"I Like to Rock" is a song by Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band April Wine written by primary lead singer and songwriter

Myles Goodwyn Myles Francis Goodwyn (born Miles Francis Goodwin on ) is a Canadian musician. He is the only original remaining member of the rock band April Wine, in which he is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter. Goodwyn has led the ba ...

. The song appears on the band's eight studio album '' Harder ... Faster'' (1979) as the second single. The song features Myles Goodwyn's rough-and-ready vocals over the band's well known combination of hard rock and

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

. The song was a moderate success when released in 1980, reaching #75 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

, #86 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and #41 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 ...

, their highest peak in the UK. It has gained substantial popularity internationally since the 1980s, becoming a mainstay of April Wine's setlist. The song is arguably the band's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

, and has become a staple of

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

and

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. Album-oriente ...

radio stations in both the US and Canada

Content

Song

Like many of the group's other songs, "I Like to Rock" is sung by Myles Goodwyn, accompanied by blues rock electric guitar and hard rock sounds. The final verse of the song includes the main guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

s to

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Day Tripper" and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...

" played simultaneously, in homage to these bands.

Lyrics

The lyrics of "I Like to Rock" have Myles Goodwyn (lead singer) sing about his love of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, while the chorus says "I like to rock, some like it hot, baby". The lyrics also refer to partying late at night and singing in front of large crowds at concerts.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "I Like to Rock" was directed by

Brian Greenway Brian Gilbert Greenway (born October 1, 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, vocalist and harmonicist, most notable for playing in the rock bands April Wine, Mashmakhan, and the Dudes. Greenway performed with April Wine from 1977 to 1986 when the ban ...

, the band's main guitarist (who also directed the music videos for " Just Between You and Me" and "Enough Is Enough"), and features the band playing the song inside a

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

located in the woods. The same location, Le Studio, would be used in the video for the song "

Tom Sawyer Thomas Sawyer () is the titular character of the Mark Twain novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), ''Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and ''Tom Sawyer, Dete ...

" by fellow Canadian rock band

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

, in 1981.

Charts

Accolades

CKKQ-FM CKKQ-FM (''100.3 The Q'') is a broadcast radio station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. CKKQ broadcasts at a frequency of 100.3 MHz on the FM band. The station has broadcast a mainstream rock format since its inception, but has a more clas ...

"the Q" ranked the song #65 on their list of the "150 Best Canadian Songs of All Time". *Rock Klassics ranked it the 94th greatest Canadian rock song. *The song was placed at #226 on the 500 Greatest

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

Songs compiled by

WXKR WXKR (94.5 FM) is a radio station in Port Clinton, Ohio, broadcasting on 94.5 MHz with a classic rock format. The station is known as 94.5 XKR, Toledo's Classic Rock. It is owned by Cumulus Media. The station's studios are located in Toledo, an ...

. *It was ranked #33 on CBC's list of the "50 Greatest Canadian Songs", in 2009. *

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

ranked the song #93 on their list of the "100 Greatest Rock Songs".

In popular culture

"I Like to Rock" was used in the films ''

Flower & Garnet ''Flower & Garnet'' is a Canadian drama film, written and directed by Keith Behrman and released in 2002. Plot A father finds difficulties in expressing his love to his children. Garnet (played by Colin Roberts) and Flower (Jane McGregor) have g ...

'', '' Gutterballs'', '' High Life'', and ''

Drive Angry ''Drive Angry'' (alternatively titled ''Drive Angry 3D'') is a 2011 American action horror film in the grindhouse cinema tradition, directed by Patrick Lussier, who co-wrote it with Todd Farmer. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, Willia ...

'', as well as S1 E6 of '' Being Erica'' titled "Something Wrong With...", as well as the 2010

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television special ''Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town''.

References

{{authority control 1979 songs 1980 singles April Wine songs Songs written by Myles Goodwyn Song recordings produced by Mike Stone (record producer) Aquarius Records (Canada) singles Capitol Records singles