"(You Can Still) Rock in America" | ||||
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Single by Night Ranger | ||||
from the album Midnight Madness | ||||
Released | November 1983 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Glam metal [2] | |||
Label | MCA Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jack Blades Brad Gillis | |||
Night Ranger singles chronology | ||||
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"(You Can Still) Rock in America" is a song written by Jack Blades and Brad Gillis, and the first single released from Night Ranger's 1983 album Midnight Madness . [3] Former Deep Purple and Black Sabbath singer Glenn Hughes contribute backing vocals on the song.[ citation needed ]
Night Ranger were on tour in Springfield, Illinois with Sammy Hagar in 1983. Singer Jack Blades bought several music magazines in town on his day off, many of which proclaimed "rock is dead" in favor of new wave artists like Thompson Twins or the Cure. Blades refused to believe it, as his band and Sammy Hagar had played so many concerts on their tour with thousands of screaming fans who seemed to think rock and roll was still very much alive. He came up with the chorus first, and then wrote some verses based on what fans would tell him about the lengths they went to to attend rock concerts. "So I just took this one girl's idea of what she was telling me, and I wrote that as a commentary on what I was seeing out there when everybody was saying rock was dead. And that ended up being sort of an anthem for Night Ranger, for sure," said Blades. [4]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "(You Can Still) Rock in America" | Blades, Gillis | 4:16 |
2. | "Let Him Run" | Blades, Keagy, Watson | 3:29 |
Total length: | 7:45 |
Night Ranger
Additional musicians
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100 [5] | 51 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [6] | 15 |
A re-recording of the song is downloadable content for Rock Band 2 and is a playable track on Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock .[ citation needed ]
"(You Can Still) Rock in America" was the opening credits theme song for the television series Rock 'N' America .[ citation needed ]
A snippet plays during the series finale of The Drew Carey Show .
Samuel Roy Hagar, also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a successful solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "I Can't Drive 55". He enjoyed further commercial success when he replaced David Lee Roth as the lead vocalist of Van Halen in 1985, but left in 1996. He returned to the band from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, Hagar was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen. His musical style primarily consists of hard rock and heavy metal.
Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, though bassist Jack Blades performed on all but one of their albums. Other current members of the band include guitarist Keri Kelli and keyboardist Eric Levy.
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