Get It On (T. Rex song)

1971 single by T. Rex

"Get It On" is a song by the English rock band T. Rex, featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by frontman Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by the group Chase.

Following the success of T. Rex's single, "Hot Love", the band went on a United States tour. While in New York in March 1971, Bolan asked drummer Bill Legend to help him brainstorm drum patterns for a song idea that would later become "Get It On". Bolan claimed to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and said that the riff was taken from the Berry tune. In fact, a slightly edited line (And meanwhile, I'm still thinking) from "Little Queenie" is delivered during the fade of "Get It On". According to producer Tony Visconti, this line was an unscripted ad lib by Bolan during recording. The track was recorded at Trident Studios, London, and the piano on the record was performed by either Rick Wakeman or Blue Weaver. Mark Paytress notes that both pianists may have played separate parts on the song, with Wakeman contributing only the piano glissandos that feature several times throughout the song. Saxophones were played by Ian McDonald of King Crimson. Producer Visconti later recalled: "He played all the saxes, one baritone and two altos. I kept the baritone separate but bounced the altos to one track. I bounced the backup vocals to two tracks, making an interesting stereo image." Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (formerly The Turtles) provided back up vocals. During a December 1971 Top of the Pops performance, Elton John mimed a piano on the song.

It spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting 24 July 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March to May), and it was the group's biggest hit overall, with Bolan claiming that it sold a million. It peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at #10 and at #12 in the Cash Box Top 100 in March 1972, becoming the band's only major US hit. The song reached No. 12 in Canada in March 1972.

"Get It On" was covered by the Power Station in 1985. Their version – referred to as "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" in the US – was released as their second single from their debut album. The track was a strong hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the single peaked at number nine (one place higher than the original) in the summer of 1985. Meanwhile, in the UK, the song reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. When Robert Palmer heard that the other Power Station members had recorded demos of the song, 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 Station's signature songs. On 13 July 1985, the Power Station (as well as Duran Duran), had a participation at Live Aid, on the Philadelphia concert, in which the band performed the song, this time with the British singer Michael Des Barres on vocals. The female dancer featured in the video is American dancer/singer songwriter Sara Carlson. The song also was performed live with Michael Des Barres on vocals, in the Miami Vice episode "Whatever Works", which featured all of the then touring group in cameo roles.

British dance act Bus Stop (known in the US as "London Bus Stop") sampled the vocals from the T. Rex original in their 2000 pseudo cover of the song, which charted at No. 59 in the UK. English rock band Def Leppard named their twelfth studio album, Diamond Star Halos, after a line in the song.