"Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" is a song by the British rock band

Slade Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The '' British Hit Singl ...

, released in 1982 as the fourth and final single from their tenth studio album ''

Till Deaf Do Us Part ''Till Deaf Do Us Part'' is the tenth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 13 November 1981 and reached No. 68 on the UK charts. The album was produced by Slade. Although not as successful as ''We'll Bring the House D ...

''. It was written by lead vocalist

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician, songwriter and actor. He was the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the English rock band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his disti ...

and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Slade. The song was released as a single in Germany only, where it peaked at number 49.

Background

Following their revival after their performance at the 1980 Reading Festival, Slade signed a deal with RCA Records the following year. In November 1981, the band released the album ''Till Deaf Do Us Part''. Following the March 1982 release of the third single, "Ruby Red", RCA and the band chose to release "Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" as a single in Germany only. For its release as a single, the full album version of the song was cut down to just over three minutes. The editing of the song was handled by Lea, Holder and drummer

Don Powell Donald George Powell (born 10 September 1946) is an English musician who was the drummer for glam rock and later hard rock group Slade for over fifty years, from 1966 until he was dismissed by Dave Hill in 2020. Early life Powell was born in Bil ...

. The song peaked at number 49 in the German charts. Furthermore, the song became the band's regular opener at Slade's concerts. It would appear as the opening track of the band's 1982 live album '' Slade on Stage''.

Release

"Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" was released on 7" and 12" vinyl by RCA in Germany only. The B-side, " Knuckle Sandwich Nancy", was taken from ''Till Deaf Do Us Part'' and had been the album's failed lead single in May 1981. The 12" vinyl version of the single was Slade's second release on 12" vinyl. It featured the full-length album version of "Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" as the A-side.

Promotion

In Germany, the band performed the song on the TV show ''

Musikladen ''Der Musikladen'' () was a West German music television programme that ran from 13 December 1972 to 29 November 1984. The show continued the 1960s ''Beat-Club'' under a new name, and in turn was replaced by ''Extratour''. History Around 90 ep ...

'' on 11 March 1982. Later in December 1984, the band would perform the song again on the German ZDF show ''Thommys Pop Show''.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'', in a review of ''Till Deaf Do Us Part'', said the song "comes close to capturing the feelings of Slade live, Holder chortling wickedly through every line". In a retrospective review, Geoff Ginsberg of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented: "This number is so blistering, one wonders just how heavy these guys can get. Answer: very."

Formats

7-inch single #"Rock and Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" – 3:17 #" Knuckle Sandwich Nancy" – 3:09 12-inch single #"Rock And Roll Preacher (Hallelujah I'm on Fire)" – 5:34 #"Knuckle Sandwich Nancy" – 3:09

Personnel

Slade *

– lead vocals, guitar, producer * Dave Hill – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer * Jim Lea – bass, organ, backing vocals, producer *

– drums, producer

Charts

References

{{Slade 1981 songs 1982 singles Slade songs RCA Records singles Songs written by Noddy Holder Songs written by Jim Lea Song recordings produced by Jim Lea Song recordings produced by Noddy Holder Song recordings produced by Dave Hill Song recordings produced by Don Powell