Song of the Day 11/8: Slade, “Cum On Feel the Noize”

The glam rock years were strange ones, kids. Bands, particularly in England, put on makeup, glitter and androgynous outfits in emulation of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. Most of them took it seriously, but not Slade. The quartet from Wolverhampton played loud, stomping rock that dominated the British charts (six No. 1 records, 17 top 5 hits) for several years in the early ’70s, and had a raucous good time doing it. They mocked Bowie’s fashion sense by donning ridiculous outfits — singer Noddy Holder was given to loud plaid jumpsuits and top hats, while guitarist Dave Hill, the one wearing a mirrored caftan and headdress in this clip, would wear anything — while Holder and bassist Jim Lea churned out a string of hits with phonetically misspelled titles. “Cum on Feel the Noize” was a No. 1 smash in England but barely reached the top 100 (No 98) in the U.S. BTW, Nodder’s now-iconic opening line of “baby, baby, baby” was a sound check, but they liked it so much they left it on the recording.

The song was revived a decade later in the MTV era by Quiet Riot, which cleaned up the production just enough to defang it. They also take themselves seriously, something nobody ever accused Slade of. If you notice, the video pays homage to Noddy at the 0:20 second mark with a teddy bear in a glitter-covered top hat.