Slade – Get Down And Get With It

Noddy’s voice in this song is a perfect example of why AC/DC supposedly asked him to replace Bon Scott in 1980. 

When they decided to record it, at Olympic Studios, they did so with a live feel, setting up the microphones in the stairwell outside which gave the echo for hand clapping and stamping. Most DJs wouldn’t play it because they thought it was too rowdy, but a few did, including John Peel. 

The song was written by  Bobby Marchan and he released it in 1964. Little Richard covered it and  released it in 1967. Slade heard the Little Richard version and based their recording off of his. Little Richard was given the writer’s credit, then they were sued by the real writer, Bobby Marchan. Slade’s record company, Polydor, sorted out the mess.

It peaked at #16 in the UK in 1971. 

From Songfacts

Slade ended their live set with “Get Down And Get With It” for nearly two years; in his autobiography, band member Noddy Holder said it was a Little Richard cover in 12-bar format, but “had something magical about it”; the original was all piano and sax, but they did it with guitars.

It peaked at #16, and earned them an appearance on Top Of The Pops. 

When the sheet music was published by Burlington Music at 20p, it was credited correctly to Marchan, copyright 1965 by Tree Publishing of Nashville. The full title was given as “GET DOWN AND GET WITH IT (GET DOWN WITH IT).” 

Get Down and Get With It

All right everybody
Let your head down
I want to say everybody get on of your seat
Clap your hand and step your feet
*Get down and get with it
I said*
Do the turns
Come on baby
I’m going to watch everybody work
I said come on baby
Watch everybody do the dance
(*repeat)
It’s been a long long time
Yeah,yeah,yeah
I’m going to watch everybody go around
I said (*repeat) baby
Watch everybody make some time

(* repeat)
It’s alright
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Ma ma ma ma…..
Baby it’s alright
Ma ma ma ma ma ma

Everybody raise both of your hand in the air
Everybody, everybody
I said clap your hands
Everybody clap your hands
Yeah,yeah,yeah
Ma ma ma ma
Everybody clap your hands ma ma ma…
I want to see everybody get your boots on
Everybody everywhere
I said step your feet
Come on and step Your feet Yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Ma ma ma ma…
Everybody step your feet
Ma ma ma ma…
I want to say everybody get above your seats
Clap your hands and step your feet
Make it

(* repeat)
I said (*repeat)
I said (*repeat) baby
Yeah,yeah,yeah
Ma ma ma ma
I said come on baby, ma ma ma ma…
I said step your feet and do the thing baby
Yeah,yeah,yeah
Ma ma ma ma…
Everybody step your feet baby
I said ma ma ma ma
Yeah…
I said (*repeat) now
Yeah,yeah,yeah
Ma…..
(*repeat) baby
Ma…..

I want everubody to say their feels
All right

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

22 thoughts on “Slade – Get Down And Get With It”

  2. Imagine Noddy singing Run Runaway with AC/DC! lol At the end of the day I hope they made some dough off of the publishing since QR propelled them into the mainstream in North America.

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    1. I’m sure they did make some off of that…I just don’t get why they didn’t hit with the same sound? I guess it was the timing…a decade earlier.
      I would have loved to hear him do a AC/DC song.

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  3. My husband likes Slade. I don’t care for them much, which is ironic since I’m the glam rock person in the marriage. Though I love Bon Scott, I’ve never responded to Noddy’s voice. To me, he doesn’t have the since of humor that Scott does. To me he’s more like Brian Johnson.

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    1. It’s something about them I’ve always liked…I’ll side with your husband on this one lol. I think it’s because they don’t take themselves seriously… Noddy is a screamer no doubt.

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  4. Well, if it doesn’t work for you as a single, it might work as an alarm clock tone! Not all that big on this one, but I do think it’s weird they weren’t far bigger over here than they were. Seem to have a sound that would have fit in OK on hard rock stations of 70s and 80s and they were so big in the UK. Blame bad managing or record deal??

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    1. I think the old phrase we have used before… “too British” is my only guess and a good possibility of the ones you mentioned. For me…you cannot be too British. Look at T Rex also and the Small Faces.

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