"20th Century Boy" | ||||
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Single by T. Rex | ||||
B-side | "Free Angel" | |||
Released | 2 March 1973 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:39 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Marc Bolan | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Visconti | |||
T. Rex singles chronology | ||||
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"20th Century Boy" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan, released as a stand-alone single on 2 March 1973. [4]
It entered in the UK Singles Chart at number 3, on 10 March 1973 and peaked three weeks in a row at that position. [5] It stayed a total of nine weeks in the UK Chart. [5]
"20th Century Boy" was not featured on the album Tanx , released at the same time in early March. It was later added as a bonus track in the reissues of Tanx from year 1985 and on all the versions released since. The song returned to the UK Top 20 in 1991, peaking at No. 13, [6] after being used in a TV commercial for Levi's starring Brad Pitt. [7] The song was also used in the opening of the 2016 film The Purge: Election Year, and is the namesake of the manga series 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa.
"20th Century Boy" was recorded on 3 December 1972 in Toshiba Recording Studios in Tokyo, Japan at a session that ran between 3:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. [8] [9]
Backing vocals, hand claps, acoustic guitar and saxophones were recorded in England when T. Rex returned to the country after their tour. [8]
The single version of the track fades out at three minutes and 39 seconds; however, the multi-track master reveals that the song ended in nearly a full three minutes' worth of jamming. [8] [9] A rough mix of the full-length version can be found on the Bump 'n' Grind compilation. [9]
According to Marc Bolan, the lyrics are based on quotes taken from notable celebrities such as Muhammad Ali. This can be seen through the inclusion of the line "sting like a bee", which is taken from one of Ali's 1969 speeches. [10]
"Free Angel" was recorded during the first session for the Tanx album, between 1 and 4 August 1972. The single was mixed for release at Air Studios on 16 December 1972. [9]
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom (BPI) [23] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
In 1983, British rock band Girlschool recorded the song for their fourth studio album, Play Dirty , and it was released by Bronze Records as the album's lead single in October 1983. [24] Girlschool's version was produced by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder of Slade.
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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UK Heavy Metal Singles (MRIB) [25] | 8 |
Canadian rock band Chalk Circle covered "20th Century Boy" in 1987.
Chart (1987) | Peak position |
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Canada (Cancon) [26] | 9 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [27] | 44 |
"20th Century Boy" | ||||
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Single by Def Leppard | ||||
from the album Yeah! | ||||
Released | 2006 | |||
Label | Mercury | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marc Bolan | |||
Producer(s) | Def Leppard | |||
Def Leppard singles chronology | ||||
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English hard rock band Def Leppard covered the song on their 2006 album, Yeah! , which features cover versions of 1970s rock hits. It was released as the third and final single from the album, on 21 August 2006. [28] The band used the song extensively as promotion for including two TV appearances and a regular rotation in the setlist of their 2006 Yeah! Tour. Def Leppard performed "20th Century Boy" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 23 May 2006 [29] two days before performing the song with Queen's Brian May on VH1 Rock Honors broadcast on 31 May.
Marc Bolan was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan strongly influenced artists of many genres, including glam rock, punk, post-punk, new wave, indie rock, Britpop and alternative rock. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex.
"Love Bites" is a song by English glam metal band Def Leppard from their album Hysteria. The power ballad is Def Leppard's only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. On the UK Singles Chart, the track peaked at number 11.
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 23 July 1988, behind "Hold On to the Nights" by Richard Marx. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" is considered the band's signature song, and was ranked #2 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" in 2006.
"Animal" is a song recorded by English rock band Def Leppard in 1987 from the album Hysteria. It was the first single release off the album, and became the band's first Top 10 hit in their native UK, reaching No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Armageddon It" is a song by the English rock band Def Leppard from their 1987 album Hysteria. It was released as a single in 1988 and went to No. 3 in the United States, becoming their 3rd top 10 hit. It also reached the top 10 in Canada and New Zealand and the top 20 in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Tanx is a 1973 album by rock band T. Rex, the eighth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968, and the fourth under the moniker T. Rex. It was released on 16 March by record label EMI. Tanx was a musical departure from previous works: still containing tracks in the vein of The Slider, singer and songwriter Marc Bolan showed his interest for soul music, funk and gospel. Female backing singers appeared on a few tracks. New instruments such as mellotron were used, played by producer Tony Visconti, allowing the T. Rex sound to evolve.
"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.
"Children of the Revolution" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was a UK No. 2 hit single in September 1972. The song broke their sequence of four official single releases all reaching No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It did not receive a regular album release.
"Metal Guru" is a song by the British rock band T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was the band's fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart when it topped the chart for four weeks from May–June 1972. It was also included on the album The Slider in 1972.
"Hysteria" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard. It is the tenth track on their 1987 album of the same name and was released as the album's fourth single in November 1987. The song became the band's first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 10.
"Let's Get Rocked" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their fifth studio album, Adrenalize (1992). Released in March 1992, the song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number three on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. It was the band's first release after the death of guitarist Steve Clark.
"Make Love Like a Man" is a 1992 single by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album Adrenalize. The song reached No. 3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.
"Promises" is a 1999 song by English rock band Def Leppard from their album Euphoria. It was released as a single later that year and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as number forty-one on the U.K. Singles Chart.
Play Dirty is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band, Girlschool, released on Bronze Records in 1983 and produced by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea from the hard rock band Slade. It was the first Girlschool album not to enter the UK Top 40 album chart and signalled a general downturn in their career, along with an inclination towards a softer rock sound. Kelly Johnson left the band soon after the release and an intended full US-tour never materialised. In the UK, two singles were lifted from the album, each having a picture-sleeve:
"When Love & Hate Collide" is a song by English rock band Def Leppard from their 1995 greatest hits album Vault, written by Joe Elliott and Rick Savage. The power ballad was originally written and demoed for Adrenalize, but not finalized until 1995 for its inclusion on Vault. The demo version is much more heavily produced in the signature style of Hysteria and Adrenalize, and the final version is more stripped down, supposedly toward the style of the following studio album Slang. The original demo version contains the final recorded guitar solo by late original guitarist Steve Clark.
"Ride a White Swan" is a song by English band T. Rex. It was released as a stand-alone single on 9 October 1970 by record label Fly, and was the first single credited under the band's new, shorter name. Like all of the band's songs, it was written by the group's singer, guitarist and founder Marc Bolan. The song was included on the US version of the 1970 album, T. Rex.
"Two Steps Behind" is a song by English hard rock band Def Leppard from their album Retro Active and the soundtrack to the film Last Action Hero. It reached number five on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. In the 1993 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Awards, the song was voted "Song of the Year" and "Best Song from a Movie Soundtrack".
"Rock On" is a song written by English singer David Essex. Recorded in 1973 and released as a single by Essex, it became an international hit. In 1989, American actor and singer Michael Damian recorded a cover version that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been recorded many times, including a 2006 version by the English hard rock group Def Leppard.
T. Rex were an English rock band, formed in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, who was their leader, frontman and only consistent member. Though initially associated with the psychedelic folk genre, Bolan began to change the band's style towards electric rock in 1969, and shortened their name to T. Rex the following year. This development culminated in 1970 with their first hit single "Ride a White Swan", and the group soon became pioneers of the glam rock movement.
"Solid Gold Easy Action" is a song by T. Rex, written by Marc Bolan. It was released as a single on 1 December 1972 and reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. The song did not feature on an original studio album but was included on the 1972 Great Hits compilation album issued by EMI Records. It was beaten to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart by "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond.
Bolan (...) started writing manic chant-along glam-rock hits such as "Metal Guru," "20th Century Boy," "Solid Gold Easy Action," and "Children of the Revolution."