available as free download.
• Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor included a cover of the song on some versions of his 1990 covers album Dangerous.
• American new wave band Blondie covered the song in 2012 and released it via Amazon.^[2]

References

*Library and Archives Canada shows this single to attain the #1 position on the date and hold it for one week. There is no chart for March 23 available. The March 30 chart shows the previous week's position to be #2.