"Rock the Bells" is the third single from

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

's debut album, ''Radio''. It was released in 1985 for

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

, was written by LL Cool J and produced by Rick Rubin. It was the follow-up to " I Can Give You More". "Rock the Bells" peaked at #17 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

. Despite the song's title, no bells can be heard in the album recording. The original version of the song, riddled with bells of various types including a cowbell, is 7 minutes and 11 seconds long and was only released on 12 inch vinyl. It was based on the 1982 song "Breaking Bells" by

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. The song was later sampled by LL Cool J himself for his song "

Mama Said Knock You Out ''Mama Said Knock You Out'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was produced mostly by Marley Marl and recorded at his "House of Hits" home studio in Chestnut Ridge and at Chung King House of Metal in New York City. Afte ...

", from his album of the same name. The intro was famously parodied by English footballer

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to ce ...

for his 1988 single " Anfield Rap". The song also featured in the 2002 video game ''

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'', the 2006 game ''Scarface: The World is Yours'', the 2008 game ''

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'' and 2009's ''

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''. The song was also used in the video game ''

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'' in which it was mixed with

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

's "

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". The song was later featured on LL Cool J's compilation album '' All World: Greatest Hits''. The song was also used on Smith's own channel Rock the Bells Radio (formerly Back Spin) for

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

Track listing

;7" Version *A. "Rock the Bells" – 4:00 *B. "El Shabazz" – 3:24 ;12" *A. "Rock the Bells" – 4:00 *B. "Rock the Bells (Original Version)" – 7:11

References

1985 singles LL Cool J songs Songs written by LL Cool J Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Def Jam Recordings singles CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles 1985 songs Songs written by Rick Rubin {{hiphop-song-stub