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".^[1] In 1967, American singer Little Richard would record his own version, which was released as a single.^[2] In 1971, the British rock band Slade recorded a version of the song as "Get Down and Get with It", based on Little Richard's version, which gave the band their first UK chart hit.^[3]

Slade version

"Get Down and Get with It"
German cover of "Get Down and Get with It".
Single by Slade
B-side	Gospel According To Rasputin Do You Want Me? ^[4]
Released	21 May 1971^[5] August 1971 (US)^[6]
Studio	Olympic Studios, Barnes, London
Genre	Glam rock, proto-punk^[7]
Length	4:12
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Bobby Marchan
Producer(s)	Chas Chandler
Slade singles chronology
"Know Who You Are" (1970) "Get Down and Get with It" (1971) "Coz I Luv You" (1971)
Official audio
"Get Down and Get with It" on YouTube
Alternative Cover
French cover of "Get Down and Get with It".

"Get Down and Get with It" was later covered by British rock band Slade. Released in 1971, the single was the band's first UK chart entry, reaching No. 16 and remaining in the charts for fourteen weeks.^[3] Slade's version was produced by Chas Chandler and would later appear on the band's 1973 compilation album Sladest.^[8]

Background

After the commercial failure of their 1970 album Play It Loud, Slade and their manager Chas Chandler began considering the band's next career move. They decided that the best way to make a commercial breakthrough would be to capture the band's strong reputation as a live act onto record. The chosen song was "Get Down and Get with It", which the band frequently played live to a great response. Released in May 1971, the song successfully broke the band into the UK and Europe. It reached No. 16 in the UK and would be the first of seventeen consecutive Top 20 hits for the band, which included six number ones.^[3]

Prior to recording the song in the studio, the band had established "Get Down and Get with It" as a popular number in their live-set, based on Little Richard's version. In the band's 1984 biography Feel the Noize!, Noddy Holder recalled: "The first time we heard that was at the Connaught in Wolverhampton and whenever the DJ used to play it, it went down a storm. We started doing it and the skinheads used to love that bit at the finish where you put your hands in the air and take your boots off and all that."^[9]

Impressed by the general audience reception of the song, Chandler suggested recording the song as a single. The band used Olympic Studios in Barnes, London to record it and Chandler told the band: "Just play it like you do on-stage. Blast it out like it's live, and pretend that there's an audience in there with you."^[10] Successfully recorded in a single take, the band included foot-stomping and hand-clapping in the recording to give the song a live feel.^[9][11]

The single was released twice during 1971; firstly on 21 May as "Get Down and Get with It" with writing credit for the song being given to the band and Little Richard. The band had believed the song to have been written by Little Richard. However, as the song started to climb the charts, publishers on behalf of Marchan soon got involved. The single was hurriedly re-issued as "Get Down with It" and correctly changed the writing credit to Marchan. In his 1999 biography Who's Crazee Now?, Holder recalled: "The record company sorted out the lawsuit, but we learnt to be more careful in future."^[12]

In 1990, Kiss AMC sampled a segment of the Slade Alive! version of the song for their single "My Docs", which featured an appearance from Holder in the music video.^[13] The song reached No. 66 in the UK.^[14]

Release

"Get Down and Get with It" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. In America, it was released by Cotillion.^[15][16] The B-sides, "Do You Want Me" and "Gospel According to Rasputin", would appear on certain editions of the band's 1972 European compilation Coz I Luv You. They were also included on the 2007 compilation B-Sides. For the UK and Ireland release, both B-sides were included on the single, while in most European countries, only "Gospel According to Rasputin" was included.

Promotion

A music video was filmed to promote the single, although it received few airings at the time. The black-and-white video was filmed by Caravelle. It featured Slade in the back of an open-roofed American car on the flyover roads in Central London. Arriving at a power station, the band climb onto the roof, dance and walk around, then return to the car and drive off.^[17][18] In a 1973 interview with Music Star, guitarist Dave Hill recalled the making of the song's video in relation to his fear of heights: "I was wearing a silver suit so they decided to film me walking along an overhead ledge as though I was a spaceman who'd just landed. It was very high up and I suddenly looked down at the ground. That was a mistake because I just froze. I had this terror of falling and I just froze completely, like a cat does when it gets stuck up a tree."^{[citation needed]}

In the UK, the band performed the song on the music show Top of the Pops and Whittaker's World of Music. In Belgium, they performed it on the TV show Popshop. In 1972, the band performed the song on 2Gs and the Pop People. A live performance of the song, recorded at the band's concert in Sydney, Australia, in 1973, was filmed for the Australian music TV show GTK.^[19]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Record Mirror said, "It's a scream-up of an adaption of a Little Richard rocker and there's a positive air of desperation as Noddy Holder builds up the excitement".^[20] Pete Butterfield of the Reading Evening Post called it "real down-to-earth rock 'n' roll in the Little Richard style with a heavy stomping beat". He continued, "If this record has anything to do with it, Slade will be accepted for what they are – a damn fine rock band. It's a real raver and should be a hit."^[21] In a retrospective review of the song, Dave Thompson of AllMusic wrote, "The [song] perfectly encapsulates the madness of a period Slade show, and the band's only complaint was that it wasn't half as heavy as it should have been. No matter, the stamping and clapping accompaniment became a Slade trademark regardless, while the record's overall aura of unrestrained power was simply too much for many radio DJs."^[10]

Track listing

7" single (UK only)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Do You Want Me" – 4:30
3. "Gospel According to Rasputin" – 4:23

7" single (Europe/Argentina release)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Gospel According to Rasputin" – 4:23

7" Single (US release)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 3:25
2. "Do You Want Me" – 4:30

7" single (US promo)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 3:25
2. "Get Down and Get with It" – 3:25

7" single (French release)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Know Who You Are" – 2:50

7" single (Mexican release)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Know Who You Are" – 2:50
3. "I Remember" – 2:55

7" single (Australian 1972 EP)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Look Wot You Dun" – 2:54
3. "Coz I Luv You" – 3:24
4. "Take Me Bak 'Ome" – 3:13

7" single (Brazilian 1972 EP)

1. "Get Down and Get with It" – 4:12
2. "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" – 3:45
3. "Cum On Feel the Noize" – 4:24
4. "Gudbuy T'Jane" – 3:33

Personnel

Slade

• Noddy Holder – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Dave Hill – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jim Lea – bass, backing vocals
• Don Powell – drums

Additional personnel

• Chas Chandler – producer
• Zoot Money – piano

Charts

Chart performance for "Get Down and Get with It"

Chart (1971)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[22]	78
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[23]	30
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)^[24]	32
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[25]	6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[26]	4
UK Singles (OCC)^[27]	16
West Germany (Official German Charts)^[28]	34

References

1. "Bobby Marchan - Half A Mind / Get Down With It at Discogs". from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
2. "Little Richard – Get Down With It at Discogs". from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
3. "slade | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
4. Gospel According To Rasputin (Official Audio) on YouTube
5. "45cat - Slade - Get Down and Get with It / Do You Want Me - Polydor - UK - 2058 112". from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
6. "45cat - Slade - Get Down and Get with It / Do You Want Me - Cotillion - USA - 45-44128". from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
7. HistoryCaps (2012). Combat Rock: A History of Punk (from It's Origins to the Present). BookCaps Study Guides. p. 15. ISBN 9781621073154.
8. "Slade - Sladest at Discogs". Discogs.com. 24 March 2010. from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
9. Charlesworth, Chris (1984). Slade, Feel the Noize!: an illustrated biography. London: Omnibus Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-7119-0538-X.
10. Song Review by Dave Thompson. "Get Down and Get with It - Slade | Song Info". AllMusic. from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
11. "CD Album - Slade - Greatest Hits - Feel The Noize - Polydor - UK". from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
12. Who's Crazee Now?: My Autobiography - Lisa Verrico, Noddy Holder - Google Books
13. Skellington, Malcolm (January–March 1990). "Everybody get yer boots on!". Perseverance. Slade International Fan Club.
14. "kiss-amc | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
15. "SLADE Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk". from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
16. "Slade – Get Down and Get with It at Discogs". from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
17. "1986 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com". from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
18. Slade International Fan Club newsletter June - July - August 1986
19. . Crazeeworld.plus.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
20. Record Mirror magazine 22 May 1971
21. Butterfield, Pete (21 May 1971). "Pop: Singles". Reading Evening Post. p. 8. Retrieved 24 February 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
22. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 277. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
23. "Slade – Get Down and Get with It" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
24. "Slade – Get Down and Get with It" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
25. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Slade" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
26. "Slade – Get Down and Get with It" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
27. "Slade: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
28. "Offiziellecharts.de – Slade – Get Down and Get with It" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 16 September 2023.