The band Slade is hard rockin' to the core. They don't know how to NOT rock. It's part of their soul. When their manager said "do a goddamn ballad guys. the chicks dig it," Noddy, Dave, Jim and Don simply heaved a collective sigh, whipped on their glittering go-go boots, applied just a touch of fresh eyeshadow, and set about writing a sweetzie-cola love jam in the only way they knew how: the hard rockin' way. Released in 1971, this song was in the first wave of hard-rock-goes-lovey-dovey. However, there isn't a stitch of the namby-pamby flim-flam bullshit found in the saccharine "hard rock" love ballads of the later 70s and all through the 80s. The opening line sung over a terse guitar stroke is: "I won't laugh at you, when you boo-hoo-hoo, coz I love you." Under normal circumstances, that would be about as easy-listening-Neil-Sedaka-y as it gets, but when ol' Noddy sings it, it's hardcore man! It doesn't matter that the musical breakdown for this song is a violin solo because it's a rockin' James Lea electric violin solo. When you hear hand claps in this song, they sound like mother-lovin' whips cracking!
And because Slade didn't want you getting any wrong ideas in that pretty little head of yours, they changed the initial title spelling from "Cause I Love You" to the more street smart "Coz I Luv you." Correct spelling is for squares! Often (and by often I mean NEVER), I get asked what song I'd like to be played for my first dance at my imaginary wedding. I've bandied about a few different titles, but I always come back to "Coz I love you." It has the sweet sensibility of a Billy Joel number in its lyrics ("I just like the things you do/ don't you change the things you do") but the vocal/instrumental intensity of Alice Cooper (wild screaming at the end/roaring power chords). I'd like to begin my marriage with a BANG, and this song is the musical equivalent of a Reese's Peanut Butter cup: salty, sweet, and totally satisfying!
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