"Let's Call It Quits" is a song by the British rock band

Slade Slade are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British H ...

, released in 1976 as the second single from their sixth studio album '' Nobody's Fools''. The song was written by lead vocalist

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder c ...

and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by

Chas Chandler Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He ...

. It reached No. 11 in the UK, remaining in the charts for seven weeks.

Background

By 1975, Slade began to feel stale, believing they had achieved as much success in the UK and Europe as they could. The band and their manager Chas Chandler decided that their next career move should be to try and crack America. The band agreed to move to there and build a reputation for their live performances from scratch, just as they had in the UK. In between touring, the band recorded their next album, ''Nobody's Fools'', which saw the band move towards a more "American" soul/pop sound in attempt to gain a commercial break on the American charts. The lead single, "In for a Penny", was released in November 1975 and reached No. 11 in the UK, with "Let's Call It Quits" following in January 1976 as the second single.Nobody's Fools - Salvo 2007 remaster booklet liner notes Like its predecessor, it too reached No. 11. It would be Slade's last Top 20 single in the UK for five years. Upon release, the band suffered legal issues over "Let's Call It Quits" as the American musician

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, describ ...

felt the song was similar to his 1973 track "Brickyard Blues". Although Lea maintained that he had never heard the song, the band settled out of court and agreed to give Toussaint half of the song's royalties. In a 1986 fan club interview, Lea recalled: "We had a court case taken against us once for "Let's Call It Quits" because it sounded like a song called "Brickyard Blues", a song that I had never heard before or since."

Release

"Let's Call It Quits" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia and Japan. The B-side, "When the Chips Are Down", was exclusive to the single and would later appear on the band's 2007 compilation ''

B-Sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

''.

Promotion

A music video was filmed to promote the single, which featured the band performing the song in a room with a black and white chequered floor and surrounded with large mirrors. In the UK, the band performed the song on the TV shows ''

Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

'' and ''

Jim'll Fix It ''Jim'll Fix It'' is a British television series broadcast by the BBC between May 1975 and July 1994 and was devised and presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Roger Ordish. The show encouraged children to write in a letter to Savile with a ...

''.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' said the song was one of the band's best, describing it as a "slow, heavy rocker", with "rude words" and "some deliciously lascivious guitar". Caroline Coon of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' felt the song showed Holder in "marvelous, raucous form". She described the song as a "laidback, slow-rocking number", but added it was "much weaker" than the band's previous work. '' Sounds'' said the song was Slade's "best record in ages, with Noddy bellowing tender words of love as only he can". In a retrospective review of ''Nobody's Fools'', Geoff Ginsberg of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

described the song as a "real screamer where Noddy Holder coughs up a great vocal".

Track listing

;7" Single #"Let's Call It Quits" - 3:30 #"When the Chips are Down" - 4:16

Chart performance

Personnel

;Slade *

- lead vocals, guitar *

Dave Hill David John Hill (born 4 April 1946) is an English rock musician. He is the lead guitarist, a backing vocalist and the sole continuous member in the English band Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. Early life B ...

- lead guitar, backing vocals * Jim Lea - bass, backing vocals *

Don Powell Donald George Powell (born 10 September 1946) is an English musician who was the drummer for glam rock and later hard rock group Slade for over fifty years. Early life As a child, Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the ...

- drums ;Additional personnel *

- producer

References

{{authority control 1976 singles 1976 songs Slade songs Songs written by Noddy Holder Songs written by Jim Lea Song recordings produced by Chas Chandler Blues rock songs