Old Time Rock and Roll

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, who often backed Seger in his studio recordings, sent Seger a demo of the song during the recording of Stranger in Town.Seger's Greatest Hits album liner notes He said in 2006 (and also on the "Stranger in Town" episode of the US radio show In the Studio with Redbeard a few years earlier):

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 Tom Jones (Thomas E. 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 got into a Hardee's commercial because I couldn't control it. Oh my God, it was awful!Sharp, K.: Classic Rock, Issue 102, page 59. Future Publishing, 2007.{{cite web|title=How Bob Seger changed the face of American Music|author=Sharp, Ken|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/bob-seger-making-all-the-right-moves|date=September 10, 2018|accessdate=2022-06-29|publisher=Louder Sound|work=Classic Rock}}

However, George Stephenson of Malaco Records claimed:

"Old Time Rock and Roll" is truly [George] Jackson's song, and he has the tapes to prove it, despite Seger's claims that he altered it. Bob had pretty much finished his recording at Muscle Shoals and he asked them if they had any other songs he could listen to for the future.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/george-jackson-songwriter-who-penned-hundreds-of-soul-rock-and-rnb-tunes-8583563.html |newspaper=The Independent |title=George Jackson: Songwriter who penned hundreds of soul, rock and r'n'b tunes |date=23 April 2013 |access-date=26 April 2013}}

At the close of the decade, in December 2019, Seger restated his assertion that he rewrote the lyrics in the verses.

The song was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, and Sound Suite StudiosSeger's Stranger in Town album credits in Detroit, Michigan. The guitar solo was contributed by Howie McDonald. Originally, the Silver Bullet Band was displeased with the song's inclusion on Stranger in Town, claiming, according to Seger, that the song was not "Silver Bullety". However, upon hearing audience reactions to it during their tour in Europe, the band grew to like the song.{{cite news |first=Gary |last=Graff |date=October 1994 |newspaper=Detroit Free Press |title=Bob Seger Tells the Stories Behind the Hits}}

In 1990, Seger joined Billy Joel on one occasion and Don Henley on another to play the song during their concerts in Auburn Hills, Michigan.Weschler, Tom, and Gary Graff. Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 2009. He also performed the song at his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation.{{cite AV media notes |title=Greatest Hits |others=Bob Seger |year=1994 |type=CD |publisher=Capitol Records |id=CDP 7243 8 30334 2 3}}

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The Silver Bullet Band

• Bob Seger – lead vocals
• Alto Reed – saxophone

Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

• David Hood – bass
• Roger Hawkins – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Ken Bell – guitar
• Randy McCormick – piano
• Howie McDonald – guitar solo
• James Lavell Easley – background vocals
• Stanley Carter – background vocals
• George Jackson – background vocals

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"Old Time Rock and Roll" achieved substantial album-oriented rock radio airplay{{cite magazine |title=Top FM Rotation |url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/70s/1978/CB-1978-07-08-OCR-Page-0020.pdf |magazine=Cash Box |date=July 8, 1978 |access-date=January 7, 2018 }} and as the fourth single from Stranger in Town. It achieved varying peaks of popularity in the industry trade magazines: #40 in Record World, #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #34 in Cash Box during mid 1979. It was re-released in 1983 after its inclusion in the film Risky Business and reached number 48 on the Billboard chart.{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2002 |title=Top Pop Songs: 1961–2001 |publisher=Record Research |page=218}} The song remains a staple on classic rock radio.

Billboard felt that the song's highlights are Seger's "rough-edged vocals and the power charged instrumentation."{{cite news|title=Top Single Picks|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2020-07-08|date=March 31, 1979|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1979/Billboard%201979-03-31.pdf|page=171}} Cash Box said it is "a piece of infectious raucous joy" that is a highlight of Seger's concerts.{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=March 31, 1979|page=34|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2022-01-01|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1979/CB-1979-03-31.pdf}}

In Australia, the song was released twice and charted for a total of 55 weeks. The first run was in 1983 after its use in the film Risky Business, reaching number 53 on the charts. The second run saw it reach number 3 in late 1987 and it was the 3rd biggest selling single in Australia in that year.{{cite web|url=https://i.imgur.com/sPdqqRt.jpg|title=Australian Music Report No 701 – 28 December 1987 > National Top 100 Singles for 1987|publisher=Kent Music Report, via Imgur.com|access-date=24 January 2023}}

{{Infobox song

|name=| type = single

| artist = Status Quo

| genre = {{hlist|Boogie rock|rockabilly|rock and roll}}

| released = 2000

| album = Famous in the Last Century

| writer = George Jackson, Thomas E. Jones III, Bob Seger

| length = 2:58

}}

Singer Johnny Hallyday released a French-language version, as "Le Bon Temps du Rock and Roll" in 1979 on his album Hollywood.{{cite web|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/32533/versions | title=Le bon Temps Du Rock'N'Roll by Johnny Hallyday|publisher= Secondhandsongs |access-date=2018-01-05 }}

Pop singer Ronnie Dove recorded the song in 1987. It was issued as the B side to his single "Heart". It later appeared on his 1988 album From the Heart.

In 2000, the British rock band Status Quo recorded a version of this song for their album Famous in the Last Century. They played it on Top of the Pops and released it as a single which charted in the UK Singles Chart (No. 83){{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17941/status-quo/|title=Status Quo | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com|access-date=February 12, 2020}} and Norway (No. 4).{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

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The song was featured in the 1983 film Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise. Cruise's character, Joel Goodsen, famously lip-syncs and dances in his underwear as this song plays after his parents leave him home alone. In 1985, the Chipmunks did a version that, as Seger pointed out above, was used in the aforementioned Hardee's commercial advertising Alvin and the Chipmunks glasses. In 1986, the song was also featured in the TV series ALF, in a caricature of the aforementioned Tom Cruise scene, in which Alf has similarly been left home alone and trashes the house.ALF Season 1, ep.3; "Looking for Lucky!" Activision created a series of Guitar Hero: World Tour television commercials directed by Brett Ratner based on the scene, each featuring a different set of celebrities lip-syncing to the lyrics while using the new instrument controllers. The first ad included athletes Kobe Bryant, Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez, and Michael Phelps.{{cite press release|url=http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20081024/LAF02424102008-1.html |title=Activision Publishing Unveils Star-Studded Television Ads Promoting The Highly Anticipated Guitar Hero(R) World Tour Launch |publisher=Activision |date=2008-10-24 |access-date=2008-10-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716022359/http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20081024/LAF02424102008-1.html |archive-date=2009-07-16 }} The song is also featured in episodes of The Nanny, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Growing Pains, Northern Exposure, South Park, Scrubs, and The Flash. Another Risky Business homage was performed faithfully by character Eddie Diaz in season 8 of 9-1-1. Steve Harrington briefly sang it in an episode of season 1 of the Netflix television series Stranger Things. It was also used in the teaser trailer for Garfield: The Movie (2004).

In early 2020, the song was featured in a Domino's Pizza commercial about contactless delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The commercial parodied the scene from Risky Business and featured Curtis Armstrong who starred in the movie.{{YouTube|id =fz8Gkpv2SWI|title=Contactless Delivery Business :15}}

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|award=Silver|artist=Bob Seger/Silver Bullet Band|title=Old Time Rock and Roll|relyear=2011|certyear=2023|id=18844-6287-1|access-date=March 24, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Platinum|number=2|artist=Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band|title=Old Time Rock & Roll|relyear=1979|certyear=2022|access-date=January 15, 2022}}

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{{Bob Seger}}

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Category:1978 songs

Category:1979 singles

Category:Bob Seger songs

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Songs about nostalgia

Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Seger

Category:Songs about rock music

Category:Songs written by George Jackson (songwriter)