Listen: Do We Still Do It / Slade SladeDoWeStill.mp3

I’m breaking my own rule here. The rule: this blog is only about 7″ singles. The rule breaker: ‘Do We Still Do It’, a track so good, so overlooked, so obvious a single. I can’t think of a better one – it’s always topped that list in my head. What was Warner Brothers thinking? At least ‘Do We Still Do It’ opened one side of STOMP YOUR HANDS, CLAP YOUR FEET, even if it was Side Two. This was Slade’s ‘hoping to break thru in The US’ LP. What a surprise, US radio wouldn’t play a band that dressed so colorfully and rocked so crazy. Really sorry about those pathetic US programers everyone. Still embarrassed by them. It took years, but they’re finally putting themselves out of business it seems. I heard today Clear Channel were firing 1500 radio people. Awe, aren’t you sad? Shouldn’t those 1500 stay employed so they can all play and say the same stuff day after day? How unfair, right?

Good riddance! Now flush the overpaid guys who forced the newly unemployed to play that tired stuff in the first place. No one’s listening – what part don’t you get? They say white men can’t dance. Similarly, when it comes to programming good radio, Americans can’t program – only the British can. Get over it.

I’d seen Slade one rainy night in fall ’73 at SUNY Fredonia. Corinne and I braved the back woods road to get to the gymnasium which I recall being pretty full. We elbowed our way right up front. Hey, we considered ourselves UK band fan royalty. I’d just come back from London, and fresh from my job of picking up empty pint glasses at the Marquee. So there.

Well Slade were way more powerful than ever expected. We loved the singles a lot, and the look – glam in general, but holy shit – this was ridiculous. The whole place went beserk. I mean, this had to have happened everywhere. Why didn’t they take off across the country? Baffling.

We left jaws dragging. Well, we didn’t exactly leave – we went to the only motel in town – and in the bar, there was Slade with their manager Chas Chandler. Now this was an unexpected treat. We had pot, they had stories. The next few hours were spent in Noddy’s room, talking to him and Chas (he had been in The Animals and brought Jimi Hendrix to England). All very recounted now, but not then. There was much I wanted him to tell, and he was only too happy in exchange for the good quality joints she was rolling. After a few hours, they were very stoned guys in a two horse town and the only female in sight was my girlfriend. So I figured – time to leave. Nice fellows though and a night to remember forever and ever and ever.