In for a Penny

By 1975, Slade began to feel stale, believing they had achieved as much success in the UK and Europe as they could. The band and their manager Chas Chandler decided that their next career move should be to try and crack America. The band agreed to move to there and build a reputation for their live performances from scratch, just as they had in the UK. In between touring, the band recorded their next album, Nobody's Fools, which saw the band move towards a more "American" soul/pop sound in attempt to gain a commercial break on the American charts.Nobody's Fools - Salvo 2007 remaster booklet liner notes "In for a Penny" was released as the lead single in November 1975,{{cite web|url=http://www.45worlds.com/cdalbum/cd/5371052uk |title=CD Album - Slade - Greatest Hits - Feel The Noize - Polydor - UK |publisher=45worlds.com |date=2015-02-09 |access-date=2017-07-24}} and reached No. 11 in the UK.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/30945/slade/ |title=slade | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company |publisher=Officialcharts.com |access-date=2017-07-24}}

In a 1986 fan club interview, Hill spoke of the song in relation to it being released as the album's lead single: "When we came back from touring in the States and released that, I think a lot of fans were disappointed, though I personally liked the track. They thought we'd come back with something heavy, so it may have seemed lightweight to them."{{Cite web |url=http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/slade/history-info-interviews1a.htm |title=Untitled Document |access-date=24 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805055834/http://www.crazeeworld.plus.com/slade/history-info-interviews1a.htm |archive-date=5 August 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}Slade International Fan Club newsletter March - April - May 1986 "In for a Penny" is notable for guitarist Dave Hill's guitar solo being his longest heard on a Slade single. Just before the second guitar solo in the track, Holder shouts the line "Ee, they got a band", which was a reference to a British TV advert in which a female character mistakes the entrance of threatening gangsters carrying violin cases for the arrival of a music combo.

"In for a Penny" was released on 7" vinyl by Polydor Records in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia, Australia and Japan.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectadisc.co.uk/discography/discography.php?VAR_ARTIST=%25%25&PP=25&VAR_RECORD=in+for+a+penny&VAR_SONGS=&VAR_LABEL=&VAR_CATALOGUE=&VAR_TYPE=%25%25&VAR_IMPORT=%25%25&VAR_PROMO=%25%25&VAR_SLEEVE=%25%25&VAR_UPDATE=%25%25&Submit=Search |title=ALL Discography @ www.collectadisc.co.uk |publisher=Collectadisc.co.uk |access-date=2017-07-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Slade-In-For-A-Penny/master/33047 |title=Slade - In For A Penny at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |date=2010-12-13 |access-date=2017-07-24}} The B-side, "Can You Just Imagine", was exclusive to the single and would later appear on the band's 2007 compilation B-Sides.

In the UK, the band performed the song on the TV shows Top of the Pops and Supersonic. The song's performance on Top of the Pops has not surfaced since its original broadcast.{{cite web|url=http://www.sladefanclub.com/1986.html |title=1986 - Slade Fan Club www.sladefanclub.com |publisher=Sladefanclub.com |access-date=2017-07-24}} In 1986, Lea recalled returning to Britain to perform the song on the show and the following day when the band watched their performance at Freddie Mercury's flat. On the same show, Queen appeared with "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Lea remembered being "totally knocked out" watching their video, while Mercury did not realise what an achievement his group had made.Slade International Fan Club newsletter June - July - August 1986

Upon its release, Ray Fox-Cumming of Record Mirror & Disc called "In for a Penny" a "good Beatles-ish kind of tune, with a "good lyric" and a "modest arrangement" which features "some nice melodic guitar breaks" and "harmonies [which] are perhaps the best thing Slade have ever done". He concluded, "This shows the group breaking new territory and doing it very well."{{cite magazine |last=Fox-Cumming |first=Ray |title=Singles |magazine=Record Mirror & Disc |date=8 November 1975 |page=23 |issn=0144-5804}} The Lurgan Mail noted the "slick guitar work from Dave Hill" and remarked that the "emphasis seems to be on the instrumental rather than the lyrical content".{{cite news |title=Record Review: New singles of note |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002021/19751127/122/0013 |newspaper=The Lurgan Mail |date=27 November 1975 |page=13 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2024}} John Hutson of the Thanet Times felt he "can't make up my mind about it", believing the single to be "probably too slow, but catchy enough to get played". He also noted how Hill's guitar work "weaves in and out of the song most effectively".{{cite news |last=Hutson |first=John |title=Pop Chat and Charts: Dog lover turns to girls on new album |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002514/19751125/087/0012 |newspaper=Thanet Times |date=25 November 1975 |page=12 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2024}} Chris Mosey of the Dorset Evening Echo noted the "shades of Sgt. Pepper" and the "raucous Noddy Holder vocal".{{cite news |last=Mosey |first=Chris |title=Chris Mosey On Record: Singles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1138871485/ |newspaper=Dorset Evening Echo |date=26 November 1975 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=5 March 2025}}

Deborah Thomas of the Daily Mirror felt Slade's "happy-go-luckiness gives way to a heavier, rougher sound" on "In for a Penny" and considered the B-side, "Can You Just Imagine", to be "more catchy".{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Deborah |title=Britain's Liveliest Pop Page: Short Plays |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19751104/031/0007 |newspaper=Daily Mirror |date=4 November 1975 |page=7 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2024}} The Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury wrote, "They have been out of the charts for some time. This may not be the one to get them back in."{{cite news |author=M.G. |title=Singles Scene |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000237/19751114/522/0011 |newspaper=Lincoln, Rutland & Stamford Mercury |date=14 November 1975 |page=12 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2024}} The Shepherds Bush Gazette and Hammersmith Post described it as having a "relaxed feel with an attractive tune" and believed it would "probably reach the lower steps of the top twenty", but the reviewer also added that "it's not really the Slade that fans came to know and love three years ago". The reviewer continued, "One may well wonder why Slade have recently been putting out slowish, melodic records instead of the heavy metal base that took them to the top of the charts."{{cite news |last2=Clerk |first2=Carol |last1=Lewis |first1=Dave |title=Disc Scene: Singles |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002480/19751113/072/0006 |newspaper=Shepherds Bush Gazette and Hammersmith Post |date=13 November 1975 |page=6 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 February 2024}}

7-inch single

1. "In for a Penny" – 3:34
2. "Can You Just Imagine" – 3:31

Slade

• Noddy Holder – lead vocals, guitar
• Dave Hill – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jim Lea – bass, accordion, backing vocals
• Don Powell – drums

Production

• Chas Chandler – producer

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{{Slade}}

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Category:1975 songs

Category:1975 singles

Category:Slade songs

Category:Songs written by Noddy Holder

Category:Songs written by Jim Lea

Category:Song recordings produced by Chas Chandler

Category:Polydor Records singles