"How Does It Feel" is song by the British rock band
Slade
Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England 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 Hit Singl ...
, released in 1975 as the second single from the band's first soundtrack album and fifth studio album ''
Slade in Flame
''Slade in Flame'' (also known as ''Flame'') is a 1975 musical film starring the British rock band Slade. It was directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Andrew Birkin with additional dialogue by Dave Humphries. The film includes supporting ...
'', in promotion of the film of the
same name
''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...
. The song was written by lead vocalist
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician, songwriter and actor. He was the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the English rock band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s.
Known for his disti ...
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. H ...
. It reached No. 15 in the UK, remaining in the charts for seven weeks.
Background
By 1974, Slade had become a big success in the UK, Europe and beyond; however the band felt that continuing to provide 'more of the same' was not what they wanted to do. Their manager
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. H ...
suggested they do a movie, to which the band agreed. To accompany the film, Holder and Lea began writing material for a soundtrack album, which would continue to see the band break out of their successful formula and try different musical ideas. In late 1974, the lead single "Far Far Away" had reached No. 2, while ''Slade in Flame'' peaked at No. 6. Following the film's release in January 1975, it was decided to release "How Does It Feel" as the second single the following month. It reached No. 15, which was the band's first single not to reach the UK Top 5 since their 1971 breakthrough with "
Get Down and Get with It
"Get Down and Get with It" is a song by American R&B singer-songwriter Bobby Marchan, first released as "Get Down with It" as the B-Side to his 1964 single "Half a Mind". In 1967, American singer Little Richard would record his own version, which ...
".
The melody of "How Does It Feel" was the first Lea had ever written, while he was still in school. He came up with the idea on an old piano which he later described as having half the keys missing. Although the tune never developed any further at that time, Lea later revisited it for use as the theme tune for ''Flame''. Holder wrote the song's lyrics and it became "How Does It Feel". The song featured a brass section, performed by members of Gonzalez. In the band's 1984 biography ''Feel the Noize!'', Lea recalled: "It was an old song that I'd written and Nod put some great lyrics to it. Tommy Vance said that it was good but that we were in for a hard time. But it didn't matter to me whether it was number one or number 15... to me it was a much better record than we'd made before and that was all I cared about."
Despite the song's disappointing charting, "How Does It Feel" is now widely considered as one of the band's finest songs. In 1999,
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...
of
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentDave Hill spoke of the song: "It was totally different to anything we had ever done before, but you see we were capable of that sort of thing, though our manager/producer Chas Chandler used to keep us clear from that. Trying to be too clever was considered at the time to be going in another direction."
Release
"How Does It Feel" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Australia and Japan. In America, it was released by Warner Bros. Records in September 1975. The B-side on the Polydor releases of the single was the ''Slade in Flame'' album track "So Far So Good". In America, "O.K. Yesterday Was Yesterday" featured as the B-side, also taken from ''Slade in Flame''. In the UK, the first 200,000 copies of the single featured a colour sleeve.
Promotion
No music video was created to promote the single. In the UK, the band performed the song on the music show ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'', ''The Russell Harty Show'' and the children's show ''Crackerjack''. The band also performed the song on the Dutch AVRO TV show ''
TopPop
''TopPop'' was a Dutch television programme. It was the first regular dedicated pop music television series in the Dutch language area. The Netherlands broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly from 22 September 1970 to 27 June 1988. Presenter ...
''.
Critical reception
Upon its release as a single, Sue Byrom of '' Record & Popswop Mirror'' noted "How Does It Feel" was "very different from the usual Slade material", with "far less reliance on guitars and far more on an orchestral arrangement". She continued, "There's a gentle piano intro before Noddy comes in, singing in an almost subdued voice. Even when the song kicks off, the arrangement is very different. t willbe interesting to see the fans' reaction, but I don't think they'll have too much trouble succeeding." Barry Nelson of the ''Cheshire Observer'' remarked how Slade had gone from "straightforward 'yob-rock' band" to "tak ngtentative steps towards musical creativity" which "seems to be an admirable thing once the shock wears off". He felt the song was "infinitely more palatable than a lot of current releases" and added, "I hope that Noddy is rewarded for his initiative by an increased rather than a decreased following." The ''Shepherds Bush Gazette and Hammersmith Post'' called it a "quiet, melodic record" which "follows the tradition set" by the preceding single, "Far Far Away" and concluded, "It's a long way from the raucous Slade of yesteryear, but I'm sure it'll get plenty of plays and do pretty well for itself."
John Hutson of the ''Thanet Times'' noted that the song, which he considered "another slow" one like "Far Far Away", "builds up to include crashing guitar chords together with some nice orchestration and piano work". James Belsey of the ''
Bristol Evening Post
The ''Bristol Post'' is a city/regional five-day-a-week (formerly appearing six days per week) newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the whole of Greater Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It was ...
'' wrote, "One of the best tracks from ''Flame'', starting slow and sensitive, breaking into heavy and then alternating between rock and orchestra. The hook is Noddy Holder's voice, and it's excellent." Sidney Nelson of the ''
Nottingham Evening Post
The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire.
The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...
'' commented that it "starts off slowly and gets only marginally more up tempo" and how the "restrained Holder voice comes over well on this brush with melody". In the US, ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' stated, "It's a change of pace for Slade as the English thrashers have come up with an effective, almost ballad-like, single that contains the band's smoke without all the fire. Effective vocals and tight licks make this a record that's up on all fours."
Formats
;7" single
#"How Does It Feel" - 4:46
#"So Far So Good" - 2:59
;7" single (US release)
#"How Does It Feel" - 3:15
#"O.K. Yesterday Was Yesterday" - 3:58
;7" single (US promo)
#"How Does It Feel" - 3:15
#"How Does It Feel" - 3:15
Personnel
;Slade
*
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician, songwriter and actor. He was the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the English rock band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s.
Known for his disti ...
- lead vocals, guitar
* Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
* Jim Lea - bass, piano, organ, flute, 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, from 1966 until he was dismissed by Dave Hill in 2020.
Early life
Powell was born in Bil ...
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. H ...