12'' front cover U.K.

12'' rear cover U.K.

12'' a Side U.K.

12'' B Side U.K.

"Slade Alive!" was Slades 1st live album release, it was released and produced by Chas Chandler via Polydor record label on 24th March 1972.
This album reached number 2 on the U.K. Albums Chart, and was Slade's 1st album to dent the Billboard 200 in the U.S.A. The album contained original songs, plus cover versions of songs by Ten Years After, The Lovin' Spoonful, Bobby Marchan, and Steppenwolf.
In its original LP vinyl format, the album was issued in a gatefold sleeve which revealed a huge cartoon drawing on the inside. This drawing was the winning entry in a competition run in The Sun U.K. newspaper to design the album cover.
Of the 3 nights recorded, most of the album consisted of the 2nd night as the band had just come from performing on Top of the Pops with "Coz I Luv You" which had just peaked at number 1 in the U.K. singles chart.
The album was rated number 2 of the top 10 albums of 1972 by NME magazine's chart point survey.
In the September – December 1986 Slade fan club magazine, the poll results were announced for the 1986 opinion poll based on Slade’s material. For the best album of the 70s, "Slade Alive!" placed at number 1.

Background
After the success of Slade singles "Get Down And Get With It", "Coz I Luv You" and "Look Wot You Dun", Slade set out to capture their live sound on record. After the commercial failures of previous albums "Beginnings" and "Play It Loud", the only income was through the band's solid live reputation. "Slade Alive!" was recorded at the Command Theatre Studio in London, for cost of £600, and released without overdubs of any sort in March 1972. A number of lucky fan club members had been present over the course of a 3 night run.
The album consisted of covers of Ten Years After's "Hear Me Calling", John Sebastian's "Darling Be Home Soon", Little Richard's "Get Down And Get With It" which became a top 20 hit for the band in mid 1971 and Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" which had also appeared on the band's debut album "Beginnings" (1969). The album peaked at number 2 in the U.K. Albums Chart, and remained in that listing for 58 weeks.

Recording
"Slade Alive!" was released via Polydor record label on 24th March 1972.
Before the hits really starting coming, Slade showed why they were one of England's best live acts with this fevered concert recording from 1972. Set alight by plenty of stomping beats, lumbering bass, fat guitars, and Noddy Holder's hoarse vocal scream, "Slade Alive!" finds the lads from Wolverhampton goading on their rabid fans at every juncture ("Wan ya ta really let loose on iss one"). In return, the crowd's handclap choruses and drunken exhortations fire up the band, inspiring them to take pub rock to glam proportions ("In Like A Shot From My Gun"), make a fine mess out of a Steppenwolf classic ("Born To Be Wild"), and add a bit of feedback to John Sebastian's folk pop ("Darling Be Home Soon").

Release
"Slade Alive!" was originally released on 12" vinyl and cassette and 8 track cartridge.
The album was released on March 24, 1972, and reached No. 2 on the UK Charts. It has also been consistently voted as one of the all time Top 10 greatest live albums ever released.
The album contains original songs, plus cover versions of songs by Ten Years After, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Bobby Marchan, and Steppenwolf. The album was recorded live at Command Theatre Studio and mixed at Olympic Studios.
In its original LP vinyl format, the album was issued in a gatefold sleeve which revealed a huge cartoon drawing on the inside. This drawing was the winning entry in a competition run in the The Sun U.K. newspaper to design the album cover.
Of the 3 nights recorded, most of the album consisted of the 2nd night as the band had just come from performing on Top of the Pops with "Coz I Luv You" which had just peaked at number1 in the U.K. The band’s delight ended up showing on the performance of that night.
Slade set out to capture their live sound on record. After the commercial failures of previous albums "Beginnings" and "Play It Loud", the only income was through the band’s solid live reputation.

Promotion
As a major part of promotion for the album, the band did a U.K. tour during April and May. The poster for this tour used the same artwork as the album, both front and back sides.
On the U.K. Granada Television, the band performed a 'Set of 6' show on 13th June 1972. This filmed set featured a similar set to the "Slade Alive!" album, the tracks in order being, "Hear Me Calling", "Look Wot You Dun", "Darling Be Home Soon", "Coz I Luv You'", "Get Down And Get With It" and "Born To Be Wild".

Chart Performance
The album peaked at number 2 on the U.K chart.

Track listing - 12" LP U.K.
A1. Hear Me Calling (Alvin Lee) - 5:45
A2. In Like A Shot from My Gun (Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell) - 3:33
A3. Darling Be Home Soon (John Sebastian) - 5:43
A4. Know Who You Are (Dave Hill, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell) - 3:37
B1. Keep On Rocking (Dave Hill, Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell) - 6:29
B2. Get Down With It (Bobby Marchan) - 5:33
B3. Born To Be Wild (Mars Bonfire) - 8:19

Hear Me Calling
"Hear Me Calling" written by Alvin Lee is the album's opener, originally performed by Ten Years After in 1969 from the album 'Stonedhenge'.
Slade covered the song frequently live, and it soon became the band's show opener for many years. The band decided to record the song in the studio as a potential follow up to their 1971 breakthrough hit "Get Down And Get With It". However, the band couldn't better the song in the studio than live and so the studio recording on vinyl acetate wasn't released, but kept by drummer Powell, never to be heard again until 2011 when Salvo remastered the 1973 U.K. number 1 compilation CD "Sladest"
In a late 2011 interview on the Radcliffe and Maconie show, Holder stated that during an American tour with Ten Years After, Alvin Lee had told Slade that their "Slade Alive!" version of the song had made him more money than the original ever did.
During February - March 1972, a promotional single was released with "Hear Me Calling" as the a - side and "Get Down With It" as the b - side. This release had only 500 DJ copies made.
"Hear Me Calling" was voted number 1 of the top 3 Slade album tracks in the Slade Fan Club Poll of 1979. "Hear Me Calling" was also voted number 1 of the top 3 Slade live tracks.

In Like A Shot from My Gun
"In Like A Shot from My Gun" was written by Holder, Lea and Powell. Allmusic.com wrote "Set alight by plenty of stomping beats, lumbering bass, fat guitars, and Holder's hoarse vocal scream, "Slade Alive!" finds the lads from Wolverhampton goading on their rabid fans at every juncture ("Wan ya ta really let loose on iss one"). In return, the crowd's handclap choruses and drunken exhortations fire up the band, inspiring them to take pub rock to glam proportions ("In Like A Shot From My Gun")." The band performed the track in the early 70s during a live BBC studio session. Rumours of an unreleased studio version have been reported although in 1981, drummer Powell was asked by the Slade fan club why the track "In Like A Shot From My Gun" was never recorded in a studio. Powell replied "I don't know really. It was originally meant to be put down in the studio. But after we recorded it live for the "Slade Alive!" album, we didn't think that we could do it any more justice by doing it in the studio as it's basically a live number. Maybe though it might work now if we recorded it in the studio, as we try and put a more "live" feel on our singles."
In a 1981 interview, guitarist Hill spoke of the Southern rock musical ensemble Blackfoot. Hill stated "Actually, they're old fans of ours they used to do "In Like A Shot From My Gun" from the "Slade Alive!" album. They were raving about the track the other day, they said that they used to play "Slade Alive!" really loud before their rehearsals to get them in the mood!"

Darling Be Home Soon
"Darling Be Home Soon" written by John Sebastian, originally performed by The Lovin' Spoonful in 1967 as an American hit single from the soundtrack album You're a Big Boy Now. It is the only ballad on the live album.
A famous moment in the song is where Holder accidentally burped into the microphone, with Holder later admitting in 2000 on 'The Frank Skinner Show' that the burp was accidental as the band had a lot to drink before performing on the stage. Holder also stated that from then on, he had to continue to do the burp whenever the song was performed otherwise the audience would be disappointed. On this particular Frank Skinner Show episode, the ending features Holder doing an off screen burp after Skinner performs the 1976 Slade hit "Let's Call It Quits", where Holder and Katy Hill performed backing vocals.

Know Who You Are
"Know Who You Are" written by Hill, Holder, Lea and Powell, this was originally released as a single by Slade via Polydor Record label on 18th September 1970 and failed to appear on the U.K. chart.
This was originally released in 1969 as an instrumental titled "Genesis", from the 1969 album "Beginnings", and later re worked with added lyrics for the 1970 album "Play It Loud". Both original versions were also singles in 1969 and 1970 respectively, both failing to make any impact.
Allmusic.com wrote "Plus, hits like the MC5 - esque "Know Who You Are" are given proper live workouts."
The band performed the track in the early '70s during a live BBC studio session.

Keep On Rocking
"Keep On Rocking" written by Hill, Holder, Lea and Powell, a live only song that was never recorded in the studio. Despite this, the song remained part of the band's set list for a long time.
The song is based on a classic rock ‘n’ roll sound, showing Slade's further inspiration from artists like Little Richard, with the band gaining their 1st hit single "Get Down And Get With It", after hearing the song performed by Little Richard.
The band performed the track on 17th August 1972, live at the Paris Theatre in London.

Get Down With It
"Get Down With It" written and first performed by Bobby Marchan, later covered by Little Richard, becoming an increasingly popular song, Slade originally released their version via Polydor record label on 21st May 1971 and reached number 16 on the U.K. chart.
The song was Slade's breakthrough hit and was used as part of the band's live set for the almost all of the band's live career.
Allmusic.com wrote "Plus, hits like the retro rocker "Get Down Get With It" are given proper live workouts."
The band performed the track in the early 70s during a live BBC studio session and on 17th August 1972, live at the Paris Theatre in London.

Born To Be Wild
"Born To Be Wild" written by Canadian musician Mars Bonfire, first performed by Canadian - American rock group Steppenwolf who released it as a single from their self titled album in 1968.
The song had been part of Slade's live set previously as well as being performed often throughout the band's entire live career. It was originally performed in the studio for the band's 1969 debut album "Beginnings", under their name of the time Ambrose Slade.
In the Slade Fan Club Poll of 1979, "Born To Be Wild" was voted number 3 of three on the top 3 Slade album tracks poll.

Credits
Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
Noddy Holder - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Jim Lea - bass guitar, backing vocals
Don Powell - drums
Tambourine on "Know Who You Are" - unknown member of audience
Chas Chandler - producer
Barry Ainsworth - engineer (recording)
Alan O'Duffy - engineer (mixing)
Derek Robinson - artwork
Chris Walter - photography (front)
M. Webb - artwork (sleeve inner)