After the Rockies moved to New Jersey as the New Jersey Devils in 1982, the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos picked up the tradition and were the first NBA and NFL teams to play the song during games. When he went to work for the NHL's Colorado Rockies in 1976, he brought the song with him. It was played first in a sport setting in 1974 at games for the Kalamazoo Wings of the high-minor International Hockey League by Kevin O'Brien, the team's public relations and marketing director. It is often referred to as "The 'Hey' Song," as the only intelligible word in Part 2 is the exclamation of "Hey," punctuating the end of several instrumental phrases and repeated three times at the song's chorus.
In North America, "Part 2" became popularly associated with sports, as a number of professional teams adopted the song for use during games, primarily to signify scores and victories, or to otherwise invigorate the crowd. In France, "Part 1" was the successful side, peaking at number one. The running time of the US mono 45, which is mixed different from the LP, is 3:10 whilst it is 2:58 on the US LP. In the US, the instrumental version (Part 2) attracted most of the attention it hit No. In the UK, "Rock and Roll" was one of over 25 hit singles for Glitter. Since Glitter's convictions for child sex offences, the song's continued use has been controversial. It was also in North America that the "Part 2" became popularly associated with sports, as a number of professional teams began to play the song during games to invigorate the audience. "Rock and Roll" is Glitter's only top 10 hit in the U.S. In concert, Glitter merged both into one performance.
Both parts were popular in Britain, and the single went to No. Co-written by Glitter and Mike Leander, the song is in two parts: Part 1 is a vocal track reflecting on the history of the genre, and Part 2 is a mostly instrumental piece. " Rock and Roll" is the debut single by English glam rock singer Gary Glitter that was released in 1972, from his debut album Glitter. " I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock and Roll)"