Live at Reading (EP)
Encyclopedia
"Live at Reading" is rock band Slade's second extended play
(EP) from 1980. The three tracks that appeared on the album were taken from Slade's live performance at the Reading festival in 1980. Ozzy Osbourne, during his Blizzard of Ozz tour, cancelled his set at the Reading Festival at short notice. The band stole the festival and quickly became popular again. As a result this EP peaked at #44 in the UK and remained in the charts for 5 weeks.
The EP features the Holder and Lea penned When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin' along with a cover of Born to Be Wild
and three merged tracks Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' Mama and Keep a Rollin'.
When I'm Dancin' was later covered by The Wall and The Dummies which was a project of Slade's bassist Jim Lea.
The single peaked at #72 for 1980 on rateyourmusic and #4408 for overall singles.
In 1980, Noddy Holder was interviewed for the Slade fan club newsletter, he was asked about how the idea for an extended play came along. "Well, it was just a matter of fact really. The BBC recorded the whole of the Reading Festival, we went down amazingly well. Tommy Vance
played 40 minutes of our set on his show and got a fantastic response from it - thus it was public reaction really that prompted us to release something from the Reading Festival."
Also in the interview, Holder spoke about the reaction of the track "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'", before and after the Reading Festival. "You've seen the reaction on "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" now - when we first brought the track out on the "Six of the Best EP", it didn't see the light of day as far as charts were concerned - but now it's on the Reading EP and all the crowds are singing it! The turning point has been that we have been doing our songs in a live manner - and it seems to be working. I don't know whether it's good or bad that we have to do this, but the live thing has always been our main strong-point. "Get Down and Get With It
" was our first hit because it had basically a live feel to it, the same applies to "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" from Reading.
In a November 1980 Sounds magazine interview with Holder and Lea, Sounds magazine stated the EP "deserves your attention." They also described "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" as "smashing sledgehammer pop in the grand old tradition."
The interview also mentioned the EP again, "The entire show was recorded by the BBC for broadcasting on the Friday Rock Show. Forty-five minutes of Slade's set was aired. Slade just had to release something from it, they had so many requests. 'When I'm Dancing' and 'Born To Be Wild' were the selected songs, an arrangement was struck with the Beeb and the EP appeared on Lea's own Cheapskate Records label. It's currenly jostling around the top forty as well as making a fleeting though high appearance in our own HM chart."
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
(EP) from 1980. The three tracks that appeared on the album were taken from Slade's live performance at the Reading festival in 1980. Ozzy Osbourne, during his Blizzard of Ozz tour, cancelled his set at the Reading Festival at short notice. The band stole the festival and quickly became popular again. As a result this EP peaked at #44 in the UK and remained in the charts for 5 weeks.
The EP features the Holder and Lea penned When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin' along with a cover of Born to Be Wild
Born to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
and three merged tracks Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' Mama and Keep a Rollin'.
When I'm Dancin' was later covered by The Wall and The Dummies which was a project of Slade's bassist Jim Lea.
The single peaked at #72 for 1980 on rateyourmusic and #4408 for overall singles.
Background
In a 1986 interview for the Slade fan club, Dave Hill described his experience of the Reading Festival: "One heck of an experience, 'cos I wasn't going to do that gig. Slade manager Chas Chandler talked me into it, which I will always say was one of the best things he ever did for me. I thought we were going to get booed off, and I was any way getting involved with my wedding business. I remember Tommy Vance came into the dressing room and said "You're going to go down great". We said, "Well we hope to do okay", 'cos we're not the sort of band that pre-judges things, although we do have an inner confidence in ourselves. We walked on stage and there was this roar from the crowd. I thought "that's pretty good". We went into the first number (Dizzy Mamma) and I could see the reporters looking at us. I was dreading the end of the first number, as that is the point at which we can usually tell how a show is going to go. As it happens, I think we went straight into "My Baby Left Me", so we didn't really wait or a reaction. The confidence came when there was a reaction, as it built and built, sort of got bigger and bigger. I mean getting that lot to sing "Merry Xmas Everybody" was amazing. I could see Chas at the side grinning. Tommy Vance played the recording of Slade at Reading the other week and I thought that was great. I got excited listening to that. I was lying in bed listening to it and going "crikey, there's bits out of tune, there's bits of fun and it sounds great". I took my mind into Reading and imagined us playing."In 1980, Noddy Holder was interviewed for the Slade fan club newsletter, he was asked about how the idea for an extended play came along. "Well, it was just a matter of fact really. The BBC recorded the whole of the Reading Festival, we went down amazingly well. Tommy Vance
Tommy Vance
Tommy Vance was a British pop radio broadcaster, born in Eynsham, Oxfordshire. He was one of the few music broadcasters in the United Kingdom to champion hard rock and heavy metal in the early 1980s, providing the only national radio forum for both bands and fans...
played 40 minutes of our set on his show and got a fantastic response from it - thus it was public reaction really that prompted us to release something from the Reading Festival."
Also in the interview, Holder spoke about the reaction of the track "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'", before and after the Reading Festival. "You've seen the reaction on "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" now - when we first brought the track out on the "Six of the Best EP", it didn't see the light of day as far as charts were concerned - but now it's on the Reading EP and all the crowds are singing it! The turning point has been that we have been doing our songs in a live manner - and it seems to be working. I don't know whether it's good or bad that we have to do this, but the live thing has always been our main strong-point. "Get Down and Get With It
Get Down and Get With It
"Get Down and Get With It" is a single from rock band Slade which appeared on the album Sladest. It was written by Bobby Marchan. The single was released in 1971 and peaked at #16 in the UK, spending 14 weeks on the chart. This was Slade's first chart entry in their career...
" was our first hit because it had basically a live feel to it, the same applies to "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" from Reading.
In a November 1980 Sounds magazine interview with Holder and Lea, Sounds magazine stated the EP "deserves your attention." They also described "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" as "smashing sledgehammer pop in the grand old tradition."
The interview also mentioned the EP again, "The entire show was recorded by the BBC for broadcasting on the Friday Rock Show. Forty-five minutes of Slade's set was aired. Slade just had to release something from it, they had so many requests. 'When I'm Dancing' and 'Born To Be Wild' were the selected songs, an arrangement was struck with the Beeb and the EP appeared on Lea's own Cheapskate Records label. It's currenly jostling around the top forty as well as making a fleeting though high appearance in our own HM chart."
Track listing
- "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" (Holder/Lea)
- "Born to Be WildBorn to Be Wild"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" (Bonfire) - "Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' MamaPistol Packin' Mama"Pistol Packin' Mama" is a 1943 song composed by Al Dexter. The song is notable in that it was the first number one on the Juke Box Folk Records chart, which would later be known as the Hot Country Songs chart...
, Keep a Rollin'" (Slade/exter/Cochran/Sheeley)
Chart performance
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 44 | 5 |
Personnel
- Noddy Holder: Lead vocals and guitar
- Jim Lea: Bass guitar and backing vocals
- Dave Hill: Lead guitar and backing vocals
- Don Powell: Drums
Additional personnel
- Producer on "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" - Slade
- Mixers on "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" - Slade; Mike 'Mad Robbo' Robinson
- Writers of "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" - Noddy Holder; Jim Lea
- Producer on "Born to Be Wild" - Slade
- Mixers on "Born to Be Wild" - Slade; Mike 'Mad Robbo' Robinson
- Writers of "Born to Be Wild" - Mars Bonfire
- Producer on "Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' Mama, Keep a Rollin'" - Slade
- Mixers on "Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' Mama, Keep a Rollin'" - Slade; Mike 'Mad Robbo' Robinson
- Writers of "Somethin' Else, Pistol Packin' Mama, Keep a Rollin'" - Cochran; Bexter; Holder; Hill; Lea; Powell
- Many thanks to - Tony Wilson; B.B.C.