"Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" is a song by English

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

trio

the Woolpackers The Woolpackers were an English country rock trio of the 1990s, consisting of Steve Halliwell, Billy Hartman and Alun Lewis, all three of whom were stars of the ITV-produced soap opera ''Emmerdale'', in an attempt to cash in on the popularity ...

, written by Eddie Phillips and Bob Garner of the Creation and produced by Nigel Wright. The song was created as an attempt to cash in on the

line dancing A line dance is a choreographed dance in which a group of people dance along to a repeating sequence of steps while arranged in one or more lines or rows. These lines usually face all in the same direction, or less commonly face each other.Knight ...

trend that was prominent in the United Kingdom at the time using three actors from the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'':

Steve Halliwell Stephen Harold Halliwell (born 21 March 1946) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Zak Dingle in the ITV (TV channel), ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', which he has played since 1994. Life and career Halliwell was born in Bury, L ...

Billy Hartman Billy Hartman (born 1957) is a Scotland, Scottish actor, well known for playing the part of Terry Woods (Emmerdale), Terry Woods on ITV (TV network), ITV's ''Emmerdale'' from 1995 until his character was killed off in 2011 after 16 years. Ca ...

, and Alun Lewis, who performed the song on an episode of the programme. "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" was released as a single in the UK on 4 November 1996 and reached number five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, earning a gold sales certification in October 2022 for sales and streams of over 400,000 units in the UK alone. The track stayed in the UK top 20 for nine weeks and was the country's 41st-best-selling single of 1996.

Track listings

UK CD and cassette single # "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" # "Line Dancing" # "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" (instrumental) UK and Irish CD single # "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" # "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" (

Wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...

's Fully Dramatised club mix) # "Line Dancing" # "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" (instrumental)

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the UK CD single liner notes. Studios * Recorded and mixed at

Metropolis Studios Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High Roa ...

, Westside Studios (London, England), Skratch Studios (

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England), and The Enterprise (Los Angeles) Personnel * Edwin Michael Phillips – writing * Robert Anthony Garner – writing * Nigel Wright – production * Robin Sellars – engineering * Lee McCutcheon – programming

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1996 debut singles 1996 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles British country music songs Emmerdale RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Nigel Wright (record producer)