THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

386-T. Rex-Get It On.

1971-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 3.27. Can you name a song that is known by a different title in another country?

Marc Bolan (see also best songs 790 and 67) was born Mark Feld on September 30th, 1947, in Hackney, London, England, he died on September 16th, 1977, when the car he was travelling in as a passenger struck a fence post, and then a tree, killing him instantly. He chose his stage name ‘Bolan’ as a tribute to Bob Dylan, (see also best songs 792-621-358-103-36 and 7) choosing the first two letters in ‘Bob,’ and the last three letters in ‘Dylan’. Marc Bolan formed T. Rex (originally called Tyrannosaurus Rex) in 1967, the group remained active until his death in 1977, with Bolan being the one constant, in total there were 13 different members come and go, with the classic line up who played on this track being Marc Bolan, (lead vocals, and guitar) Steve Currie, (1947-1981) (bass guitar) and Bill Legend (drums.)

‘Get It On’ was the first of two singles released from ‘Electric Warrior,’ the sixth studio Album from T. Rex, from September 1971, the first four Album releases were as ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex.’ ‘Get It On’ was written by Marc Bolan, with the production being by Tony Visconti, (see also best songs 790-386-302-209-118 and 67) the other musicians who played on the track were Rick Wakeman, (piano, and Hammond organ) (see also best songs 203 and 5) Ian McDonald, (1946-2022) ( baritone and alto saxophones) and Mark Volman, and Howard Kaylan, (backing vocals) (see also best songs 790.) The ‘Electric Warrior’ Album is considered groundbreaking, acknowledged as the first fully fledged ‘Glam Rock’ Album, and an influence on future artists in their development of Hard Rock, to Punk, to New Wave.

‘Get It On’ should be filed under the musical genre of ‘Glam Rock.’ Glam Rock is a style of Rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970’s, and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and the hairstyles of its musicians. Glam Rock music primarily developed from the ‘Rock and Roll’ of the 1950’s, and the ‘Bubblegum Pop’ of the late 1960’s, with differing artists also incorporating ‘cabaret,’ ‘science fiction,’ and complex ‘Art Rock.’ ‘Glam Rock’s’ origins are associated with Marc Bolan, and it was his appearance on the ‘BBC’ music show ‘Top of the Pops’ in March 1971 wearing glitter and satins, to perform ‘Hot Love’ that is often cited as the moment of it’s inception.

When ‘Get It On’ was released in America it was re-titled ‘Bang a Gong’ as to avoid confusion with a current minor hit called ‘Get It On’ from the American Jazz Rock group ‘Chase.’ ‘Get It On’ is a song with clever obscure lyrics, it is probably about sex, but can also be interpreted as a song about drugs. ‘Bang the Gong’ is slang for snorting coke, and in the 1850’s it meant asking for Opium. ‘Get It On’ is the best selling single released by T. Rex and spent four weeks at Number 1 in the UK, it was the follow up to ‘Hot Love’ which had spent six weeks at Number 1. In America amazingly T. Rex are known as ‘one hit wonders’ with this song being their only charting record, when reaching Number 10 on Billboard. The songs producer was the legendary Tony Visconti who would work on a total of eight T. Rex Albums between 1968-1974,’ he has explained why he thinks that T. Rex had limited commercial success in the States, ‘When he came over, (Marc Bolan) he would play ‘Get It On’ with a 20-minute guitar solo, like he was Jimi Hendrix. The kids wanted to hear basic Rock ‘N’ Roll. His attendance at shows dropped immediately.’

In 1985 ‘Get It On’ was covered by the ‘supergroup’ ‘The Power Station,’ which was made up of Robert Palmer, (1949-2003) (see also best songs 432) members of the ‘Disco’ group ‘Chic,’ (see also best songs 175 and 17) and the ‘Pop/Rock’ group Duran Duran,’ (see also best songs 903) they took their version to Number 22 in the UK, and Number nine on Billboard in America, one place above the T. Rex original.

As for songs that are known by different titles in other countries, the two which come to mind with me are the Sheena Easton song ‘9 to 5’ (1981) which in America is known as ‘Morning Train,’ in order to avoid confusion with the Dolly Parton song (1980) of the same name. In 1967 the American Pop/Rock group The Monkees recorded a song written by band member Micky Dolenz called ‘Randy Scouse Git,’ the record company refused to release it in the UK under that title because of the offence it might cause, eventually both parties agreed on the track being called ‘Alternate Title.’

‘Well you’re dirty and sweet, clad in black, don’t look back and I love you. Well you’re slim and your weak, you’ve got the teeth of a hydra upon you, you’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl.’