The Song
Hey Rock And Roll was the first track recorded by Showaddywaddy in April 1974 at Wembley Music Centre in London. The band's original producer Mike Hurst decided that Buddy Gask should take lead vocals. It was quickly released later in the month on 19th April, and reached its peak position of #2 on the chart dated 15th June 1974. It spent six weeks in the Top 10 during a chart run of 14 weeks, finally dropping out of the chart after being at number 46 on 17th August which was incidentally the same date that the Showaddywaddy's follow up single Rock 'n' Roll Lady entered the charts - this meant that the band had two records in the Top 50 at the same time. Hey Rock And Roll attained Silver BPI status for sales exceeding 250,000 copies.
Hey Rock And Roll was issued as a single in various countries, reaching #5 in the Irish charts, and #13 in Germany. It subsequently featured on Showaddywaddy's eponymous debut album released later in 1974, and on the Greatest Hits 1974-1976 LP released at the back end of 1976. As expected with being a successful single, it has featured on numerous compilation/best of albums over the years, and has been a staple of the Showaddywaddy's live set from 1974 to the present day, with Dave Bartram taking over lead vocals following Bill Gask's departure from the band in 1987.
Hey Rock And Roll has been re-recorded twice by Showaddywaddy, firstly in 1996 for The One & Only album, and a reworked version ten years later in 2006 titled Hey England! for the England national football World Cup campaign.
TV Appearances
Showaddywaddy first performed Hey Rock and Roll on Kid Jensen's 45 on ITV on 16th May 1974, quickly followed by three appearances on Top Of The Pops (one of these being a repeat performance). In September 1974, Hey Rock And Roll was performed on ITV's Geordie Scene, and on Hits-A-Go-Go in Germany in November.
The band also performed Hey Rock And Roll live on a Dutch TV show (1975), Swap Shop and Superpop (1976), Pop At The Mill (1977), Polish TV show Ein Kessel Buntes (1978), Knees Up (1984), World Rock 'n' Roll Trophy (1988), and The Brian Conley Show (1995)
Personnel
Lead vocals: Buddy Gask (with Dave Bartram doing the spoken intro)
Lead guitar: Russ Field
Rhythm Guitar: Trevor Oakes
Bass Guitar: Al James
Drums: Romeo Challenger (with Malcolm Allured on the chorus)
Composer
The composers, as with all of the band's original material, was officially credited to Allured / Bartram / Challenger / Deas / Field / Gask / James / Oakes. However the song was originally written by Trevor Oakes and Dave Bartram
Lyrics
Alright all you kids get on your feet now,
Now move your bodies,
Let’s rock ’n roll,
Showaddywaddy!
Standing on the corner in my new blue jeans,
Dreaming ‘bout the girl in my Limousine
Everybody’s talking ‘bout the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.
News man on the corner said, “Hold on kid”,
What’s the use of dreaming about a rich guy’s grid,
Get yourself a-boppin’ with the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.
Hey rock and roll, bring it to town let’s stroll,
Hey rock and roll, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.
Rockin’ to the band and a record machine,
Susie hand jives - she’s a rock ’n’ roll queen,
Johnny sings a love song, he sings it right from the heart.
Little Nicky’s dancing with the girl in blue,
Over to the band and a song for you,
Everybody’s shouting for the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band.
Sleeves
Standard UK release on the Bell label (BELL 1357). Note the song is credited to "Showaddywaddy" rather than the full list of band member names which became more common on later releases.
Singles sent to radio stations for airplay were the same as standard releases other than a large A for easy identification for the DJ, and also marked with 'Demo Record Not For Sale'. This one has also has the release date written on it, presumably by whichever radio station had it at the time.
Standard UK release labelled up as a factory sample.
Showaddywaddy's singles in the early years were not released in picture sleeves, but a few were available with a simple information sheet instead.
Hey Rock And Roll reached number 5 in the Irish charts. The single was identical to the UK release, the only difference being the 'Made In The Republic of Ireland' wording.
Due to Showaddywaddy's immense popularity in the 1977/1978 period, a number of early singles were re-pressed due to high demand. As Bell Records had by now been subsumed into Arista Records, these were pressed on the Arista label whilst retaining their original catalogue number. 
French picture sleeve, Bell Records (cat. no. 2008 261).
This Spanish picture sleeve features badly transcribed lyrics on the rear of the sleeve. The writing on the front would suggest it was released in July, some 3 months after it came out in the UK.
German issue, Bell Records 2008 261.
The Yugoslavian release of Hey Rock And Roll was almost identical to the German issue, the only difference being the inclusion of the RTB logo on the sleeve, this being the state-owned record label based in Belgrade.
Belgian issue of Hey Rock and Roll, same catalogue number as all other European versions, Bell 2008 261
Japanse issue of Hey Rock And Roll on Arista Records (cat. no. IER-10937). Whilst the Arista label first appeared in the USA in 1974, this promo pic would suggest the single was not issued in Japan until at least 1976.
Despite the company sleeve showing the Bell Records New York address, this is the Australian release of Hey Rock And Roll.
New Zealand issue of Hey Rock And Roll, same catalogue number as the Australian and European releases.
Hey Rock And Roll featured on a single as far away as the Philippines but as a B-side, the A-side being Rollercoaster, another track on Showaddywaddy's debut album. The title is slightly incorrect (Hey Rock 'n' Roll rather than Hey Rock And Roll). The catalogue number is BELL-72-092.