This song was recorded during the sessions for the 'YEAH!' covers album and originally written and released by T. Rex.
song written by
- Marc Bolan.
performed by
- 01 - Joe Elliott - Lead Vocals.
- 02 - Phil Collen - Guitars.
- 03 - Vivian Campbell - Guitars.
- 04 - Rick Savage - Bass.
- 05 - Rick Allen - Drums.
other performers / guest appearances by
- 01 - John 'Bro' Campbell - Saxophone.
- 02 - Stevie Vann-Lange - Backing Vocals.
song info
- Song Type - Cover Version/Album Track/Single.
- First Released - 22nd May 2006.
- Producer - Def Leppard/Ronan McHugh.
- Engineered/Mixed By - Ronan McHugh.
original song info
- Artist - T. Rex.
- Length - 3:38.
- First Released - 2nd March 1973.
- Producer - Tony Visconti.
- From the album - n/a.
- UK Chart Position - 3 (10th March 1973).
- UK Chart Position - 13 (14th September 1991-Re-Release).
- USA Chart Position - n/a.
song versions
version 1 - (2006)
- 20th Century Boy - 3:40
The only version of this song first appeared on the 'YEAH!' covers album in 2006 as track 1 of 14. It was later released as a single in the USA in August 2006 as a digital download and on a Promo CD with picture sleeve. The fourth cover version released by the band as a single after 'Action', 'No Matter What' and 'Rock On'.
20th century boy / audio releases
| type | title | date | version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Album |  |
YEAH! | May 2006 | 1 |
| Promo CD Single | |
20th Century Boy | August 2006 | 1 |
song trivia
A single released by T. Rex in 1973. A non album single that was the band's ninth released single and ninth Top Ten hit in a row. A tenth would follow with their tenth single 'The Groover'. Including this song, six of those Top Ten singles were not released on studio albums. The original single was re-released in 1991 and charted at Number 13.
The song has also been covered by Ty Segall, Adam Lambert, Naked Raygun, Kiyoharu, Adam Ant, Drain STH, Chalk Circle, The Replacements, Girlschool, Pink Cream 69, R.E.M., The Three Johns, Scott Weiland, Placebo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, X Japan, Count Zero, Bang Tango, Buckethead and Powerman 5000.
Additional musicians included Vivian's brother John Campbell on saxophone. The first family member to feature on a Def Leppard recording playing an instrument. Mutt Lange's ex-wife Stevie Vannn-Lange also contributed backing vocals following her contribution to 'When Love & Hate Collide' in 1995.
song commentary
Joe Elliott (May 2006)
"Oh boy, T. Rex...what to do, what to do...Can't do "Get It On", it's been done by Power Station, etc. "Metal Guru" was an option, so was "Telegram Sam," but after going around the houses we went for "20th Century Boy" because it was, as a lot of these songs are, the underdog (none of these songs actually made it to No. 1 in the charts)."
Phil Collen (May 2006)
"When we started getting the songs together for the YEAH! album, the one thing we wanted to avoid was doing the obvious big hit from these artists. When anyone mentions T. Rex to anyone they go "oh yeah, I love 'Get It On, Bang A Gong.'" That's one of the reasons why we did '20th Century Boy'. The other reason is we knew we could tear it up."
tours played on
- YEAH! Tour - (2006)
live performance info
- Live Debut - 23rd May 2006 - Los Angeles, CA, USA
The band first performed this song together on 'The Tonight Show with Jay Leno' alongside 'Rock On' in May 2006. The appearance coincided with the North American release date for the 'YEAH!' album. This first performance featured three backing vocalists. The first time the band had ever used any extra backing vocalists on stage.
They would also join the band a few days later for the taping of the VH1 Rock Honors show in Las Vegas, NV. They joined them not only on this song but also on 'Rocket'. Queen's Brian May was a special guest on guitar during '20th Century Boy' at this show. Only the second full band performance of the song before it made it's full concert debut. Fortunately (or not depending on your taste) the backing vocalists were never used again after this show.
- Full Concert Debut - 9th June 2006 - Solvesborg, Sweden
The first time it was played at a full Def Leppard concert was in June 2006 in Solvesborg, Sweden for the Sweden Rock Festival. This was also the band's first time headlining a major European or UK festival since May 1993 on the 'Adrenalize' tour. At all shows the song was started off by Vivian playing the familiar intro riff after an introduction from Joe. On the main us Tour Joe would tell the crowd how Vivian had been influenced by Marc Bolan and T. Rex with the screens showing the picture from the album sleeve recreating the cover of the 'Electric Warrior' album.
- Charity Performance - 12th March 2004 - Sheffield, England - (Joe/Sav only)
20th Century Boy / song lyrics sample
Oow
Friends say it's fine, friends say it's good
Ev'rybody says it's just like rock'n'roll
I move like a cat, talk like a rat
Sting like a bee, babe I wanna be your man
Well it's plain to see you were meant for me, yeah
I'm your boy, your 20th century toy
Friends say it's fine, my friends say it's good
Ev'rybody says it's just like rock'n'roll
Fly like a plane, drive like a car
Ball like a hen, babe I wanna be your man - oh
Well it's plain to see you were meant for me, yeah
I'm your toy, your 20th Century Boy
20th century toy, I wanna be your boy
Listen To '20th Century Boy'
related pages/releases
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