B-side Ready Steady Kids Format 7" Single Length 3:50 | Released 7 April 1977 Genre Hard rock Label Barn Records | |
"Burning in the Heat of Love" is a non-album single from rock band Slade. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea. The single was released via Barn Records on 7 April 1977 and failed to chart in the UK.
Contents
Background
The single was released to commercial failure, failing to enter the top 100 within the UK, the second single to do this since the band’s rise to fame. Like the previous single Gypsy Roadhog, the single was banned for the lyrical content, although this time instead of a drug reference, the lyric was particularly risqué.
According to Record Mirror magazine, the single was released to tie-in with the band's tour, beginning in May.
"Burning in the Heat of Love" was produced by Chas Chandler as was the b-side "Ready Steady Kids". The b-side was originally exclusive to the single, eventually being released on CD via the 2007 Salvo compilation "B-Sides" and the remaster of 1977 album "Whatever Happened to Slade". The b-side was written about the American audiences that Slade had encountered during their attempt to crack the American market from 1975 until the very end of 1976. The single was released on 7" vinyl only.
Although the UK sleeve had no artwork, separate artworks were each given to the Belgian, French, German and Italian releases.
A live version of the song appeared on the band’s 1978 live album Slade Alive Vol. 2.
Promotion
Like much of Slade's singles of the time, there was no promotional video although the band did perform the song on the German TV show Szene 77. The main form of promotion was the band's live touring across the United Kingdom as the song had become part of the band's UK live set around the time of release.
In recent years, the track has become increasingly popular, with the Szene 77 TV performance gaining approx 66,000 views on YouTube since mid-2007.
Cover versions
In 1983, both Holder and Lea branched into production where the pair produced British heavy metal band Girlschool. The pair produced Girlschool's cover of the T-Rex song "20th Century Boy" and the album Play Dirty which featured two Slade tracks "Burning in the Heat of Love" and "High and Dry". The cover of "Burning in the Heat of Love" was released as a single but it failed to make any impact.
In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Lea recorded his own version of the song with his side project The Dummies which involved Lea, his brother Frank Lea and his wife Louise Lea. Reportedly, the song was going to be released as a single but this idea never went ahead. The song was later added onto the 1985 vinyl compilation Metal Killers Kollection from Castle Communications, under the name Jim Lea. The song wasn't properly released until 1991, where it appeared on the album A Day in the Life of the Dummies which mainly consisted of Slade songs, collecting all of The Dummies recordings.
Formats
- "Burning in the Heat of Love" - 3:50
- "Ready Steady Kids" - 3:57
Critical Reception
Upon release, Record Mirror magazine gave three out of five stars, stating "Slade are okay. But they're gone. +++ for the 'You Really Got Me' guitar riff."