The Bluetones' guitarist, Adam Devlin, recalls the creation of their biggest hit, Slight Return, which reached No 2 in the UK charts in 1995. The song was written when the band were still a three-piece, before drummer Eds Chesters joined. Devlin explains that the track was the fourth or fifth they wrote, with his brother Scott recording guitar parts on a cassette player in a rudimentary multi-tracking method.
The band initially resisted releasing it as a single, fearing it would alienate fans who had already bought a demo version on blue vinyl. However, the label A&M convinced them, though they wanted a name change as 'Slight Return' does not appear in the lyrics. The title references the line 'I'm coming home but just for a short while' and pays homage to Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Slight Return).
Devlin describes the moment they learned of the song's success: 'I was in the launderette when our manager phoned and said: “You’ve gone in at No 2.”' He recalls performing on Top of the Pops alongside Radiohead, finding Thom Yorke's voice inspiring. Despite playing the song for 30 years, Devlin admits to getting bored rehearsing it, but notes that live audiences still love it.
The Bluetones formed from members of two other bands, with Mark Morriss shifting from guitarist to singer. Devlin says they 'cobbled together a set' to get on the London circuit. The song's coda originally featured a sample from the film Billy Liar. Devlin notes that people often misremember the title as 'Where Did You Go?' because the actual title isn't in the lyrics.
