Run Runaway (1984)
Run Runaway is Slade's third and final single from their eleventh studio album The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome. Released by RCA on 27 January 1984, it reached No. 7 in the UK and remained in the charts for ten weeks. In March 1984, the song was released by CBS as the first single from the album's US counterpart Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply. It became the band's first Top 40 hit in America, where it reached No. 20. The song was written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, and produced by John Punter.
Background
Although the band recorded much of The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome in 1982, their label RCA felt the recorded tracks lacked chart potential and in the effort to amend that, RCA suggested the band work with producer John Punter. Holder and Lea then wrote and demoed two songs, "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway", which had been specifically created as potential singles. Both were received with enthusiasm by RCA and Punter was hired to work on the two tracks, with both being recorded in September-October. With the UK/European success of "My Oh My" in late 1983, The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome was rush-released by RCA in December. In January 1984, "Run Runaway" was released as the album's third single, which reached No. 7 in the UK and was a hit across Europe and beyond too.
The 1983 success of Quiet Riot's version of Slade's 1973 UK chart topper "Cum On Feel the Noize" led to Slade signing with CBS for their first American record deal since the 1970s. The label soon repackaged The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome into Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply and released "Run Runaway" as the lead single in March 1984. With surging interest in the band and a music video benefiting from heavy play on MTV, "Run Runaway" was Slade's breakthrough hit in America and would remain the band's biggest success there. It peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks Chart.
"Run Runaway", described by Holder as "a rocky Scottish jig", features Lea on electric fiddle. In a 1984 interview with Nick Owen on TVAM, Holder said: "We always wanted to do a jig with the old violin going and that. We decided to go in and put a sort of rock beat behind an old Scottish jig." In a 1986 fan club interview, Lea revealed that he had come up with the song's melody while holding a conversation with someone. Later in 1987, Holder was asked what was his favourite Slade song. He replied that although "Far Far Away" was his favourite, hearing "Run Runaway" on the radio a few days before the interview really knocked him out. In a 1989 interview, Don Powell was asked for what he felt were the band's best efforts on record and he recalled that he enjoyed recording "Run Runaway".
Release
"Run Runaway" was released on 7" and 12" vinyl by RCA Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. It was released by CBS in America and Canada. The B-side on all RCA versions of the single was "Two Track Stereo, One Track Mind", which was exclusive to the single and would later appear on the band's 2007 compilation B-Sides. On the CBS releases, "Don't Tame a Hurricane" appeared as the B-side, which would be included as an album track on Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply. The 12" vinyl, released in the UK and Germany, featured an extended version of "Run Runaway" as the A-side.
Promotion
In the UK, the band performed the song on the TV music show Top of the Pops, while performances were filmed at the Hall of Fame and Rhyl Sun Centre. The band also performed the song at the 1984 Montreux Festival and on German and Swedish TV. In America, the song was performed on American Bandstand and The Dance Show. Later in 1985, the band performed the song on the UK show Saturday Live. In 1987, the band played the song on the UK show The Tom O'Connor Show.
Music video
A music video was filmed to promote the single, which was directed by Tim Pope for GLO Productions and cost £16,000 to make. It was shot at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire. In keeping with the song's celtic/jig sound, the video featured the band performing the song in front of an audience dressed in tartan. Other sequences showed a marching bagpipe band and a kilted Scot grappling with a caber.
The video was a big success in America, where it reached the top of the playlist charts. Its constant showing on MTV helped "Run Runaway" become Slade's biggest American hit. Despite its success, the band were disappointed that the video did not feature any direct shots of Powell. In a 1986 interview, Lea said that the band's only requirement in their music videos is that each band member is featured, however in the "Run Runaway" video, Powell is only seen in the background. In a 1986 fan club opinion poll, fans voted the video was the band's best music video.
In 2011, the coat Dave Hill wore in the video sold on eBay for £295. The seller had bought the coat many years ago from the Slade International Fan Club where Hill auctioned off several items to raise money to build a home recording studio.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
Retrospective reviews
Chart performance
Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report): #17
Belgian Ultratop 50 Flanders Chart: #33
Canadian Singles Chart: #13
German Singles Chart: #19
Iceland Singles Chart (RÚV): #1
Irish Singles Chart: #8
New Zealand Singles Chart: #21
Norwegian Singles Chart: #7
Polish Singles Chart: #6
Swedish Singles Chart: #4
UK Singles Chart: #7
US Billboard Hot 100: #20
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart: #1
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart: #20
Formats
7" single (RCA release)
Personnel
Slade
Additional personnel
Cover versions
Background
Although the band recorded much of The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome in 1982, their label RCA felt the recorded tracks lacked chart potential and in the effort to amend that, RCA suggested the band work with producer John Punter. Holder and Lea then wrote and demoed two songs, "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway", which had been specifically created as potential singles. Both were received with enthusiasm by RCA and Punter was hired to work on the two tracks, with both being recorded in September-October. With the UK/European success of "My Oh My" in late 1983, The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome was rush-released by RCA in December. In January 1984, "Run Runaway" was released as the album's third single, which reached No. 7 in the UK and was a hit across Europe and beyond too.
The 1983 success of Quiet Riot's version of Slade's 1973 UK chart topper "Cum On Feel the Noize" led to Slade signing with CBS for their first American record deal since the 1970s. The label soon repackaged The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome into Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply and released "Run Runaway" as the lead single in March 1984. With surging interest in the band and a music video benefiting from heavy play on MTV, "Run Runaway" was Slade's breakthrough hit in America and would remain the band's biggest success there. It peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was also No. 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks Chart.
"Run Runaway", described by Holder as "a rocky Scottish jig", features Lea on electric fiddle. In a 1984 interview with Nick Owen on TVAM, Holder said: "We always wanted to do a jig with the old violin going and that. We decided to go in and put a sort of rock beat behind an old Scottish jig." In a 1986 fan club interview, Lea revealed that he had come up with the song's melody while holding a conversation with someone. Later in 1987, Holder was asked what was his favourite Slade song. He replied that although "Far Far Away" was his favourite, hearing "Run Runaway" on the radio a few days before the interview really knocked him out. In a 1989 interview, Don Powell was asked for what he felt were the band's best efforts on record and he recalled that he enjoyed recording "Run Runaway".
Release
"Run Runaway" was released on 7" and 12" vinyl by RCA Records in the UK, Ireland, across Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. It was released by CBS in America and Canada. The B-side on all RCA versions of the single was "Two Track Stereo, One Track Mind", which was exclusive to the single and would later appear on the band's 2007 compilation B-Sides. On the CBS releases, "Don't Tame a Hurricane" appeared as the B-side, which would be included as an album track on Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply. The 12" vinyl, released in the UK and Germany, featured an extended version of "Run Runaway" as the A-side.
Promotion
In the UK, the band performed the song on the TV music show Top of the Pops, while performances were filmed at the Hall of Fame and Rhyl Sun Centre. The band also performed the song at the 1984 Montreux Festival and on German and Swedish TV. In America, the song was performed on American Bandstand and The Dance Show. Later in 1985, the band performed the song on the UK show Saturday Live. In 1987, the band played the song on the UK show The Tom O'Connor Show.
Music video
A music video was filmed to promote the single, which was directed by Tim Pope for GLO Productions and cost £16,000 to make. It was shot at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire. In keeping with the song's celtic/jig sound, the video featured the band performing the song in front of an audience dressed in tartan. Other sequences showed a marching bagpipe band and a kilted Scot grappling with a caber.
The video was a big success in America, where it reached the top of the playlist charts. Its constant showing on MTV helped "Run Runaway" become Slade's biggest American hit. Despite its success, the band were disappointed that the video did not feature any direct shots of Powell. In a 1986 interview, Lea said that the band's only requirement in their music videos is that each band member is featured, however in the "Run Runaway" video, Powell is only seen in the background. In a 1986 fan club opinion poll, fans voted the video was the band's best music video.
In 2011, the coat Dave Hill wore in the video sold on eBay for £295. The seller had bought the coat many years ago from the Slade International Fan Club where Hill auctioned off several items to raise money to build a home recording studio.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
- "And it came to pass that after one month of Slademania, Noddy, Jim, Dave and Don vanished into the obscurity from whence they came, save for their annual pilgrimage to the Reading heavy metal festival. And as they waved goodbye, they cracked a gross and tasteless joke at Big Country's expense..." - Phil McNeill of Number One
- Newcastle Evening Chronicle described the song as a "rousing and infectiously cheerful rocker".
- "The coarse bonhommie of Slade has always been so cloying that it could make a misanthrope out of a saint or a Stalin and this beery belch of a song is no different, the only thing different about it being the use by Noddy of a four syllable word ("Chameleon") and I wonder where he learned that one - so the brain surgery must have worked. Unfortunately Noddy will still have to wear his silly hats for a while to conceal the scars." - Julie Burchill of New Musical Express
- In a review of The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome, Record Mirror stated: "My favourite track though is the stately pulse of "Run Runaway", another single if ever I heard one. Some of it even sounds like Big Country. The mind boggles."
- Sounds commented in a review of the album that the song "shows them cheekily and triumphantly plagiarising flavour-of-'84 Big Country. It's the REEL thing, and with monkey glands such as these no wonder they still sound fresh."
- Another UK magazine said in a review of the album: "The percussive, mid-placed "Run Runaway", oddly chosen as the next single, droops into repetitiveness before the second verse is out."
- David Okamoto of The Tampa Tribute (Tampa, Florida) wrote: "Great trash-pop from the guys who originally gave us "Cum On Feel the Noise" back in the '70s. It's almost enough to make you thankful for Quiet Riot."
- Keith Thomas of the Times-Advocate (California) commented: "The group hasn't lost its touch. The thumping drum work and Scottish-sounding guitars are delightful. The song has some interesting offbeat lyrics." Speaking of the "rollicking video", he added: "The band and a large group of background singers look like they're having fun, as they shout the lyrics from the courtyard of a medieval castle."
- Radio Luxembourg (London) picked the song as one of their "Records of the Week" during March 1984.
Retrospective reviews
- In the 1986 fan club opinion poll, Slade fans placed "Run Runaway" at No. 2 of the band's best single of the 1980s.
- In a retrospective song review by AllMusic, Dave Thompson described the song as "storming" and wrote: "Building on the anthemic power of the earlier "My Oh My", "Run Runaway" is raucous chanting, swirling guitars, wild violin, and even a taste of heavy metal bagpipes, helped along by a drum sound that is pure early '80s."
- In 2010, Classic Rock listed the song as one of 14 Slade songs that belong on an "Essential Playlist".
Chart performance
Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report): #17
Belgian Ultratop 50 Flanders Chart: #33
Canadian Singles Chart: #13
German Singles Chart: #19
Iceland Singles Chart (RÚV): #1
Irish Singles Chart: #8
New Zealand Singles Chart: #21
Norwegian Singles Chart: #7
Polish Singles Chart: #6
Swedish Singles Chart: #4
UK Singles Chart: #7
US Billboard Hot 100: #20
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart: #1
US Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart: #20
Formats
7" single (RCA release)
- "Run Runaway" - 3:43
- "Two Track Stereo, One Track Mind" - 2:54
- "Run Runaway" - 3:43
- "Don't Tame a Hurricane" - 2:33
- "Run Runaway" - 3:43
- "Run Runaway" - 3:43
- "Run Runaway" - 5:26
- "Two Track Stereo, One Track Mind" - 2:52
- "Run Runaway" - 4:59
- "My Oh My" - 4:11
Personnel
Slade
- Noddy Holder - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Jim Lea - electric violin, bass, backing vocals, producer of "Two Track Stereo, One Track Mind" and "Don't Tame a Hurricane"
- Don Powell - drums
Additional personnel
- John Punter - producer of "Run Runaway"
- Mike Nocito, Pete Schwier - engineers on "Run Runaway"
- Shoot That Tiger! - design
- Andrew Christian - art direction
Cover versions
- In 1990, Eurodance group Dominoo released an EP with four different versions of the song.
- In 1993, Polish band Acid Drinkers recorded a cover on their album Fishdick.
- In 1995, Canadian band Great Big Sea recorded a cover of the song on their album Up.
- In 2001, Bart Foley recorded a version of the song for the compilation Slade Remade: A Tribute to Slade.
- In 2001, Off Kilter released a version of the song on their album Etched in Stone.
- In 2007, Swedish techno-country group Rednex recorded a cover of the song.
- In 2007, Celtic rock band Prydein recorded a cover of the song on their album Loud Pipes.