Ballzy - Release

Release

For a 1980 fan club interview, Lea was asked how the album did upon release. "It dropped drastically. But that wasn't the point, you see it got us the footing in London, so it was a case of mission accomplished for us. Chas Chandler took us over. We still had some time to run on our contract with Bavistock, so we released our next two singles "Wild Winds are Blowing" and "Shape of Things to Come" on Fontana. There were some internal hassles between Chas and the new boss of Fontana, and the next thing that I knew was that we were out of the Fontana deal. Chas had connections with Polydor, due to when he managed Jimi Hendrix, so we signed a contract with them."

In a September 1997 article from Mojo Magazine, the magazine stated the value of an original vinyl copy of Beginnings was £380, also stating the vinyl had become a prime counterfeit item. The text wrote "Three years had passed since Noddy Holder, Jimmy Lea, Dave Hill and Don Powell had last appeared on record, as The In Betweens. Then, almost out of nowhere, Fontana released this album, produced by Roger Wake. Initially, it was to have been called Genesis and it was even suggested that the band should be known as Nicky Nacky Noo. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and Ambrose Slade made their brief appearance before linking with Chas Chandler, abbreviating their moniker to Slade, and moving to Polydor. At which point Wolverhampton breathed a sigh of relief. Though this debut has been reissued both as the budget vinyl Beginnings of Slade (Contour) and on CD (Polydor), original copies remain sought after. So much so that it became a prime counterfeit item at one point."