March 3, 1972: Gary Glitter Releases "Rock and Roll Part 2"

March 3, 1972: Gary Glitter releases the song "Rock and Roll Part 2." Because of its chorus, it becomes known as "The Hey Song." Also because of that chorus, it becomes a sports anthem. Because of Glitter's private life, it becomes one of the most problematic songs of all time.

Paul Francis Gadd was born on May 8, 1944 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. After failing to gain much traction under the name Paul Raven in the late 1960s, he began using the stage name Gary Glitter, and latched onto the early 1970s trend of "glam rock" or "glitter rock." Dressing it glittery outfits, usually with a jacket over a bare shirt, and an Elvis Presley-like pompadour hairstyle, he had several hits on the British charts, but only one that Americans would remember -- or, should I say, half of one.

"Rock and Roll" -- not to be confused with the title of the same song that Led Zeppelin released the same year, 1972 -- is 6 minutes long. The 1st half is a tribute to the music itself, with references to its beginnings in the U.S. in the 1950s; while Part 2 is an instrumental piece aside from the regular exclamation of the word "Hey" in different tones as the only lyric.

Part 2 became heavily used in American sports. It started in 1974, when the Kalamazoo Wings, a minor-league hockey team in Michigan, began using it after they scored a goal. The team's marketing director, who did it, was Kevin O'Brien. In 1976, he was hired by an NHL team, the Colorado Rockies, and it soon began to be played by the other major league teams in town, the NFL's Denver Broncos and the NBA's Denver Nuggets.

In 1982, the Rockies moved to the Meadowlands, and became the New Jersey Devils, and kept the song. Eventually, Devils fans began following up "Hey!" by pointing at the opposing goaltender and yelling, "You suck!" This spread to the nearby soccer team, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, later the New York Red Bulls. In 2012, Major League Soccer ordered that what became known as "The HYS Chant" -- and also "The YSA Chant," the shout of "You suck, asshole! on goal kicks" -- be stopped, and it was.

In 1999, Glitter was convicted of downloading child pornography in his native England. In 2006, he was convicted of child sexual abuse charges in Vietnam. Much of Asia, including Vietnam and Thailand, is a hub for "sex tourism," and this has included minors. Nevertheless, the reason Glitter was arrested there is because he was a pariah in Britain following his 2000 release from prison, and he had been chased out of Spain, Cuba and Cambodia, before being accepted in Vietnam. Nevertheless, he served 2 years in prison there. Sports leagues began prohibiting the song.

He was released in 2008, returned to Britain, and tried to revive his career. He was unable, and sold the rights to his songs. So, despite the outcry over the use of "Rock and Roll, Part 2" in the scene in Joker when Joaquin Phoenix, in full regalia, dances down the steps, Glitter gained no money from it.

In 2014, he was arrested on sex crime charges again, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. As of March 3, 2022, he remains in prison.

UPDATE: He was released in 2023, but violated the conditions of his parole within weeks, and was taken back to prison.

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March 3, 1972 was a Friday. Darren Anderton, the English soccer player who was injured so often that he was nicknamed "Sicknote," was born on this day. This was also the day that Stone Mountain was dedicated in Georgia. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Buffalo Braves, 105-97 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 94-81 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 125-96 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 114-104 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. 

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 108-107 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 90-80 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-103 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Spencer Haywood led all NBA scorers on the night, with 35 points.

And there were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Miami Floridians beat the Carolina Cougars, 130-127 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-116 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. Charlie Scott topped all pro players on the night, with 42 points.

* And the Pittsburgh Condors beat the Memphis Pros, 115-114 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

There were 4 NHL games played:

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 7-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.