‘Slam!’ is a collection of 19 demos recorded between 1980 and 1981 for two of their most successful albums ‘Concrete’ and ‘The Biggest Prize In Sport’.
These recordings were considered to be lost until Nick Cash discovered the tapes buried under a pile of fluorescent socks in his loft! Seven of the recordings are previously unreleased while the other twelve show interesting work in progress, with many of the recordings differing substantially both musically and lyrically from the finished versions.
The title track ‘Slam!’ was written in response to the controversy surrounding 999 and the slam dance. Front page headlines in both The Sun and the Los Angeles Times had accused 999 of introducing this dance and unfairly blamed a series of violent incidents on the band. 999 became Public Enemy No.1, accused of causing both social unrest in the USA and Europe! Albion in the UK and Polygram in the USA refused to release this legendary track. It appears here for the first time!
Due to the scandal surrounding 999, the band were invited to do an interview with The Sun newspaper in London, July 1980. The journalist tried to persuade the band to perform acts of violence and moronic behaviour amongst the public in a crowded Soho Square. The band refused.
The CD’s packaging includes rare and previously unseen photos, sleeve notes by Nick Cash and the sensationalist Slam! feature in The Sun.