"Look Wot You Dun" is a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from glam rock band Slade

Slade

Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...

 which appeared on the album Sladest

Sladest

Sladest is a compilation album by the British glam rock group Slade. It was released on 28 September 1973, and went straight to No. 1 on the charts. It stayed around the Top 10 until 1974, when it climbed to the No. 1 spot once again, following the huge success of "Merry Xmas Everybody"...

. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder

Noddy Holder

Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....

, bassist Jim Lea

Jim Lea

Jim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...

 and drummer Don Powell

Don Powell

Don Powell is a drummer who founded the English glam rock group, Slade.- Biography :As a child Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the drums after being asked to join the band on a Sunday morning parade. After Etheridge Secondary Modern School he studied Metallurgy at...

. The single was released on 05/02/1972, just when Slade's previous single Coz I Luv You

Coz I Luv You

"Coz I Luv You" is a song by Slade, written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea and produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's second hit single in the UK and the first of six number one singles. It was released on 30/10/1971 and was last seen on the charts on 05/02/1972 at #44...

 had its last week in the top 100. The single peaked at #4 in the UK, spending 10 weeks on the chart, last on the top 100 on 08/04/1972 at #38. The single originally entered the charts at #25 and climbed to #9 the following week and #4 after. It remained at #4 for 3 weeks. The previous single topped the UK charts.

The single peaked at #151 for 1972 on rateyourmusic.

Background

Upon release, the single sparked a protest from teachers across the UK about bad spelling. Record Mirror magazine published a short article about the protest at the time, "The new Slade single "Look Wot You Dun" has sparked off protests amongst the teaching profession, according to a spokesman for the group. He told Record Mirror that several teachers have written to the Ministry of Education complaining about the deliberate mis-spelling of the title and the previous single "Coz I Luv You". They allege that the phonetic spellings create confusion in their pupils' minds."

Guitarist Dave Hill made the "Piano equals failure." statement about the single at the time of release.

The track was originally written by Lea and Powell and was taken to Noddy for his input. The track was influenced by John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

. During recording, Slade's guitarist Dave Hill

Dave Hill

Dave Hill is an English musician, who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English glam rock group, Slade. The music journalist, Stuart Maconie, commented "he usually wore a jumpsuit made of the foil that you baste your turkeys in and platforms of oil-rig-derrick height...

 borrowed Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton

Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...

's guitar as his own had been left at home and was inaccessible due to bad weather during the Christmas holiday. This track is the only Slade song to feature a Don Powell vocal of heavy breathing in the chorus.

Music video

Two music videos were made by Caravelle for the single. The first one being the famous one made at Chessington Zoo. Bassist/co-writer Jim Lea particularly remembered it being a freezing cold day and feeling absolutely revolted at the sequence of drummer/co-writer Don Powell eating the sprats at the seal's feeding time. The second music video was made in the studio and featured the group playing the song. Vocalist/co-writer Holder was wearing his own magician's outfit, whilst Lea had his own stars and stripes bomber jacket on. All that Lea can remember of the film was that it was made "with the cameras right up our noses".

Critical reception

Upon release, Record Mirror magazine reviewed the single, "Quite definitely, they've done it again. Apart from already incurring the wrath of education authorities over the title-phrase spelling, Slade are directly into at least a top five mood with this one. It's a sturdily staccato sort of theme, right into a commercial 'feel', group vocal, touches of guitar. The whole thing is complete; everything falls into place. No doubts here - chart certain."

Chart performance

Chart (1971)	Peak position	Total weeks
Belgian Singles Chart	11	10
Dutch Singles Chart	2	10
French Singles Chart	23	11
German Singles Chart	14	9
Irish Singles Chart	6	4
New Zealand Singles Chart	22
UK Singles Chart	4	10

Cover versions

• In 1971, Alan Caddy Orchestra and Singers released a cover of the song on the album "Six Top Hits".
• In 1972, Finnish singer Markku Aro
  Markku Aro
  Markku Aro , born as Markku Tuomas Puputti , is a Finnish singer who performed on Eurovision contest in 1971 in Ireland with the pop-duo Koivistolaiset. They appeared with the song "Tie uuteen päivään"...
  
   recorded the song under the name "Täyttä Totta" which appeared on the album "Oo - Mikä Nainen". Additional writing credit went to Leo Länsi for lyrics.
• In 1976, German rock band recorded the song "Geh Zu Ihr" which was based on Look Wot You Dun. The song appeared on the album "Puhdys 1".
• In 2001, English vocalist and musician Steve Overland
  Steve Overland
  Steve Overland is a British singer/musician who was the lead vocalist and songwriter for the bands Wildlife, FM, The Ladder, Shadowman, and his own group, Overland. Overland's nearly 30 year career began in his home county of East Anglia, where he and his brother Chris formed the band Wildlife in...
  
  recored a version of the track for the tribute album Slade Remade.

Personnel

• Noddy Holder: Lead vocals and guitar
• Jim Lea: Bass guitar, piano and backing vocals
• Dave Hill: Lead guitar and backing vocals
• Don Powell: Drums and backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Producer on "Look Wot You Dun" - Chas Chandler
• Writers of "Look Wot You Dun" - Noddy Holder; Jim Lea; Don Powell
• Producer on "Candidate" - Chas Chandler
• Writers of "Candidate" - Jim Lea; Don Powell