12'' Front Cover U.K.

12'' rear Cover U.K.

12'' a side U.K.

12'' b side U.K.

"Six Of The Best" E.P. was Slade's 1st extended player (E.P.) this was produced by the band themselves and released via Super Records Label on 24th May 1980.
This single failed to appear on the U.K. chart, the E.P. featured three new songs; "Night Starvation", "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" and "9 To 5". The other three tracks, "I'm A Rocka", "Don't Waste Your Time" and "Wheels Ain't Coming Down", were taken from their 1979 "Return To Base" album and were remixed for inclusion on the E.P.

Background
In 1980, Noddy Holder was interviewed for the Slade fan club. He spoke about some of the songs that appeared on the E.P. "After "Return To Base", then there was a period of us writing songs and seeing how they turned out. Like "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin"' and "9 To 5" to us they were all good songs but they didn't sell huge quantities of records. Therefore we got to a point where we thought that we'd cool it for a little while, and not go in the studio. Jim Lea was working on his band The Dummies so me and Jim Lea decided to write a song specifically for them. It wasn't written as a Slade song, because Jim Lea had the idea in his mind how he wanted to do The Dummies record. He played the tune to me, I wrote the lyrics to it he worked out how he wanted to do it, and the final record got lots of radio play. So we knew that we could still write songs that would get played on the radio. Then it was a case of thinking "where do Slade go from here?" We now knew that our songs were strong. Then the Reading Festival came along. You've seen the reaction on "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin"' now when we 1st brought the track out on the "Six Of The Best" E.P.", it didn't see the light of day as far as charts were concerned but now it's on the "Reading '80 E.P." and all the crowds are singing it!"

Recording
"Six Of The Best" was released via Super Record Label on 24th May 1980.
All tracks on "Six Of The Best" were produced by Slade. "Night Starvation" and "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin"' were at the time new tracks, both later appearing on their 1981 album "We'll Bring The House Down". "I'm A Rocka", "Don't Waste Your Time" and "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" were all taken from their 1979 album "Return To Base" where they would re appear again on their "We'll Bring The House Down" album except "Don't Waste Your Time". "I'm A Rocka" was titled "I'm A Rocker" on both the albums it appeared on. The track "9 To 5" was originally exclusive to the E.P.

Release
"Six Of The Best E.P." was originally released on 12" vinyl the band's first U.K. release on this format.
This E.P. was released whilst Slade were still unpopular and before their triumph at the 1980 Reading festival in August. As a result the E.P. failed to chart despite being for sale at a low £1.49 as printed on the E.P's. cover. Shortly following the single's release, the fan club newsletter explained that there was not enough airplay to get the single to chart. Shortly after release, Slade had unofficially disbanded until they were asked to perform at Reading.
In 1980, Noddy Holder was interviewed for the Slade fan club. He spoke about some of the songs that appeared on the E.P. "After "Return To Base", then there was a period of us writing songs and seeing how they turned out. Like "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin"' and "9 To 5" to us they were all good songs but they didn't sell huge quantities of records. Therefore we got to a point where we thought that we'd cool it for a little while, and not go in the studio. Jim Lea was working on his band The Dummies so me and Jim Lea decided to write a song specifically for them. It wasn't written as a Slade song, because Jim Lea had the idea in his mind how he wanted to do The Dummies record. He played the tune to me, I wrote the lyrics to it he worked out how he wanted to do it, and the final record got lots of radio play. So we knew that we could still write songs that would get played on the radio. Then it was a case of thinking "where do Slade go from here?" We now knew that our songs were strong. Then the Reading Festival came along.

Promotion
No video was made for this single, live concerts and word of mouth were the procedure to try publicise this single. A promotional 7" single was released to support the E.P., featuring "Night Starvation" as the a - side and "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin"' as the b - side. It was released on 10th May 1980.
 
Chart Performance
"Six Of The Best" single failed to enter the U.K. top 100 singles chart.

Track listing - 12" U.K. Single
A1. Night Starvation (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:05
A2. When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin' (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:09
A3. I'm a Rocka (Chuck Berry) - 2:47
B1. Don't Waste Your Time (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:29
B2. The Wheels Ain't Coming Down (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 3:36
B3. 9 To 5 (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea) - 2:54
 
Night Starvation
"Night Starvation" written by Holder and Lea, this track became part of Slade's live song set. Chris Ingham of Rock Backpages stated ""Night Starvation" is a lusty piece of oompah rock."
 
When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'
"When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'" written by Holder and Lea, was released as the main track on their E.P. "Alive At Reading '80". The song became part of Slade's live set. Chris Ingham stated "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin" is a catchy rock song with a sing a long hook."
Allmusic wrote "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin" is pure classic Slade. This is just the type of song that made people go crazy over this band in the 1st place, and it stacks up to their chart topping singles."
 
I'm a Rocker
"I'm A Rocker" is a cover version of a Chuck Berry track. The track, originally from their "Return To Base" album, was mimed on Belgian TV to promote the "We'll Bring The House Down" album as the song had topped the singles chart there in 1980. A video of the band at Portland Studios in London also showed the band originally recording the track in 1979.
Allmusic stated "The version of Chuck Berry's "I'm A Rocker" is catchy as all get out." James Parade for Record Mirror stated "Holders vocal prowess certainly hasn't dimmed on "I'm a Rocker"
 
Don't Waste Your Time
"Don't Waste Your Time (Back Seat Star)" written by Holder and Lea, is an acoustic based ballad based on a fun loving girl who would wholeheartedly celebrated in Slade's music. The track wasn't reused for Slade's next album "We'll Bring The House Down".
In a late 1988 Slade fan club magazine, Holder stated the lyrics of the song was a "surrealistic social comment."
 
Wheels Ain't Coming Down
"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" written by Holder and Lea, this was originally released as a single by Slade via Cheapskate Record Label (Slade's own label) on 27th March 1981 and reached number 60 on the U.K. chart.
It tells the tale of a near death flying experience suffered by Holder and Lea when travelling to Los Angeles. The track was later released as a single in 1981, after Slade's 1980 Reading Festival performance, which put them back in the public eye. It reached number 60 on the U.K. chart. The track also became part of the band's live set list. Geoff Ginsberg for allmusic stated the track ranked among the band's best work.
 
9 To 5
"9 To 5" written by Holder and Lea, this was exclusive to this single release only, eventually being released on CD via the 2007 Salvo remaster of "We'll Bring The House Down". This is a catchy do wop song about the shenanigans at work.
 
Credits
Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
Noddy Holder - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Jim Lea - bass guitar, organ, backing vocals
Don Powell - drums
Slade - producers
Jim Lea - art work