Return To Base - Background

Background

With a three-quarters full 1977 theatre tour and after the unsuccessful 1977 album Whatever Happened to Slade, Slade were taking any gig they could. The band could still sell out performances at University student union bars and draw respectable crowds at small to average sized venues. However, it was only four years since the band had headlined Earls Court and even the earthiest band had to admit it was a bit of a comedown. Bassist Jim Lea however was unphazed. "I still thought the band was great," he told Chris Charlesworth in 1983, "We were playing as well if not better than we ever had...Now we had something to prove again." The band would prove their worth night after night in clubs and colleges up and down the country, often running at a loss bringing their own PA and lightshow.

Despite being successful at live performances, the band's new records were barely selling. No longer released on Polydor records but instead on manager Chas Chandlers label Barn records, singles such as "Burning in the Heat of Love", Give Us a Goal, "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" and "Ginny, Ginny" were all chart failures. Even the live album Slade Alive, Vol. 2 was a commercial failure.

It was in this atmosphere that Slade's 10th album "Return To Base" was released, in October 1979. Dressed in a plain red sleeve with the stark black title in a battered typeface, the package was undoubtedly meant to reflect a no-nonsense, back-to-basics, never-say-die attitude. It ended up looking as threadbare as much of the public assumed Slade to be. It was also the first album to be fully produced by Slade, a simple phrase behind which lay a tempestuous tale of power struggles and artistic differences.

Disagreements between the group - especially bassist Jim Lea - and their producer/manager Chas Chandler had been brewing since the recording of Slade's 1977 album Whatever Happened to Slade and continued through 1978, coming to a head during the 1979 recording sessions for Return to Base. "Jim was becoming more and more involved in that side of things," vocalist Noddy Holder told Chris Charlesworth. "He wanted to produce the group and he didn't think that Chas was coming up with the goods." Chandler, for his part, was unimpressed with the group's current material and thought their priorities were upside down. "They felt that a great sound was the all important thing," he told Charlesworth. "I've always felt that the song comes first and you craft your sound to suit the song...not the other way round." The upshot was that Chandler offered to sever his association with Slade. The group's counter offer suggested he stayed on as manager while they produced themselves. "I agreed to this because if I refused I felt I would have been kicking them when they were down."

Return to Base disappeared without troubling the charts, as did their seasonal party single "Okey Cokey" (December 1979). A similar fate greeted the 12-inch E.P. "Six of the Best" (June 1980). Very good value at £1.49, it contained three tracks from Return to Base and three new tracks.

In August 1980, the band became popular once again after performing at the Reading Festival.