Song Lyric Sunday – Bang A Gong

Posted byChristine BoltonPosted inBlog, Song Lyric SundayTags:, , , , , , , , , ,

We have been challenged to find a song that mentions a bell, buzzer, chime, gong, horn, siren, or whistle for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. I am sure I will not be the only one going for this old T Rex song, Bang a Gong (Get it On). It was sad doing the research for this song and T Rex. I knew Marc Bolan died tragically but I hadn’t realized that several members of the band also died too within a few years of each other.

The video is from Top of the Pops TV show in 1971 and you’ll note Elton John is at the piano.

Just in case there are some duplicates with this song today I remembered Wedding Bell Blues by 5th Dimension.

The Song & Artist

Written by T. Rex lead singer Marc Bolan, this song is all about sex, but with imagery so comically vague it would be hard for even the most prudish listeners to take offense. Bolan’s delivery is feral, and he does keep calling the girl “dirty and sweet,” but you really have to stretch to find sexual connotations in a “hubcap diamond star halo” or a “cloak full of eagles.” The biggest suggestion is in the title.

This song was written and recorded when T. Rex was touring America in 1971. The group had made inroads in their native UK with their 1970 self-titled album, but were little-known in the US. Marc Bolan wanted to change that by coming up with something that would strike to the heart in America. According to T. Rex drummer Bill Legend, he and Bolan worked out the rhythm one day in Bolan’s hotel room, and when the tour got to Los Angeles, the group reconvened with members of the team that worked on their first album: producer Tony Visconti and backup singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who were members of The Turtles and recorded as Flo & Eddie. At Kaylan’s home in Laurel Canyon, they spent all night working up the song, and the next day, they recorded it at Wally Heider Studios in LA. When they got to the studio, they had the chorus, the rhythm, and the “you’re dirty and sweet” line, but Bolan had to come up with the other lyrics on the spot, indicating he wasn’t thinking too hard about them. Everyone agrees that cocaine was involved throughout the process.

This is a great example of “glam rock,” which was characterized by outrageous, often effeminate costumes, nonsensical lyrics, driving beats and very theatrical stage shows.

In the UK, this hit on July 24, 1971, giving T. Rex their second chart-topper there, following “Hot Love.” The band’s American record company, Reprise, dragged their feet on the song and didn’t release it until January 1972. It went to in March, but ended up being the group’s only significant hit Stateside. In the UK, they had two more – “Telegram Sam” and “Metal Guru” – and a total of 11 Top 10s.Producer Tony Visconti blames T.Rex’s one-hit-wonder status Stateside on Bolan himself. “When he came over, he would play ‘Get It On’ with a 20-minute guitar solo, like he was Jimi Hendrix,” he told The Guardian. “The kids wanted to hear basic rock’n’roll. His attendance at shows dropped immediately.”

This song is titled “Get It On” in the UK, but in America, there was a minor hit with that title by a group called Chase in 1971, so the title was changed to the less suggestive “Bang A Gong (Get It On).”

T. Rex singer/guitarist Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld) was a model before finding rock n’ roll stardom. After he dropped out of school at age 14 to pursue acting, his striking looks and style sense earned him an appearance in a 1962 photo story for Town magazine covering the new Mod scene.

On quite a few of T. Rex’s classic recordings (“Hot Love,” “Metal Guru,” “Main Man,” etc.), back-up vocals are provided by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who are best known as “Flo & Eddie,” and were members of both the Turtles and the Mothers of Invention.

Along with the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Rod Stewart, Marc Bolan fled his homeland of England for a spell during the early 1970s, to avoid being hit hard with taxes. Bolan resided in Monaco during this time.

Ringo Starr is credited as the photographer for the front and back cover of T. Rex’s Slider album. Starr also directed the T. Rex documentary film, Born to Boogie.
During the early ’70s, T. Rex was so popular back home in England that Marc Bolan was awarded his own record label, T. Rex Wax Co., of which the first release was the hit single, “Telegram Sam,” on January 21, 1972.

Marc Bolan and David Bowie were longtime pals, and in 1974, the T. Rex leader disclosed in an interview with Melody Maker that he was planning to make a film with the Thin White Duke – with Bolan directing and Bowie writing the script. This project (which was to be science fiction-based) never came to fruition.

The only surviving member of what is T. Rex’s best-known line-up (from 1971-1974) is drummer Bill Legend. Marc Bolan died on September 16, 1977 in an auto accident, bassist Steve Currie also died in an auto accident on April 28, 1981, and percussionist Mickey Finn died from liver and kidney problems on January 11, 2003. Additionally, early percussionist Steve Peregrin Took died due to asphyxiation on October 27, 1980.
Marc Bolan died when a purple Mini driven by his girlfriend Gloria Jones crashed at Queens Ride, southwest London, less than a mile from his home.

Jones, who was badly injured in the crash, had joined T-Rex as a backup singer and keyboard player in 1974. She is best known for recording the original version of Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love.”

The Lyrics

Well, you're dirty and sweet
Clad in black, don't look back and I love you
You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well, you're slim and you're weak
You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you
You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Well, you're built like a car
You've got a hubcap diamond star halo
You're built like a car, oh yeah
Well, you're an untamed youth
That's the truth with your cloak full of eagles
You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on (oh)

Well, you're windy and wild
You've got the blues in your shoes and your stockings
You're windy and wild, oh yeah
Well you're built like a car
You've got a hubcap diamond star halo
You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Well, you're dirty and sweet
Clad in black, don't look back and I love you
You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well, you dance when you walk
So let's dance, take a chance, understand me
You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on (ow)
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on (ow)
(Get it on)

Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on
Get it on, bang a gong, get it on

Take me
For a meanwhile I'm still thinking

Writer/s: Marc Bolan
Publisher: Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Courtesy of Songfacts

Published by Christine Bolton

I have been writing poetry since I was a child and it has helped in the good times and bad times. I am always looking within to find the answers to life's problems and to write thought-provoking poetry and prose. Thanks for checking it out. Christine

13 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday – Bang A Gong”

  2. I was a fan of T.Rex from their early days, before they shortened their name and went glam pop. They started out as a folk duo, just Marc and Steve P-T, playing ethereal music with lots of fairy tale stories. I loved them, and preferred that to their more successful stuff, which I still liked, and which began when they had a #2 hit here with Ride A White Swan. I think of Marc every year: he died on my birthday, and we switched on the tv after getting home from a meal out and heard the sad news. We had seen him in concert in late 1976, and he was fantastic.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Clive. I wasn’t aware of Bolan’s early beginnings with folk music. Very interesting. Yes early 70s was all platform soles and glitter wasn’t it? I don’t remember it being referred to Glam Rock at the time so maybe that description came later. Gary Glitter Band was around at that time too and I remember be-dazzling my bell bottom jeans! 🤣

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      1. It was definitely known as glam rock here. The Sweet, Mud, Slade, Wizzard and the disgraced Gary Glitter among them.

        This is one of Marc’s earlier ones. A bit different in style, I think:

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I learned so much about T-Rex from reading your post, Christine. I always liked this song, even though I wasn’t a big fan of Glam Rock, but it was an important step in the 80s letting guys dress like girls.

    Liked by 1 person

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