Wheels Ain't Coming Down

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"Wheels Ain't Coming Down"
Sladesingle-wheelsaintcomindown.gif
Single by Slade
from the album We'll Bring the House Down
B-side "Not Tonight Josephine"
Released27 March 1981 [1]
Recorded1979
Genre Rock
Length3:37
Label Cheapskate
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Slade
Slade singles chronology
"We'll Bring The House Down"
(1981)		"Wheels Ain't Coming Down"
(1981)		"Knuckle Sandwich Nancy"
(1981)
Audio sample

"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1979 as the opening track from their eighth studio album Return to Base . The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Slade. In 1981, the song re-appeared on the band's follow-up album We'll Bring the House Down and was released as the second single from it in March, which reached No. 60 in the UK. [2] [3]

Contents

Background

"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" was released as the opening track on Return to Base, which was a commercial failure in 1979; a period when the band's popularity was low. [4] The song also appeared on the 1980 extended play Six of the Best , which also failed to chart. In 1980, the band's fortunes were revived after a performance at Reading Festival. To capitalise on the new interest in the band, the album We'll Bring the House Down was released in March 1981, which featured a number of tracks re-used from Return to Base, including "Wheels Ain't Coming Down". Following up the Top Ten hit "We'll Bring the House Down", the band decided to release "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" as a single in March 1981. It reached No. 60, lasting three weeks on the chart. [3]

"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" tells the tale of a near-death flying experience suffered by Holder and Lea when travelling to Los Angeles. [5] In a 1981 interview with Daily Star, Holder recalled: "Jim and I were on the way to a radio station when the captain told us he could not get the wheels down to land. We were diverted to another airport for a crash landing. It's not a great feeling knowing you might have only 45 minutes left in life. We drank all the booze there was going. Happily the pilot brought the plane down safely." [6]

Release

"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" was released on 7" vinyl by Cheapskate in the UK only. [7] The first 20,000 copies of the single were issued with a picture sleeve. [8] [9] The B-side, "Not Tonight Josephine", was previously the B-side to the 1979 single "Sign of the Times". [10]

Music video

A music video was filmed, however it was never shown at the time of single's release. It was directed by Eric Boliski. The video was filmed on the afternoon of 10 March 1981 at the Southampton Gaumont, prior to the band's concert there that evening. [11] Fans of the band first saw the video on a bootleg DVD that was produced as part of the 'One More Time' DVD. Uber fans Mark Richards and Steve Knight forwarded the Video tape on to Slade In England where David Graham re edited and cleaned up the VHS tape. A DVD was produced and distributed amongst those Slade fans in the know. [12]

Critical reception

In a review of Return to Base, Wolverhampton Express and Star described "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" as a "power-packed churning song with a catchy hook line". Geoff Ginsberg of AllMusic retrospectively ranked the song among the band's best work and described it as "infectious to the degree that humming [it] could become a chronic problem". [13]

Upon its release as a single in 1981, James Johnson, writing for the Daily Mirror , considered it "another blockbuster from Slade" and added, "It looks like their comeback is not just a brief return to glory." [14] Jim Whiteford of The Kilmarnock Standard described it as a "fairly subdued rocker telling the story of a 'near thing' when the undercarriage of their jet jammed" and believed it would reach the top 30. [15]

Simon Tebbutt of Record Mirror noted that "you wouldn't know it was Slade if it wasn't for the chorus" due to an "uncharacteristic musical sophistication" and considered the subject matter to be a "funny sort of thing to sing about really". He concluded, "Slade might be able to bring the house down, but they're a bit stuck when it comes to flying on a plane when the wheels won't come down. Anyway, keep your head low because if this one lands it might bring all the houses down." [16] Betty Page of Sounds felt the song was both "nowhere near the rebel-rousin' quality" of "We'll Bring the House Down" and a "blatant rip-off" of the Edgar Winter Group's "Free Ride". She continued, "Glossy Americanised heaviness and a smooth Holder vocal distinctly lacking in raucous glambamming." [17]

Track listing

7-inch single

  1. "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" – 3:37
  2. "Not Tonight Josephine" – 3:03

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1981)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart (OCC) [3] 60
UK Top 100 Singles ( Record Business ) [18] 51

Related Research Articles

<i>Return to Base</i> 1979 studio album by Slade

Return to Base is the eighth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 1 October 1979 by Barn Records, and did not enter any national album charts. At the time of the album's release, the band's success had waned and were receiving little fortune. Forced to play at small halls and clubs around the UK, the only income they were reliant on was Noddy Holder and Jim Lea's songwriting royalties. Their recent singles had sold poorly and they were no longer drawing in large audiences. Prior to their last-minute call up for the 1980 Reading Festival, they were on the verge of disbanding.

<i>Well Bring the House Down</i> 1981 studio album by Slade

We'll Bring the House Down is the ninth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 13 March 1981 and reached No. 25 in the UK. The album was produced by Slade, except "My Baby's Got It" which was produced by Chas Chandler. The album was the first studio album released by the band after their successful appearance at the 1980 Reading Festival. In order to capitalise on their revival, Slade quickly compiled this new album, made up of some new tracks and some recycled ones, mainly from their failed Return to Base album of 1979.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">We'll Bring the House Down (song)</span> 1981 single by Slade

"We'll Bring the House Down" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1981 as the lead single from their ninth studio album We'll Bring the House Down. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Slade. The band's first single to reach the UK Top 40 since 1977, the song peaked at No. 10 in the UK, remaining in the chart for nine weeks.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bangin' Man</span> 1974 single by Slade

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<i>Xmas Ear Bender</i> 1980 EP by Slade

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<i>Six of the Best</i> (EP) 1980 EP by Slade

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knuckle Sandwich Nancy</span> 1981 single by Slade

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sign of the Times (Slade song)</span> 1979 single by Slade

"Sign of the Times" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1979 as the second single from the band's eighth studio album Return to Base. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Slade.

The Dummies was a musical project formed by Slade bassist Jim Lea and his brother Frank Lea in 1979. Between 1979 and 1981, they released three singles and recorded a number of original and Slade songs, which were collected on the 1992 album A Day in the Life of the Dummies.

Barn Records was a record label established by the English musician, record producer and manager Chas Chandler. It was active from 1976 to 1980, and included the production company Barn Productions and publishing company Barn Publishing Ltd. The label was based at Portland Studios in London, which was formerly known as IBC Studios until Chandler purchased them in 1978.

References

  1. ↑ "Slade - Wheels Ain't Coming Down".
  2. ↑ "Slade – Wheels Ain't Coming Down / Not Tonight Josephine – Cheapskate – UK – CHEAP 21". 45cat. 27 March 1981. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "slade | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  4. ↑ We'll Bring the House Down – 2007 Salvo remaster booklet liner notes
  5. ↑ Noddy Holder, Vic Reeves and others. Does The Team Think, Episode 6., 21 February 2009
  6. ↑ "Related Links". Timesup.dsl.pipex.com. 29 October 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "ALL Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk". Collectadisc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  8. ↑ "1981 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". Sladefanclub.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Slade Supporters Club Newsletter March – April 1981
  10. ↑ "Slade – Sign Of The Times / Not Tonight Josephine – Barn – UK – BARN 010". 45cat. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  11. ↑ "1986 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". Sladefanclub.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  12. ↑ David Graham ~ Slade In England
  13. ↑ Ginsberg, Geoff. "Return to Base – Slade; Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Johnson, James (4 April 1981). "Reviews: Singles" . Daily Mirror . p. 21. Retrieved 25 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ Whiteford, Jim (27 March 1981). "Records: Singles" . The Kilmarnock Standard . p. 12. Retrieved 25 October 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ↑ Tebbutt, Simon (28 March 1981). "Singles". Record Mirror . p. 14. ISSN   0144-5804.
  17. ↑ Page, Betty (4 April 1981). "Singles". Sounds . p. 19. ISSN   0144-5774.
  18. ↑ "Singles Top 100". Record Business . Vol. 4, no. 4. 13 April 1981. p. 6.
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