The group relocated to Washington's New Jersey home where they came to the attention of Jeff Dixon, program director of Newark, NJ, radio station WNJR. Dixon booked studio time for the group and let them self-produce themselves. One morning at about three o'clock, Adams, Hicks, and Washington got into an impromptu jam session, which enthusiastically woke up the whole household. The next morning, the band went into the studio and recorded what became "Slide" in one take. Dixon took "Slide" to Henry Allen, president of Atlantic Records' subsidiary label Cotillion Records.

Produced by Jeff Dixon, "Slide" stayed on Billboard's charts through the summer of 1977. Because of the single's long chart run, Slave played nightly dates for almost a year. "Slide" (at almost seven minutes) was included on their debut album, Slave, which went gold, hitting number six R&B and number 22 pop in summer 1977. Other Slave albums were Hardness of the World (late 1977, "The Party Song"), The Concept (number 11 R&B summer 1978, "Just a Touch of Love), Stone Jam (gold, number five R&B, late 1980, "Watching You"), Show Time (number seven R&B fall 1981, "Snap Shot," number six R&B), and Visions of the Lite. Mid-charting LPs on the Ichiban label include: Unchained at Last (1986), Make Believe (1987), Rebirth (1991), The Funk Strikes Back and Stellar Funk: The Best of Slave (both 1994). Adams can also be heard on RCA Records act Odyssey's "Inside Out" (which sounds very similar to Slave's "Watching You").