Rock 'n' Roll Bolero

"Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released in 1978 as a non-album single. It was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea. The song failed to make an appearance in the UK charts.[2]

"Rock 'n' Roll Bolero"
Single by Slade
B-side"It's Alright Buy Me"
Released13 October 1978[1]
GenreRock
Length3:50
LabelBarn Records
Songwriter(s)Noddy Holder, Jim Lea
Producer(s)Slade (A-Side)
Chas Chandler (B-Side)
Slade singles chronology
"Give Us a Goal"
(1978)		 "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero"
(1978)		 "Ginny, Ginny"
(1979)

Background

Having returned to the UK from the United States in 1976, Slade found themselves out-of-favour at the time of the UK's Punk rock explosion. Slade's waning success soon led to the band playing small gigs, including universities and clubs, but despite being successful at filling small venues, their new records were barely selling. "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" was released in October 1978 and was one of the band's string of singles to fail to chart during this period.[3]

"Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" featured the return of Lea's electric violin; the first time on a Slade single since 1971's "Coz I Luv You".[4] The song was originally recorded in June 1978 under the working title "I've Been Rejected".[5] In July, the band re-recorded the song as "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" at Portland Studios in London.[6] In a 1979 fan club interview, Lea said of the song: "The comment on "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" is that it was different for Slade, but it was ordinary compared to everything else that was going around at the time. But I really dig the record myself!" He further added: "It's great on record, but it's us thinking, it's not us being ourselves."[7]

Release

"Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" was released on 7" vinyl by Barn Records in the UK, Belgium and Germany.[8][9] The B-side, "It's Alright Buy Me", was exclusive to the single and would later appear on the band's 2007 compilation B-Sides. In France, the A-side and B-sides were switched, with "It's Alright Buy Me" becoming the A-side.[10]

Critical reception

Upon release, Record Mirror described the song as a "more mellow Slade", adding: "they're in dire need of a hit and this could be the one".[11] In a review of the live album Slade Alive, Vol. 2, Superpop commented: "...one complaint though, they did not include "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero", a classic no doubt."[12] Geoff Ginsberg of AllMusic retrospectively stated in a review of the bootleg album Gospel According to Noddy!: ""Rock N Roll Bolero," is heard here (by many) for the first time. Even more amazing is the B-side, "It's All Right By Me," which is unbelievably catchy and just cooks."[13]

Formats
7" Single
  1. "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" - 4:04
  2. "It's Alright Buy Me" - 3:20

Personnel
Slade
Additional personnel
gollark: > Allows visitors to look and download without authenticating. (A+0)Yes.> Does not log anything about visitors. (A+1)No. Your IP and user agent are logged for purposes.> Follows the criteria in The Electronic Frontier Foundation's best practices for online service providers. (A+2)> Follows the Web “Content” Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) standard. (A+3)> Follows the Web Accessibility Initiative — Accessible Rich Internet Applications 1.0 (WAI-ARIA 1.0) standard. (A+4)Probably not.> All data contributed by the project owner and contributors is exportable in a machine-readable format. (A+5)No idea. There might be an API.
gollark: > All important site functions work correctly (though may not look as nice) when the user disables execution of JavaScript and other code sent by the site. (A0)I think they *mostly* do.> Server code released as free software. (A1)Yes.> Encourages use of GPL 3-or-later as preferred option. (A2)> Offers use of AGPL 3-or-later as an option. (A3)> Does not permit nonfree licenses (or lack of license) for works for practical use. (A4)See above. Although not ALLOWING licenses like that would be very not free.> Does not recommend services that are SaaSS. (A5)Yes.> Says “free software,” not “open source.” (A6)Don't know if it says either.> Clearly endorses the Free Software Movement's ideas of freedom. (A7)No.> Avoids saying “Linux” without “GNU” when referring to GNU/Linux. (A8)It says neither.> Insists that each nontrivial file in a package clearly and unambiguously state how it is licensed. (A9)No, and this is stupid.
gollark: > All code sent to the user's browser must be free software and labeled for LibreJS or other suitable free automatic license analyzer, regardless of whether the site functions when the user disables this code. (B0)Nope!> Does not report visitors to other organizations; in particular, no tracking tags in the pages. This means the site must avoid most advertising networks. (B1)Yes, it is entirely served locally.> Does not encourage bad licensing practices (no license, unclear licensing, GPL N only). (B2)Again, don't think gitea has this.> Does not recommend nonfree licenses for works of practical use. (B3)See above.
gollark: > All important site functionality that's enabled for use with that package works correctly (though it need not look as nice) in free browsers, including IceCat, without running any nonfree software sent by the site. (C0)I think so. Definitely works in free browsers, don't know if it contains nonfree software.> No other nonfree software is required to use the site (thus, no Flash). (C1)Yes.> Does not discriminate against classes of users, or against any country. (C2)Yes.> Permits access via Tor (we consider this an important site function). (C3)Yes.> The site's terms of service contain no odious conditions. (C4)Yes.> Recommends and encourages GPL 3-or-later licensing at least as much as any other kind of licensing. (C5)I don't think it has much on licensing, so suuuure.> Support HTTPS properly and securely, including the site's certificates. (C6)Definitely.
gollark: I'll run git.osmarks.net through the comparison tables.

References
  1. http://www.45cat.com/record/2014127
  2. "Slade - Rock 'N' Roll Bolero (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  3. We'll Bring the House Down - 2007 Salvo remaster booklet liner notes
  4. "Slade - Coz I Luv You at Discogs". Discogs.com. 12 March 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  5. "Look Wot I Dun: Don Powell of Slade - Don Powell, Lise Lyng Falkenberg - Google Books". Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  6. "Don's 1978 Diary - Don Powell Official Website". Donpowellofficial.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  7. "1979 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". Sladefanclub.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  8. "ALL Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk". Collectadisc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. "Slade - Rock 'N' Roll Bolero at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  10. "ALL Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk". Collectadisc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  11. Record Mirror, 17 October 1978
  12. "1978 Press Cuttings". Slade Scrapbook. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  13. AllMusic Review by Geoff Ginsberg. "Gospel According to Noddy! - Slade | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.