The Slades were a vocal group out of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. All the members attended local

McCallum High School A. N. McCallum High School is a public high school in Austin, Texas, United States. McCallum, the second oldest high school in the Austin Independent School District (formerly known as Austin Public Schools prior to desegregation in 1971), open ...

. Personnel included John Goeke, Don Burch, Tommy Kaspar, Bobby Doyle, and Jimmy Davis. The first four were on their initial recording with Davis joining on the second disc. "Baby", backed with "You Mean Everything To Me", was their first record on the new

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...

label from Austin. Soon after the initial pressing on Domino as the Spades, their name was changed to the Slades and the record was released on the

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

label with national distribution. Their second recording for Domino records was their biggest. "You Cheated" peaked at #42 in 1958 on the

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

. However, when Domino passed on a national distribution deal with

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

, the song was soon covered by the Los Angeles-based

Shields A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...

who had the bigger hit. The Slades record was still popular enough to earn them a spot on American Bandstand. Many follow up recordings and back up credits for other Domino label artists followed, but none sold as well as "You Cheated". As a small label, Domino didn't have the distribution of a larger label which contributed to the group's eventual demise. In 1998, Ace Records released ''The Domino Records Story'' containing all of the group's output for the label, plus five previously unreleased tracks. One of the unreleased tracks, "In The Still of the Night", was included by

Greil Marcus Greil Marcus (born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics. Biography Marcus wa ...

in ''The History of Rock 'n' Roll in Ten Songs'' where he describes Don Burch's lead vocal as "a once-in-a-lifetime performance". Don Burch (born on December 23, 1938, in

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Austin. Founded in 1875 from four existing colleges, the oldest of ...

) died on March 27, 2020, in

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of the 2020 census. The city straddles the Ba ...

, at age 81.

References

External links

Slades discography at ''Rockin' Country Style''

References

External links

Further reading