The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
Slade
Look Wot You Dun
At No.4, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is Slade with “Look Wot You Dun”.
A sizable hit for the boys from the Black Country…
…who peaked at this spot for 3 weeks (this week being the middle of those 3).
So let’s go back a bit and conduct a very brief history lesson…
…on this currently relevant band.
From this point, the origins can be traced back to around 8 years previously, when there were two separate groups.
In one corner, The Vendors, featuring Mr. Don Powell (no relation to me, as far as I’m aware) on drums and Mr. Dave Hill on guitar…
…and in the other corner,..
…Steve Brett & the Mavericks. A band which featured Mr. Neville John Holder, better known to you and me as Noddy Holder.
The Vendors…
…must have intercepted a consignment of American Blues records fresh from the U.S., as they decided to follow a musical trajectory more akin to The Rolling Stones than The Beatles, and changed their name to The ‘N Betweens.
Not long after,..
…they recruited 16 year old Master James Lea (Jim to you and me) into the band, and when you look at his credentials you can see why.
A multi-instrumentalist, even at that young age. He was prolific in Violin by the time he’d just about reached double figures, he then went on to obtain a first class honours degree in a London music-school practical exam, and if that wasn’t enough, he decided to take up piano, guitar and finally bass guitar too.
Congratulations Mr.Lea, welcome to the group.
The final piece of the puzzle appeared after a bit of gigging to Germany (where they’d first offered a place in their group for new acquaintance Noddy, who was also on the ferry to Deutschland with the Mavericks (he declined the invitation), and back to Wolverhampton (where they met up and offered the place again).
They finally got their man
With the group down to a 4-piece,..
…with the other original members now since long left the group, the N’Betweens started building up a new set of single releases, eventually gaining popularity in the Midlands.
Now with a music style and repertoire…
…which now hovered around R&B and Motown, they began to get a strong following on the live club circuit, eventually gaining the attention of a music executive, who offered them the chance to record an album, and sign a record contract. However the offer came with a couple of stipulations:
- They would need to get a London based manager…and
- They would need to change their name.
Hesitant at first, due to their fear of losing their fresh following so soon, they eventually took the chance and hoped word would get around.
The new name came from, of all places, their new label exec’s secretary’s handbag and shoes.
Who knows what she was smoking at the time, but she had a name for her handbag, called Ambrose, and a name for her shoes, which she called Slade.
And so, as ‘Ambrose Slade’ (I suppose it’s better than ‘Handbag and Shoes’), they released an album, with the first track off it becoming their first single. An instrumental called “Genesis”.
It was also around this time…
…that they gained the interest, and an offer of management, from former Animals bassist turned manager Chas Chandler who had witnessed their live show.
Knowing how successful Chas’ other client, Jimi Hendrix, had become, they accepted.
And the first things that Chas suggested to his new clients was to first of all, start writing their own material, and secondly, to change their image.
Writing their own songs was an OK move. Changing their image, not so much.
Dropping the Ambrose, and now going by the name ‘The Slade’ they decided to take on a ‘skinhead’ look, due to becoming a bit of a trendy new thing at the time. The problem was (which they hadn’t anticipated) that it also aligned them with the look of a football hooligan.
As a result, even though the music was good, the image didn’t go down well with the British public.
The band decided to start growing their hair back,..
…with Noddy hiding his new mop under his flat cap (just like Gilbert O’ Sullivan).
And they decided to snip their name one more time and were now just ‘Slade’.
Re-recording their previous instrumental track ‘Genesis’, they now put lyrics to the composition and re-titled it “Know Who You Are”.
With Chas suggesting they should record a song…
…which would play to their strengths, which were their live shows, they decided to record one of their crowd pleasers. The Bobby Marchan song which Little Richard had performed previously, “Get Down And Get With It”.
Released last summer in 1971,..
…the song gave them the break they needed, and now they had their foot in the door to fame and fortune, Chas got them to write the next song themselves, so they wouldn’t be misconstrued as a covers band.
The result was Noddy and Jim’s collaboration “Coz I Luv You”, which took them all the way to No.1 a few months ago last Autumn.
The public loved it.
The English teachers up and down the country, not so much.
Of course, as they say, even bad publicity can be good publicity, and the band getting lambasted because of the phonetic spelling only fueled the kids to ‘luv’ them even more.
Now they were hoping to hold the momentum with this latest release.
Mainly written by Jim and Don (who also supplied the rapid breathing on the track to add to the feeling of panic), then completed by Noddy, they kept the kid-pleasing (mis)spelling trend, and sent it out into the record shops.
The new single…
…had entered the U.K. Chart a few weeks before on the 30th of January, when it entered at No.25, and by its second week it had reached the Top 10 and sat at No.9.
Last week it had climbed to No.4, but this week sees it stall, unable to get to a higher position.
The same thing would happen next week too.
Once they’d scored 3 weeks at No.4, this single will unfortunately slip back to No.8 at the beginning of March, before tumbling further down the chart.
It will eventually end up staying for a total of 10 weeks, until the second week in April 1972, when it will leave after the 8th of that month.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
Slade – Look Wot You Dun (TV Appearance)
Slade – Look Wot You Dun (Promotional Video)
Slade – Look Wot You Dun (“Hits A GoGo” TV Appearance)
Slade – Look Wot You Dun (TV Performance)
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