Gudbuy T'Jane

"Gudbuy T' Jane"
German/European cover of "Gudbuy T'Jane".
Single by Slade
from the album Slayed?
B-side	I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen
Released	17 November, 1972
Format	7" Single
Genre	Glam rock, hard rock
Length	3:33
Label	Polydor Records
Writer(s)	Noddy Holder; Jim Lea
Producer(s)	Chas Chandler
Slade singles chronology
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now" (1972) "Gudbuy T' Jane" (1972) "Cum On Feel the Noize" (1973)
Audio sample file info · help

"Gudbuy T' Jane" is a hit single from glam rock band Slade released in 1972. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea and appeared on their album Slayed?.^[1] The single peaked at #2 in the UK, losing the number one spot to Chuck Berry's single My Ding-A-Ling.^[2] It did however, peak at #1 in the New Musical Express charts. Slade's two previous singles had charted at #1 in the UK. The single lasted 13 weeks in the top 100. It stayed in the top 10 from the moment it was released for 8 weeks.^[3] The single was also the most successful of Slade's 1970's singles in the United States, peaking at #68.^[4] It wouldn't be until 1983 when Slade's single "My Oh My" would beat that position.^[5]

The single peaked at #1 on the NME singles chart.

The single was awarded a UK Silver Disc in early 1973.^[6][7]

The single peaked at #209 for 1972 on rateyourmusic.^[8]

In 1981, drummer Don Powell was asked in a fan club interview for his three favourite Slade songs. Powell stated "Far Far Away", "Standin' on the Corner" and "Gudbuy T'Jane" as his favourites.^[9][10]

Background

At the time, the band were on tour and needed a follow up track to Mama Weer All Crazee Now. The idea came to Lea while he was sitting by a pool in San Diego. He completed it in the toilet in the plane on the flight home. Holder's lyrics came from a TV show he saw in San Francisco on which the band appeared, and on which a girl called Jane demonstrated a Sex Machine. Holder completed his lyrics just prior to the session. Holder's original lyrics were Hello To Jane. Jim decided that it would sound better as Goodbye To Jane when they went to record it. The loose feel of the record is explained by the fact this was Take 2 and the band had never played the song before until that day.^[11]

In a November 1980 Sounds magazine interview, Lea spoke of the song. "I didn't even like some of those old ones. We all hated 'Gudbye T' Jane' when we made it, it was knocked up in half an hour at the end of one of our studio sessions."^[12][13]

In a December 1984 interview with Record Mirror, the magazine tested Lea's memory by asking him to recall the story behind certain hits. For Gudbuy T'Jane, Lea stated "Was written by the side of a swimming pool in Fresno just outside San Francisco. I remember lying there one day on our afternoon off and Chas Chandler, who was our manager, said to me 'Jimmy, if you've got nothing to do - write a song cos there's money in it!'. Everyone else was messing about pissed and I was lying there bored, I'm always bored. So I thought right - write a song, go! I went 'Goodbye T'Jane, Goodbye T'Jane' and then we were flying back to finish off the 'Slayed?' album and I thought right, I need the next bit to that. I went and had a pee in the bog and I got all excited and sang it over and over, then suddenly I went 'I say you're so young', and it just blurted out. So that was it, finished at twenty thousand feet. Then when we eventually got into the studio we had the backing track done and Nod said 'right I've done the lyrics' and he went up and sang 'Hello T'Jane'. I'll never forget that, it was so funny."^{[citation needed]}

For the September–December 1986 Slade fan club magazine, Lea was interviewed and was asked to share where he was when he wrote various Slade tracks. For the chorus of Gudbuy T’Jane, Lea stated it was written while he was urinating.^[14]

The song was originally titled "Hello T'Jane".^[15][16]

"Gudbuy T'Jane" was voted #3 of the top three Slade live tracks in the Slade Fan Club Poll of 1979.^[17][18]

Promotion

Aside from the band's live performances, the song was performed on numerous TV showin the UK and Europe. Two music videos were also created.

The song was performed on the UK show Top of the Pops as well as the German show Musikladen, where the band also performed Mama Weer All Crazee Now, and the Dutch TV flagship pop show Top Pop.

In 1977, the band performed the song on East German TV where the group also mimed several other previous hits, as well as each member being interviewed. In 1981, the band's performance of the song at the Lochem Festival in Holland was filmed, again only available unofficially on YouTube.^[19]

Music video

Two music videos were created for the single, both by Caravelle. The first was made at an observatory and the group were filmed portraying scientists stalking around with white coats and clipboards. Close-up shots of guitarist Dave Hill's platform boots when the song mentions 'H Hill's left shoe'. For the second film, Caravelle were permissioned by Polydor Records, rather than Top of The Pops. The film was to give the impression of Slade playing live at their 'London Rainbow' concert. In fact all the shots of the band were taken during the afternoon before the gig. The audience shots were taken live at the gig - the only thing being that they were filmed during 'Hear Me Calling' - thus the audience cannot be seen in time with "Gudbuy T'Jane". Slade, during the video, have their clothes and instruments covered with 'I've Been Slayed' stickers.^[16][20]

Although not clear as to which video, one of the song's video was voted #3 of the top three Slade music videos in the Slade Fan Club Poll of 1979.^[17][18]

In a 1973 interview with Music Star magazine, Hill recalled the frightening experience of making the song’s first video after stating he was afraid of heights. Hill stated “We were making a special film for Top of the Pops at a power station. 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. You know, you watch that cat and you know it could get down the same way it came up - but the cat’s too frightened, and it just sits there till somebody rescues it.”^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

7" Single

1. "Gudbuy T' Jane" - 3:31
2. "I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen" - 3:15

Critical reception

Record Mirror magazine reviewed the single upon release, "Another slice of Slade, with a drum-beat opening, with all that instant power and drive...on records - live concerts, too, come to that - the boys don't put a foot or tonsil wrong. Noddy fronts this ferocious build-up with his usual gruff efficiency; and there's a hustling bass-percussion rhythm that maintains the pressure. There's a running riff which reaches out and grabs. Their best yet? Hard to say but it is bloody good - chart certain."^[21]

Danny Holloway for NME magazine wrote "Following "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", the Wolverhampton Wanders have chosen another Lea-Holder rigid rocker. There's a simple little drum intro as the guitars join in, followed by a ferocious bass line. Bound to storm the charts and should be a big Christmas seller for the band. During the past year Slade's songwriting has improved greatly. If they continue to progress at this rate, nothing can hold them back."^[22][23]

In early 2010, Classic Rock magazine featured Slade as part of their ‘The Hard Stuff Buyers Guide’ where the magazine reviewed numerous Slade albums. As part of this article, an ‘Essential Playlist’ listed 14 Slade songs which included Gudbuy T’Jane.

Chart performance

Personnel

• Noddy Holder: Lead vocals and guitar
• Jim Lea: Bass guitar and backing vocals
• Dave Hill: Lead guitar and backing vocals
• Don Powell: Drums

References