"'Old Time Rock and Roll'" is a song written by George Jackson and Thomas E. Jones III. It was made famous by
Bob Seger and featured in his 1978 album ''
Stranger in Town''. It is a nostalgic look at the music of a previous generation. The song was featured in the
Tom Cruise film
Risky Business and gained widespread notoriety because of its inclusion.
Bob Seger's version is actually quite different from the original; said he in 2006: "All I kept from the original was: ''Old time rock and roll, that kind of music just soothes the soul, I reminisce about the days of old with that old time rock and roll''. I rewrote the verses and I never took credit. That was the dumbest thing I ever did. And Thom Jones and George Jackson know it too. But I just wanted to finish the record
[Stranger in Town]. I rewrote every verse you hear except for the choruses. I didn't ask for credit. My manager said: "You should ask for a third of the credit." And I said: "Nah. Nobody's gonna like it." I'm not credited on it so I couldn't control the copyright either. Meanwhile it became a
Wendy's commercial because I couldn't control it. Oh my god, it was awful!"
[1]
Although Seger's version only reached number 28 on the
U.S. pop charts when released as a single in 1979, it achieved substantial
album-oriented rock radio airplay. A version of the song was released as a single in 2000 by
Status Quo and featured on their ''
Famous In the Last Century'' album.
In 2001 the song was chosen by
RIAA as one of the
Songs of the Century.
Notes
1. Sharp, K.: Classic Rock, Issue 102, page 59. Future Publishing, 2007.