'Cum On Feel the Noize' Was a Hit Before Quiet Riot
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- 2 days ago
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‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs Vol. 2’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
In 1973, “Cum On Feel the Noize” was a №1 hit in the UK for glam rock band Slade but the song barely eked out a spot in the US on the Billboard Hot 100. “Cum On Feel the Noize,” which encouraged audience participation at concerts, was written by Slade’s Jim Lea and Noddy Holder.
“I was at a Chuck Berry gig in ’72 and everybody was singing his tunes,” Lea recalled in Record Mirror. “He kept stopping and letting the crowd sing and it wasn’t just a few people, it was everyone. I thought it was amazing and thought — why not write the crowd into the songs?”
Ten years after Slade topped the UK chart, heavy metal band Quiet Riot had a №5 hit in the US with their version. “The first Slade knew about Quiet Riot was when they approached our publisher for permission to do ‘Cum On Feel the Noize,’” Holder recalled in a 1983 interview with Kerrang!
“We agreed, never believing something like this would happen. The really nice thing about the whole affair is that it proves how strong our songs are. After all, ‘Cum On Feel the Noize’ is now ten years old, so it’s obviously stood the test of time rather well!”
Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali explained in a Ludwig drums interview that he believed Slade “were a little bitter about our success with their song. They had a hit with it in other territories but not in the US and later our version overshadowed theirs worldwide. Any real success in the US always seemed to elude Slade, so Quiet Riot having a major hit with “Cum On Feel the Noize” was bittersweet for them.”
Quiet Riot’s lead singer Kevin DuBrow told Classic Rock Revisited that he wished he could have written what became the band’s biggest hit.
“Especially in a financial sense. You knew where the royalties were going. We saw the accounting and knew what was going on. I never loved that song but at the same token, I never thought we were the greatest songwriters in the world. We were trying to be rock and roll stars.”
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest Rock Songs Vol. 2, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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