We'll Bring the House Down (song)
Encyclopedia
"We'll Bring The House Down" is a single
from rock band Slade
from their 1981 album We'll Bring the House Down
. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder
and bassist Jim Lea
. After years of touring in small venues and releasing a string of unsuccessful singles and albums, the single was the first Top Thirty hit for Slade since 1976, peaking at number ten in the UK during a chart run of nine weeks. This was largely thanks to the Reading festival the year before after Ozzy Osbourne's band had pulled out at the last minute and Slade agreed to step in instead. The band stole the show and became hot news once again.
In 2003, the song was sampled by Overseer
for the track titled Slayed which was also the name of Slade's 1972 album.
As well as peaking at #10 in the UK, the single peaked at #4 in the Melody Maker charts.
at the Paradiso
club. An enthusiastic audience who wouldn't go home kept repeating the chant heard in this song. Lea, downstairs in the dressing room, as ever, on the hunt for the next song and realised the potential of the chant. The drums on the track were completely double tracked with Powell playing in the toilet on the second track which gave the echoey sound. Holder's lyrics reflected Slade's shift towards a heavier sound.
The song was took two days to record on the 4th and 5 January that year. This was recorded at the Portland Recording Studios in London. To receive the distinctive vocal and drum sounds, the band recorded the parts in the Gentlemen's toilets at the studio. The band had to stop recording every time somebody flushed the toilet in the ladies' restroom, because the sound could be heard.
The track had been covered by Marshall Law, Not Fragile and Victoria's Secret advert.
In a early 1990 Slade fan club interview, it was announced that Lea had been working with a female singer on a new version of the track, which was later released under the name The Clout. It was backed by an instrumental composition from Lea, titled "Jim Jam". The female vocal on the song was a singer of English jazz-funk band Shakatak
.
A promotional video was created for the track along with TV performances on Top of The Pops, Moondogs and German show Musikladen. The promotional video for "We'll Bring the House Down" was filmed at the band's Ipswich Gaumont Concert on the 17th January 1981 by an independent film company. This company also recorded a documentary about the band's life on the road however this was never released.
BBC presenter and radio DJ Mike Read
noted the band's "electrifying" performance on Top of the Pops. The following day, Read noted on his breakfast show that the programme seemed rather flat after Slade's performance.
In a 1981 fan club interview, drummer Don Powell was asked if he thought that Slade would ever make a comeback after many years of commercial failure. Powell repsonded "The thing is we don't think of it as a comeback just because "We'll Bring the House Down" made the charts. We didn't really think how long it had been since we had a hit until "We'll Bring the House Down" charted, and then everyone told us that it was amazingly our first hit for four or five years, and we realised."
In a 1981 fan club interview, guitarist Dave Hill mentioned performing the song on Belgian TV. "We did a major TV show in Belgium to promote "We'll Bring the House Down". The guy who makes the TV show likes us, so he let us do two extra tracks; "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" and "I'm a Rocker", which was a hit over there.
During a 1981 televised gig that The Who
were performing in Paris, the audience began singing the chant of "We'll Bring the House Down" in-between songs, much to The Who's annoyance. One crowd member eventually jumped on the stage and shouted "We'll Bring the House Down".
7" Single (German only version)
Sounds
wrote "stick down some rock hard Glamboy drums, swinging schlocko guitar, which out crasses fatty Jones, and a little spicy chant a long a football terrace toon and who can fail? Slade's current resurgence amongst the anti literati seems to have provided a much needed livener which has lifted years off their shoulders. Platforms? Its nearly here..."
Melody Maker
wrote "Despite the impetus they've gained over the last eight weeks, they blow it with a messy live orientated song and a muddy production that does little to explain to others what all the fuss is about with this revival thing... How about re releasing 'When I'm Dancin' I aint Fightin' lads?"
Record Mirror
stated "And then Slade - nice to see the up turn in their fortunes which followed Reading, but a shame that its taken such rotten, clumsy HM to do the trick. Bring the house down should pander to the band's new headbanger following alright, but frankly it hasn't got much going for it. A crass echo of former glories."
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from rock band Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
from their 1981 album We'll Bring the House Down
We'll Bring the House Down
We'll Bring The House Down is an album by English rock band Slade. It was released on 13 March 1981 and entered the UK charts at number 25. This was due to the Reading Festival success the previous year, when they had stood in for heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. Slade got exactly what they...
. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
and bassist Jim Lea
Jim Lea
Jim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...
. After years of touring in small venues and releasing a string of unsuccessful singles and albums, the single was the first Top Thirty hit for Slade since 1976, peaking at number ten in the UK during a chart run of nine weeks. This was largely thanks to the Reading festival the year before after Ozzy Osbourne's band had pulled out at the last minute and Slade agreed to step in instead. The band stole the show and became hot news once again.
In 2003, the song was sampled by Overseer
Overseer
Rob Overseer is an English DJ/producer, born in Leeds whose works have been included in soundtracks for Animatrix, Snatch, Any Given Sunday and The Girl Next Door, as well as video games like Need for Speed: Underground, NFL Gameday 2004, several Matchstick Productions ski films, and Stuntman,...
for the track titled Slayed which was also the name of Slade's 1972 album.
As well as peaking at #10 in the UK, the single peaked at #4 in the Melody Maker charts.
Background
The idea for the track originally came while the band were performing in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
at the Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
club. An enthusiastic audience who wouldn't go home kept repeating the chant heard in this song. Lea, downstairs in the dressing room, as ever, on the hunt for the next song and realised the potential of the chant. The drums on the track were completely double tracked with Powell playing in the toilet on the second track which gave the echoey sound. Holder's lyrics reflected Slade's shift towards a heavier sound.
The song was took two days to record on the 4th and 5 January that year. This was recorded at the Portland Recording Studios in London. To receive the distinctive vocal and drum sounds, the band recorded the parts in the Gentlemen's toilets at the studio. The band had to stop recording every time somebody flushed the toilet in the ladies' restroom, because the sound could be heard.
The track had been covered by Marshall Law, Not Fragile and Victoria's Secret advert.
In a early 1990 Slade fan club interview, it was announced that Lea had been working with a female singer on a new version of the track, which was later released under the name The Clout. It was backed by an instrumental composition from Lea, titled "Jim Jam". The female vocal on the song was a singer of English jazz-funk band Shakatak
Shakatak
Shakatak are an English jazz-funk band, founded in 1980.-Career:Shakatak scored a number of chart entries, including two Top Ten hits in the UK Singles Chart, "Night Birds" and "Down on the Street" plus a further 12 entries in the Guinness book of British Hit Singles...
.
A promotional video was created for the track along with TV performances on Top of The Pops, Moondogs and German show Musikladen. The promotional video for "We'll Bring the House Down" was filmed at the band's Ipswich Gaumont Concert on the 17th January 1981 by an independent film company. This company also recorded a documentary about the band's life on the road however this was never released.
BBC presenter and radio DJ Mike Read
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.-Early life:...
noted the band's "electrifying" performance on Top of the Pops. The following day, Read noted on his breakfast show that the programme seemed rather flat after Slade's performance.
In a 1981 fan club interview, drummer Don Powell was asked if he thought that Slade would ever make a comeback after many years of commercial failure. Powell repsonded "The thing is we don't think of it as a comeback just because "We'll Bring the House Down" made the charts. We didn't really think how long it had been since we had a hit until "We'll Bring the House Down" charted, and then everyone told us that it was amazingly our first hit for four or five years, and we realised."
In a 1981 fan club interview, guitarist Dave Hill mentioned performing the song on Belgian TV. "We did a major TV show in Belgium to promote "We'll Bring the House Down". The guy who makes the TV show likes us, so he let us do two extra tracks; "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" and "I'm a Rocker", which was a hit over there.
During a 1981 televised gig that The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
were performing in Paris, the audience began singing the chant of "We'll Bring the House Down" in-between songs, much to The Who's annoyance. One crowd member eventually jumped on the stage and shouted "We'll Bring the House Down".
Formats
7" Single- "We'll Bring the House Down" - 3:32
- "Hold on to Your Hats" - 2:33
7" Single (German only version)
- "We'll Bring the House Down" - 3:32
- "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" - 3:36
Critical reception
At the time of release, reviews were overall mixed.Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
wrote "stick down some rock hard Glamboy drums, swinging schlocko guitar, which out crasses fatty Jones, and a little spicy chant a long a football terrace toon and who can fail? Slade's current resurgence amongst the anti literati seems to have provided a much needed livener which has lifted years off their shoulders. Platforms? Its nearly here..."
Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
wrote "Despite the impetus they've gained over the last eight weeks, they blow it with a messy live orientated song and a muddy production that does little to explain to others what all the fuss is about with this revival thing... How about re releasing 'When I'm Dancin' I aint Fightin' lads?"
Record Mirror
Record Mirror
Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...
stated "And then Slade - nice to see the up turn in their fortunes which followed Reading, but a shame that its taken such rotten, clumsy HM to do the trick. Bring the house down should pander to the band's new headbanger following alright, but frankly it hasn't got much going for it. A crass echo of former glories."
Chart performance
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| German Singles Chart | 10 | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 11 | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart | 10 | 9 |
Personnel
- Noddy Holder: Lead vocals and guitar
- Jim Lea: Bass guitar and backing vocals
- Dave Hill: Lead guitar and backing vocals
- Don Powell: Drums