Wheels Ain't Coming Down
"Wheels Ain't Coming Down" | ||||
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Single by Slade | ||||
from the album We'll Bring the House Down | ||||
B-side | "Not Tonight Josephine" | |||
Released | 27 March 1981[1] | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:37 | |||
Label | Cheapskate | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Slade | |||
Slade singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
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"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]
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, Record Mirror felt the song had an "uncharacteristic musical sophistication" for Slade. Sounds described it as "dull, heavy-handed melodrama", adding there is "lots of whizz-bang sound effects but precious little inspiration".[14] New Musical Express said the song was a disappointing follow-up to "We'll Bring the House Down": "After a few hearings you realise it's just plain bad".[14] Melody Maker said the song was "more tautly constructed" than its predecessor and "not so insanely vigorous". They added that the chorus is "maddeningly infectious".[15]
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."[16] 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.[17]
Track listing
7-inch single
- "Wheels Ain't Coming Down" – 3:37
- "Not Tonight Josephine" – 3:03
Personnel
- Noddy Holder – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, producer, arranger
- Dave Hill – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer, arranger
- Jim Lea – bass, backing vocals, producer, arranger
- Don Powell – drums, producer, arranger
Charts
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Singles Chart (OCC)[3] | 60 |
UK Top 100 Singles (Record Business)[18] | 51 |
References
- ^ "Slade - Wheels Ain't Coming Down".
- ^ "Slade – Wheels Ain't Coming Down / Not Tonight Josephine – Cheapskate – UK – CHEAP 21". 45cat. 27 March 1981. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ a b c "slade | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ We'll Bring the House Down – 2007 Salvo remaster booklet liner notes
- ^ Noddy Holder, Vic Reeves and others. Does The Team Think, Episode 6., 21 February 2009
- ^ "Related Links". Timesup.dsl.pipex.com. 29 October 2005. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ "ALL Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk". Collectadisc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ "1981 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". Sladefanclub.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ Slade Supporters Club Newsletter March – April 1981
- ^ "Slade – Sign Of The Times / Not Tonight Josephine – Barn – UK – BARN 010". 45cat. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ "1986 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". Sladefanclub.com. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ David Graham ~ Slade In England
- ^ Ginsberg, Geoff. "Return to Base – Slade; Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
- ^ a b "1981 Press Cuttings". Slade Scrapbook. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
- ^ "slade Wheels Aint coming down". Sladeinengland.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ Johnson, James (4 April 1981). "Reviews: Singles". Daily Mirror. p. 21. Retrieved 25 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Whiteford, Jim (27 March 1981). "Records: Singles". The Kilmarnock Standard. p. 12. Retrieved 25 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Singles Top 100". Record Business. Vol. 4, no. 4. 13 April 1981. p. 6.
- v
- t
- e
- Dave Hill
- Don Powell
- Noddy Holder
- Jim Lea
- John Berry
- Russell Keefe
- Steve Whalley
- Steve Makin
- Craig Fenney
- Trevor Holliday
- Dave Glover
- Mal McNulty
- Beginnings (Ambrose Slade, 1969)
- Play It Loud (1970)
- Slayed? (1972)
- Old New Borrowed and Blue (1974)
- Slade in Flame (1974)
- Nobody's Fools (1976)
- Whatever Happened to Slade (1977)
- Return to Base (1979)
- We'll Bring the House Down (1981)
- Till Deaf Do Us Part (1981)
- The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome (1983)
- Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply (1984)
- Rogues Gallery (1985)
- Crackers (1985)
- You Boyz Make Big Noize (1987)
- Slade Alive! (1972)
- Slade Alive, Vol. 2 (1978)
- Slade on Stage (1982)
- Coz I Luv You (1972)
- Sladest (1973)
- Slade Smashes! (1980)
- Slades Greats (1984)
- The Slade Collection 81–87 (1991)
- Wall of Hits (1991)
- The Slade Collection Vol. 2, 79–87 (1993)
- The Genesis of Slade (1996)
- Feel the Noize – Greatest Hits (1997)
- Get Yer Boots On: The Best of Slade (2004)
- The Very Best of Slade (2005)
- Slade Alive! – The Live Anthology (2006)
- B-Sides (2007)
- Rockers (2007)
- In for a Penny: Raves & Faves (2007)
- Live at the BBC (2009)
- Merry Xmas Everybody: Party Hits (2009)
- Cum On Feel the Hitz: The Best of Slade (2020)
- The Slade Box (2006)
- When Slade Rocked the World (2015)
- Six of the Best
- Alive at Reading
- Xmas Ear Bender
- "You Better Run" (The N' Betweens)
- "Wild Winds Are Blowing"
- "Shape of Things to Come"
- "Know Who You Are"
- "Get Down and Get with It"
- "Coz I Luv You"
- "Look Wot You Dun"
- "Take Me Bak 'Ome"
- "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"
- "Gudbuy T'Jane"
- "Cum On Feel the Noize"
- "Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me"
- "My Friend Stan"
- "Merry Xmas Everybody"
- "Everyday"
- "When the Lights Are Out"
- "The Bangin' Man"
- "Far Far Away"
- "How Does It Feel"
- "Thanks for the Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)"
- "In for a Penny"
- "Let's Call It Quits"
- "Nobody's Fool"
- "Gypsy Roadhog"
- "Burning in the Heat of Love"
- "My Baby Left Me - That's All Right"
- "Give Us a Goal"
- "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero"
- "Ginny, Ginny"
- "Sign of the Times"
- "Okey Cokey"
- "We'll Bring the House Down"
- "Wheels Ain't Coming Down"
- "Knuckle Sandwich Nancy"
- "Lock Up Your Daughters"
- "Ruby Red"
- "Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)"
- "(And Now the Waltz) C'est La Vie"
- "My Oh My"
- "Run Runaway"
- "Slam the Hammer Down"
- "All Join Hands"
- "7 Year Bitch"
- "Myzsterious Mizster Jones"
- "Little Sheila"
- "Do You Believe in Miracles"
- "Still the Same"
- "That's What Friends Are For"
- "You Boyz Make Big Noize"
- "Ooh La La in L.A."
- "We Won't Give In"
- "Let's Dance '88"
- "Radio Wall of Sound"
- "Universe"
- Slade in Flame
- Wall of Hits
- Discography
- List of songs recorded by Slade
- The Dummies
- A Day in the Life of the Dummies
- "Shooting Me Down"
- Keep On Rockin' (Slade II album)
- Therapy (James Whild Lea album)