Ooh La La in L.A. (1987)
Ooh La La in L.A. is Slade's third single from their fourteenth studio album You Boyz Make Big Noize. It was released in 1987 by CBS in the United States as a promotional-only single and by RCA in Europe as a full single release. The song was written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, and produced by John Punter.
Background
Following the moderate success of the band's 1985 albums Rogues Gallery and Crackers, Slade began writing and recording material for their next album in 1986. The band hoped to record a hit album that would put them back in the public eye. Released in 1987, You Boyz Make Big Noize and its singles "Still the Same" and "That's What Friends Are For" all failed to achieve the expected level of commercial success. During the summer of 1987, "Ooh La La in L.A." was released as the album's third single, but mainly in Germany only, with CBS also releasing it in America as a promotional single. It was not a commercial success in Germany and did not achieve enough airplay on American radio, except in Los Angeles, to warrant CBS giving it a full release. The song would be Slade's last release through RCA and CBS Records.
"Ooh La La in L.A." had been written during the time of the band's 1985 album Rogues Gallery. The lyrics, written by Holder, details the band's experiences in America while promoting their 1984 hit single "Run Runaway". The song also refers to the brief headline news that Don Powell (referred to by his middle name George in the lyrics) was dating Bob Dylan's daughter (referred to as Miss Zimmerman). In a 1987 fan club interview, Dave Hill said: "This is my favourite track on the album. There is something about the chorus on this one, which to me would make it a hit if it was released as a single. It is a very different sort of song for Slade. The lyric is very autobiographical. One verse is about Don being pissed all the time. There is mention of the Marquee, which refers to The Sunset Marquee, where a lot of bands stay. There is a verse about Barney's Beanery, where we used to play pool all the time. This song was in fact written originally for the Rogues Gallery album and is based on the last time we were in L.A, promoting "Run Runaway"."
In Russia, "Ooh La La in L.A." remains one of the band's most popular songs. In a 2011 interview on Vintage TV, Hill said: ""Ooh La La in L.A." was never a hit for us, but in Russia it's huge. And it's a bit like how come it's huge in this massive country and yet it didn't happen here?"
Release
"Ooh La La in L.A." was released on 7" and 12" vinyl by RCA Records across Europe. In America, it was released as a promotional-only 12" vinyl. RCA also released the single as a promotional-only release in Mexico, while a Japanese promotional single was also released, featuring "Ooh La La in L.A." as the A-side and American band Autograph's "Loud and Clear" on the B-side.
The B-side on the German release was "Don't Talk to Me About Love", which had previously appeared as a B-side on the double pack edition of the band's "Still the Same" single. On the 12" single, a second B-side, "That's What Friends Are For", taken from You Boyz Make Big Noize, was also included. The artwork for the single was the same as used for the earlier 1987 single "That's What Friends Are For".
Promotion
A music video to promote the single in America was planned if the promotional single had gained sufficient airplay to warrant a full release of the single. In a fan club newsletter of the time, it was revealed that the video would be filmed in Los Angeles to include the various scenes described in the lyrics such as the Sunset Strip and Barney's Beanery.
Speaking of the scrapping of the video idea, Lea said in a 1987 fan club interview: "Well, when you are dealing with record companies, it all comes down to money, power strokes and the way they think a record is going to go. CBS deliberately held back on doing the video because, although they could see it picking up a few heavyweight stations, they wanted to wait to see if it picked up any more. It actually did pick up one or two more, but then suddenly tailed off, so the video idea was scrapped. It got to the stage when there was this small matter of many tens of thousands of pounds and who was going to pay? It is a bit different in the States in that the record companies are totally ruled by the business affairs people, whereas over here the A&R men run things."
In the UK, the band performed the song on the ITV show Get Fresh in August 1987, while promoting their UK-only single "You Boyz Make Big Noize". On the show, Holder states the band are two weeks away from shooting a promotional video for the song and that it will be on UK TV soon. Speaking of the band's performance on the show, Lea said: "It is actually a bit difficult to mime to material, having never played it on stage before. To start off with, we had all forgotten how "Ooh La La in L.A." went. You may have noticed Nod in one of the guitar breaks coming over to me as he was running up and down the frets of his guitar. There was an expression on his face as if to say "I don't know what the f**k I'm doing!" I enjoyed doing that TV and others like it, because there's no aggravation."
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
Retrospective reviews
Formats
7" single (European release)
Personnel
Slade
Additional personnel
Background
Following the moderate success of the band's 1985 albums Rogues Gallery and Crackers, Slade began writing and recording material for their next album in 1986. The band hoped to record a hit album that would put them back in the public eye. Released in 1987, You Boyz Make Big Noize and its singles "Still the Same" and "That's What Friends Are For" all failed to achieve the expected level of commercial success. During the summer of 1987, "Ooh La La in L.A." was released as the album's third single, but mainly in Germany only, with CBS also releasing it in America as a promotional single. It was not a commercial success in Germany and did not achieve enough airplay on American radio, except in Los Angeles, to warrant CBS giving it a full release. The song would be Slade's last release through RCA and CBS Records.
"Ooh La La in L.A." had been written during the time of the band's 1985 album Rogues Gallery. The lyrics, written by Holder, details the band's experiences in America while promoting their 1984 hit single "Run Runaway". The song also refers to the brief headline news that Don Powell (referred to by his middle name George in the lyrics) was dating Bob Dylan's daughter (referred to as Miss Zimmerman). In a 1987 fan club interview, Dave Hill said: "This is my favourite track on the album. There is something about the chorus on this one, which to me would make it a hit if it was released as a single. It is a very different sort of song for Slade. The lyric is very autobiographical. One verse is about Don being pissed all the time. There is mention of the Marquee, which refers to The Sunset Marquee, where a lot of bands stay. There is a verse about Barney's Beanery, where we used to play pool all the time. This song was in fact written originally for the Rogues Gallery album and is based on the last time we were in L.A, promoting "Run Runaway"."
In Russia, "Ooh La La in L.A." remains one of the band's most popular songs. In a 2011 interview on Vintage TV, Hill said: ""Ooh La La in L.A." was never a hit for us, but in Russia it's huge. And it's a bit like how come it's huge in this massive country and yet it didn't happen here?"
Release
"Ooh La La in L.A." was released on 7" and 12" vinyl by RCA Records across Europe. In America, it was released as a promotional-only 12" vinyl. RCA also released the single as a promotional-only release in Mexico, while a Japanese promotional single was also released, featuring "Ooh La La in L.A." as the A-side and American band Autograph's "Loud and Clear" on the B-side.
The B-side on the German release was "Don't Talk to Me About Love", which had previously appeared as a B-side on the double pack edition of the band's "Still the Same" single. On the 12" single, a second B-side, "That's What Friends Are For", taken from You Boyz Make Big Noize, was also included. The artwork for the single was the same as used for the earlier 1987 single "That's What Friends Are For".
Promotion
A music video to promote the single in America was planned if the promotional single had gained sufficient airplay to warrant a full release of the single. In a fan club newsletter of the time, it was revealed that the video would be filmed in Los Angeles to include the various scenes described in the lyrics such as the Sunset Strip and Barney's Beanery.
Speaking of the scrapping of the video idea, Lea said in a 1987 fan club interview: "Well, when you are dealing with record companies, it all comes down to money, power strokes and the way they think a record is going to go. CBS deliberately held back on doing the video because, although they could see it picking up a few heavyweight stations, they wanted to wait to see if it picked up any more. It actually did pick up one or two more, but then suddenly tailed off, so the video idea was scrapped. It got to the stage when there was this small matter of many tens of thousands of pounds and who was going to pay? It is a bit different in the States in that the record companies are totally ruled by the business affairs people, whereas over here the A&R men run things."
In the UK, the band performed the song on the ITV show Get Fresh in August 1987, while promoting their UK-only single "You Boyz Make Big Noize". On the show, Holder states the band are two weeks away from shooting a promotional video for the song and that it will be on UK TV soon. Speaking of the band's performance on the show, Lea said: "It is actually a bit difficult to mime to material, having never played it on stage before. To start off with, we had all forgotten how "Ooh La La in L.A." went. You may have noticed Nod in one of the guitar breaks coming over to me as he was running up and down the frets of his guitar. There was an expression on his face as if to say "I don't know what the f**k I'm doing!" I enjoyed doing that TV and others like it, because there's no aggravation."
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
- In a review of You Boyz Make Big Noize, Kerrang! said: ""Ooh La La in L.A." is a bit of a laugh, with a good lyric about the amount of nosh the lads put away in the States."
- In a 1987 fan club poll based on the album, Slade fans voted the song as their favourite track and the favourite to be the next Slade single.
- In a July 1987 report by the Hard Report, an American radio airplay "tip sheet" for rock and AAA formats, the song was selected as a pick. The report commented: ""Ooh La La in L.A." shows a whole new side to the band, starting with Noddy's distinctive delivery which almost offers a Collinsesque twist this time around. Plus, one has to marvel at how the vocal equivalent of the Grand Canyon can seemingly add even more gravel - complete with newfound trills, which we've certainly heard before. And the song? It's got to be their widest demo offering ever, with a pop hook you know will cause havoc on both sides of the dial. An easy call for their biggest hit of the 80's."
Retrospective reviews
- In a retrospective review of You Boyz Make Big Noize, Doug Stone of AllMusic commented: ""Ooh La La in L.A." is, naturally, another anthemic and trashy barnstormer." He also recommended the song by selecting it as an AMG Pick Track.
Formats
7" single (European release)
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:38
- "Don't Talk to Me About Love" - 2:28
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:52
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:52
- Slade - "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:52
- Autograph - "Loud and Clear" - 3:40
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:52
- "Don't Talk to Me About Love" - 2:28
- "That's What Friends Are For" - 3:16
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:48
- "Ooh La La in L.A." - 3:48
Personnel
Slade
- Noddy Holder - lead vocals
- Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Lea - bass, backing vocals, producer of "Don't Talk to Me About Love"
- Don Powell - drums
Additional personnel
- John Punter - producer of "Ooh La La in L.A."
- Roy Thomas Baker - producer of "That's What Friends Are For"
- Quick on the Draw - sleeve design