Coz I Luv You (1971)
Coz I Luv You is a non-album single, released by Polydor on 8 October 1971. It reached No. 1 in the UK, giving the band their first number one single, and remained in the charts for fifteen weeks. In the United States, it was released in December 1971 by Cotillion, but did not chart. The song was written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler.
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. Deciding to drop the skinhead image they had adopted in 1969, the band and Chandler felt 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 Bobby Marchan's "Get Down and Get with It", which the band frequently played live, always receiving a great response from the audience. Released in May 1971, the song successfully broke the band into the UK and Europe, reaching No. 16 in the UK. "Coz I Luv You" was soon recorded as the follow-up single. Released in October 1971, it reached No. 1 in the UK and was also a hit across Europe and elsewhere. According to Holder's 1999 biography Who's Crazee Now?, the single sold half a million copies in only two weeks.
"Coz I Luv You" features electric violin played by Lea. The song was written after Chandler insisted the band write an original song for their next single release. One evening, Lea unexpectedly turned up Holder's home with his violin. He had an idea for a song after hearing "Nine By Nine" by the John Dummer Blues Band. He suggested that he and Holder write a song which had a Django Reinhardt/Stephan Grapelli "Hot Club"-influence. The pair wrote the song in half an hour and began the successful songwriting partnership of Holder/Lea, which would go on to write the bulk of Slade's material. The following day, the band played the song acoustically to Chandler, who responded: "I think you've written your first hit record. In fact, I think you've written your first No. 1."
Immediately booking the band into Olympic Studios in Barnes, the song was recorded in two days. Although Chandler liked the song, the band were less enthusiastic as they believed it to be too poppy and weak-sounding in comparison to "Get Down and Get with It". In the effort to make the record more Slade-like, the band added foot-stomping and hand-clapping to it. Furthermore, the band thought the original title, "Because I Love You", did not suit the band's image or sound. Holder then suggested spelling the title to reflect their Black County dialect. The title then became "Coz I Luv You". The misspelling of the title would become one of the band's trademarks.
In a 1980 interview with Sounds, Lea said of the song: "I didn't even like some of those old ones. We all hated "Gudbye T'Jane" when we made it. The same for our second single, "Coz I Luv You". It was namby-pamby to us, a throwaway for an album. It shot to number one in two weeks and we thought, "What a pile of shit!" It was so wet."
Later in a 1984 interview with Record Mirror, Lea said: "That was the time when I wrote mainly with Don and Dave wrote with Nod. Nod and I were really into Stephan Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, the violin and stuff, so one afternoon I went over to Nod's on his council estate where he lived with his mum and dad and I said "Hey Nod, why don't we write a song?". I took my violin with me and said why don't we do a Stephan Grappelli thing. "Hot Love" was in the charts at the time - Marc Bolan, and I said something like that, dead simple and we wrote the song in half an hour. We got the structure of the tune and Nod just filled in the gaps. That's the only song we've ever written like that."
Release
"Coz I Luv You" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Israel, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Japan. In America, it was released by Cotillion. The B-side, "My Life is Natural", would appear on the band's 1972 compilation Coz I Luv You and was later included on the 2007 compilation B-Sides. In 1977 and again in 1987, the single was re-issued in Germany. In 1983, it was re-issued in Belgium. In 1993, the song was re-issued in Germany again, but on CD.
"Coz I Luv You" was later featured in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine and in the launch advert for the Ford Transit. More recently the song was used in an episode of the BBC drama Life on Mars. The song also features in the 2004 film El Lobo (also known as The Wolf), a political thriller revolving around the Spanish terrorist group ETA.
Promotion
No music video was filmed to promote the single. In the UK, the band performed the song on the UK music show Top of the Pops. The band also performed the song on the Belgian TV show Popshop and the German TV shows Disco and Beat Club. In 1973, they performed the song on the Dutch show Popgala.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
Retrospective reviews
Chart performance
Australian Singles Chart: #9
Belgian Singles Chart: #7
Dutch Singles Chart: #2
French Singles Chart: #21
German Singles Chart: #9
Irish Singles Chart: #1
New Zealand Singles Chart: #24
UK Singles Chart: #1
Formats
7" single
Personnel
Slade
Additional personnel
Cover versions
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. Deciding to drop the skinhead image they had adopted in 1969, the band and Chandler felt 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 Bobby Marchan's "Get Down and Get with It", which the band frequently played live, always receiving a great response from the audience. Released in May 1971, the song successfully broke the band into the UK and Europe, reaching No. 16 in the UK. "Coz I Luv You" was soon recorded as the follow-up single. Released in October 1971, it reached No. 1 in the UK and was also a hit across Europe and elsewhere. According to Holder's 1999 biography Who's Crazee Now?, the single sold half a million copies in only two weeks.
"Coz I Luv You" features electric violin played by Lea. The song was written after Chandler insisted the band write an original song for their next single release. One evening, Lea unexpectedly turned up Holder's home with his violin. He had an idea for a song after hearing "Nine By Nine" by the John Dummer Blues Band. He suggested that he and Holder write a song which had a Django Reinhardt/Stephan Grapelli "Hot Club"-influence. The pair wrote the song in half an hour and began the successful songwriting partnership of Holder/Lea, which would go on to write the bulk of Slade's material. The following day, the band played the song acoustically to Chandler, who responded: "I think you've written your first hit record. In fact, I think you've written your first No. 1."
Immediately booking the band into Olympic Studios in Barnes, the song was recorded in two days. Although Chandler liked the song, the band were less enthusiastic as they believed it to be too poppy and weak-sounding in comparison to "Get Down and Get with It". In the effort to make the record more Slade-like, the band added foot-stomping and hand-clapping to it. Furthermore, the band thought the original title, "Because I Love You", did not suit the band's image or sound. Holder then suggested spelling the title to reflect their Black County dialect. The title then became "Coz I Luv You". The misspelling of the title would become one of the band's trademarks.
In a 1980 interview with Sounds, Lea said of the song: "I didn't even like some of those old ones. We all hated "Gudbye T'Jane" when we made it. The same for our second single, "Coz I Luv You". It was namby-pamby to us, a throwaway for an album. It shot to number one in two weeks and we thought, "What a pile of shit!" It was so wet."
Later in a 1984 interview with Record Mirror, Lea said: "That was the time when I wrote mainly with Don and Dave wrote with Nod. Nod and I were really into Stephan Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, the violin and stuff, so one afternoon I went over to Nod's on his council estate where he lived with his mum and dad and I said "Hey Nod, why don't we write a song?". I took my violin with me and said why don't we do a Stephan Grappelli thing. "Hot Love" was in the charts at the time - Marc Bolan, and I said something like that, dead simple and we wrote the song in half an hour. We got the structure of the tune and Nod just filled in the gaps. That's the only song we've ever written like that."
Release
"Coz I Luv You" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Israel, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Japan. In America, it was released by Cotillion. The B-side, "My Life is Natural", would appear on the band's 1972 compilation Coz I Luv You and was later included on the 2007 compilation B-Sides. In 1977 and again in 1987, the single was re-issued in Germany. In 1983, it was re-issued in Belgium. In 1993, the song was re-issued in Germany again, but on CD.
"Coz I Luv You" was later featured in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine and in the launch advert for the Ford Transit. More recently the song was used in an episode of the BBC drama Life on Mars. The song also features in the 2004 film El Lobo (also known as The Wolf), a political thriller revolving around the Spanish terrorist group ETA.
Promotion
No music video was filmed to promote the single. In the UK, the band performed the song on the UK music show Top of the Pops. The band also performed the song on the Belgian TV show Popshop and the German TV shows Disco and Beat Club. In 1973, they performed the song on the Dutch show Popgala.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
- Record Mirror said: "Written by Slade men Holder and Lea, this is a natural born successor to "Get Down and Get With It". As they've been riot-raising round the British Isles of late, I've no doubt that this staccato building production will make it. And make it big. Touches of violin, yet, a sturdy foot-pounding sort of build up. Less frantic than of yore, but a really persistent ear-bender."
- New Musical Express said: "A good follow-up to the recent hit by Slade, and one which could give the outfit its second successive chart entry. "Coz I Luv You" should satisfy both the mainstream pop and the heavy brigade. It's a rousing hard-hitting number, generating bags of electricity and urgency, but nevertheless blessed with a strong melody line and a chorus with which it's easy to join in. The flip is more progressive and is something of a rave-up with, I imagine, more limited appeal. All the same, a meaty set from Slade and a tight production."
- Coventry Evening Telegraph wrote: ""Coz I Luv You" should see [Slade] safely in the hit parade. The number begins softly but builds up to a powerful climax and must have the impact to earn the group even more attention."
- In 1971, Ritchie Blackmore was played the song and asked to comment on it in an interview with Melody Maker. He said: "Is this the Melody Maker staff band? I think I recognise it now the guitarist is speeding up. The song isn't bad. I like the violin. It's very coarse, but the guitar needs speeding up a lot. It can't be East of Eden, and it's certainly not Family. Slade, yes? They are a good group because the don't care about the notes and there is a public wanting that. Another group might be too inhibited to do what they do."
Retrospective reviews
- In a 1979 fan club opinion poll, Slade fans voted the song at No. 3 of the top three Slade songs that fans most wanted to hear live.
- In 2011, The Guardian retrospectively said: "It was all about the stomp: "Coz I Luv You"'s bootboy rhythm anchored its swirling, menacing violin line and the two combined to give this single its frightening, primitive edge. The band went on to become the most successful UK singles act of the 70s, but their music never totally lost this hint of muscle and threat."
Chart performance
Australian Singles Chart: #9
Belgian Singles Chart: #7
Dutch Singles Chart: #2
French Singles Chart: #21
German Singles Chart: #9
Irish Singles Chart: #1
New Zealand Singles Chart: #24
UK Singles Chart: #1
Formats
7" single
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "My Life is Natural" - 3:12
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "Get Down and Get with It" - 4:12
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" - 3:43
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:24
- "Gudbuy T'Jane" - 3:33
- "Coz I Luv You" - 3:30
- "Gudbuy T'Jane" - 3:30
- "I Don't Mind" - 3:06
Personnel
Slade
- Noddy Holder - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Lea - violin, bass, backing vocals
- Don Powell - drums
Additional personnel
- Chas Chandler - producer
Cover versions
- In 1971, Alan Caddy Orchestra and Singers released a cover of the song on the album Six Top Hits.
- In 1973, Vandyke Brown, Unicorn Express and Indigo Blue recorded the song along with Slade tracks "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Take Me Bak 'Ome" for the album Million Copy Hit Songs Made Famous by Slade, T. Rex, Sweet.
- In 1974, American rock band Cheap Trick had performed the song live prior to their commercial breakthrough.
- In 1991, Ian Edmundson recorded a cover of the song under the pseudonym Go Crazy, as a tribute to Slade's 25th anniversary.
- In 1992, British alternative rock band The Wonder Stuff recorded the song for the various artists compilation album Ruby Trax - The NME's Roaring Forty.
- In 1994, Jim Lea recorded two versions of the song and released them both as singles. The first was released under the artist name "The X Specials" and the second as "Jimbo featuring Bull".
- In 2000, Noddy Holder recorded an acoustic version for the ITV drama The Grimleys, which starred Holder. The song was later released as an MP3 download in 2008 under Slade's own label Whild John Music Ltd.
- In 2002, German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz recorded the song as a B-Side for their single "Keine Amnestie für MTV".
- Since 2006, English singer James Blunt has occasionally performed the song at his live concerts.
- In 2007, the song was sampled by Evidence for the track "Things You Do" which was included on the album The Weatherman LP.
- In 2015, punk band Vice Squad included the song on their CD single "Run Run Rudolph".
- In 2015, rock band Kamyaniy Gist covered this song in Ukrainian for the album 70/80.