a different production style." The first track on the album, "Be", became popular in Slade's live sets, featuring on the band's subsequent live album Slade Alive, Vol. 2 (1978). For a fan club newsletter in 1979, bassist Jim Lea spoke of the track, saying "songs like "Be" are hardly concise, they're clever, but hardly the sing-along down at the pub type song." AllMusic described the song as being "unlike any other the band had done". "Gypsy Roadhog", the album's single is a tale of the exploits of an American cocaine dealer. The song featured a country rock influence, taken from Slade's touring in America. "One Eyed Jacks with Moustaches" became popular in Slade's live set, featuring on the subsequent live album Slade Alive, Vol. 2 (1978). AllMusic said the song "sounds like classic Slade, but once again, radio wouldn't touch it." "Dead Men Tell No Tales" features a slower tempo and has lyrics based on the 1949 gangster film White Heat, starring James Cagney. Release and promotion There had been no new release from Slade since the "Nobody's Fool" single had been lifted from the Nobody's Fools album in April 1976 to commercial failure. The first that was heard of Slade in 1977 was the single "Gypsy Roadhog". After the single was banned and stalled on the UK Singles Chart, the album that followed didn't have much commercial chance after that. Titled by Chandler after a piece of graffiti spotted painted on a London bridge, Whatever Happened to Slade, while intended as a defiant, ironic comment on their absence from UK shores, was more likely received as a virtual admission of how far the group's star had fallen, and few people, except perhaps a mere fraction of their old fan base, was in the mood to contradict them. Whatever Happened to Slade received no airplay and very little press. It failed to chart on any national chart, including the UK Albums Chart, and became the group's lowest-selling LP to date. However, those faithful few who took the trouble were amazed by the record. Described as "the heaviest, dirtiest (in all senses), most decadent Slade music ever made", Whatever Happened to Slade was described as making "Gypsy Roadhog" sound like "The Teddy Bear's Picnic" and remains many Slade connoisseurs' favourite of all their albums. It was also influential on the grunge and alternative rock genres, with both Billy Corgan of The