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look wot you dun (U.K. Single)

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7'' front cover U.K.
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7'' rear cover U.K.
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7'' a side U.K.
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7'' b side U.K.

"Look Wot You Dun" was written by lead singer Noddy Holder, bassist Jim Lea and drummer Don Powell and produced by Chas Chandler. The single was released via Polydor Record Label on 28th January 1972. This single reached number 4 on the U.K. chart, the single was released just when Slade's previous single "Coz I Luv You" had its last week in the top 100. "Look Wot You Dun" was issued as a non album single.

Background
The track was originally written by Jim Lea and Don Powell and was taken to Noddy Holder for his input. The track was influenced by John Lennon. During recording, Slade's guitarist Dave Hill borrowed Peter Frampton'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. Guitarist Dave Hill made the "Piano equals failure" statement about the single at the time of release, most likely due to the fact that the previous single "Coz I Luv You" had topped the charts whilst this single only peaked at number 4 on the U.K. chart.

Recording
"Look Wot You Dun" was released via Polydor Record Label on 28th January 1972. And was the band's 3rd top 20 single in a row. It was reported that 100,000 copies of "Look Wot You Dun" were ordered before it was even released. 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 5 mood with this 1. 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."

Release
"Look Wot You Dun" was originally released on 7" vinyl.
Upon release, the single sparked a protest from teachers across the U.K. 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 misspelling of the title and the previous single "Coz I Luv You". They allege that the phonetic spellings create confusion in their pupils' minds." In an August 1972 interview for Sounds magazine, Dave Hill stated ""Look Wot You Dun" was a classic kind of song, with a clean, classy arrangement to it."

Promotion
The main form of promotion for the single was the band's live performances as well as the band performing the song on U.K. and European TV. The song was performed on the U.K. show Top of the Pops, whilst the song was included as part of the band's 'Set of Six' performance on U.K. Granada Television in 1972 featured a similar set to their "Slade Alive!" album. The song was also performed on an unknown French TV show as well as the German TV show Hits a GoGo. 2 music videos were made by Caravelle for the single. The 1st being the famous one made at Chessington Zoo. Jim Lea particularly remembered it being a freezing cold day and feeling absolutely revolted at the sequence of Don Powell eating the sprats at the seal's feeding time. The 2nd music video was made in the studio and featured the group playing the song. Noddy Holder was wearing his own magician's outfit, whilst Jim Lea had his own stars and stripes bomber jacket on. All that Jim Lea can remember of the film was that it was made "with the cameras right up our noses". This 2nd video is officially available whilst the 1st has not been seen since the original broadcast.

Chart Performance
"Look Wot You Dun" reached number 4 on the U.K. chart.

Track listing - 7" U.K. Single
A1. Look Wot You Dun (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell) - 2:54
B1. Candidate (Jim Lea, Don Powell) - 2:40

Look Wot You Dun

"Look Wot You Dun" written by Holder, Lea and Powell, was originally released via Polydor Record Label on 28th January 1972 and reached number 4 on the U.K. chart. Originally, manager / producer Chandler had put the band under pressure to write their own song for a follow up single to their first hit "Get Down And Get With It". Lea turned up at Holders home unexpectedly with his guitar and violin with an idea for a song with a Django Reinhardt / Stephan Grapelli hot club sound. The track was written in half an hour. This began the writing partnership of Holder and Lea which would carry on throughout Slade's career. Originally the band felt the song to be too soft and so clapping was added to the recording. The misspelt titles also became a trademark for Slade, causing a great anger among teachers up and down the country.
This single was issued as a non album single.

Candidate

"Candidate" written by Holder and Lea, this was the b - side to Slades original single "Look Wot You Dun". It appeared all versions of the European, Australian and Japanese Polydor Record Label compilation "Coz I Luv You", which was not released in the U.K. It also appeared on the 1972 German Polydor compilation "The Best Of Slade". "Candidate" was 1st seen officially on CD when it was eventually included as a bonus track on the 2006 Salvo remaster of the "Slayed?" album, before it appeared on the 2007 Salvo compilation "B - Sides" as well.

Credits
Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
Noddy Holder - lead vocals
Jim Lea - bass guitar, piano, backing vocals
Don Powell - drums, backing vocals
Chas Chandler - producer

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  • Formation Of Slade
  • Slade U.K. Singles
  • Slade U.K. Albums
  • Slade Concert Photos
  • Slade Quiz