With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

This is the fifth song in the Play It Again Mayhem series which began earlier this year. Check out the earlier posts by clicking here (Betty Wright), here (Elton John), here (Roxy Music) and here (The O’Jays). This one is another from the 70s, 1976 as I recall (However Wikipedia says 1976, while the Official Charts site says 1977. But the label on the record in the YouTube clip below says 1976) . “Slow Down” became John Miles’ biggest US hit, reaching number 34 on the Billboard chart. In the UK it made it to number ten. Many people remember John Miles’ chart heyday for the epic “Music”, a UK top 3 hit, but I very much prefer “Slow Down”. It is a first class dance tune which has funk, disco and power pop in equal measures. I remember it being played a hell of a lot in many of the nightclubs that I frequented back in those days, although never in any of the punk shows I went to, although that is not surprising I suppose.

John Miles has played with many great artists over the years; Tina Turner, Jimmy Page and Joe Cocker to name just a few. He also appeared as guest vocalist on four of The Alan Parsons Project albums from 1976 to 1987. He is still very much around and won the “Outstanding Musical Achievement” award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. He has been a regular at the annual ‘Night Of The proms’ event since 1985. I have played “Slow Down” loads of times since rediscovering it!

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