[Robert DeLong]

The Slades were a vocal group out of Austin, Texas.

All the members attended local McCallum High School. 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 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 label with national distribution.

Their second recording for Domino records was their biggest. "You Cheated" peaked at #42 in 1958 on the Billboard charts. However, when Domino passed on a national distribution deal with Dot Records, the song was soon covered by the Los Angeles-based Shields 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.

The Sheilds - You Cheated

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 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".

Slades - In The Still Of The Night (unreleased rehearsal)

[cgbg]

Perfect song for today—thanks for reminding me.

[T Baden]

I was a student at Concordia High School in Austin during the 50s. John Goeke attended Concordia for three years before transferring to McCallum his senior year. He attended Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska, for college. He married Shirley Luercke (?) from the Giddings, Texas, area. John died several years ago and I believe that Shirley is still living. John taught for many years in the United States and in Japan, as well as serving as a salesperson for various companies, and also held administrative positions for the Lutheran Church, headquartered in Austin. I also knew Tommy Kaspar from the group. He and John attended the same church. He continued singing (non-professionally) for many years.

[Fiji Hill]

When Domino passed on a national distribution deal with Dot Records, the song was soon covered by the Los Angeles-based Shields who had the bigger hit.

The Shields had the big hit in Los Angeles and it remained a favorite Oldie for decades.