Slade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Slade (disambiguation).
Slade were an English glam rock and hard rock band.
| Slade | |
|---|---|
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| Origin | Black Country, England |
| Years active | 1966–1993 |
| Genres | Glam Rock and Hard Rock |
| Labels | Polydor RCA |
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Slade are one of the most recognisable acts of the glam rock movement, and were at their peak the most commercially popular band in the UK. The band is possibly most famous for the song Merry Xmas Everybody (released December 1973), which is now one of the most iconic British Christmas pop songs.
Slade are perhaps best remembered by their fans for their critically acclaimed live shows and their long string of hits. During the height of their success, Slade out-performed their chart rivals Wizzard, Sweet, T. Rex, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Gary Glitter and David Bowie. In the UK, they achieved 12 top five hits from 1971 to 1974, six of which topped the charts. In total, Slade had 17 top 20 hits between 1971 and 1976 including six #1s, three #2s and two #3s. No other UK act of the period enjoyed such consistency in the UK top 40 and Slade actually came the closest to emulating The Beatles' 22 top ten records in a single decade (1960s). Three of their singles entered the charts at #1, and they sold more singles in the UK than any other group of the 1970s.
NME journalist and music critic Eddie Shum and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher have both been quoted as saying the band were "Fundamentally more important to the development of music than Radiohead". While Slade's attempts at cracking the United States market were largely unsuccessful, they left their mark on a several US bands who cite Slade as an influence. KISS bassist Gene Simmons readily admits that his band's early songwriting ethos and stage performance style was influenced by Slade. Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick has said that his band went to see Slade perform, and that they used "every cheap trick in the book", thus inadvertently coining his group's name. Quiet Riot had a U.S. hit with their cover of Cum on Feel the Noize.
The original band's memory was kept alive by comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who respectfully sent up the band in a number of what the band called 'hysterically accurate' sketches in their Smell of Reeves and Mortimer TV show in the late 1990s.
Slade is most associated with the Black Country in Britain's West Midlands, although the band's members came from Devon, Staffordshire, and the Black Country towns Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Harry Shearer has claimed that he based the band Spinal Tap, from This is Spinal Tap, on Slade. However, it is widely known and confirmed that the band in the film was based on the UK metal band Saxon, who supported Slade on tour on a couple of shows.
[edit] Career history
The band started out as the N'Betweens in 1966, formed from members of two Midlands bands, The Vendors and Steve Brett & The Mavericks. They initially had little success, and in the late 1960s the band changed its name to Ambrose Slade and hooked up with manager Chas Chandler. Their name was eventually shortened to Slade, and the band adopted a skinhead look, as an attempt to gain publicity from what was a newsworthy youth fashion trend. They later abandoned this look, due to the unwelcome association with football hooliganism. They grew their hair long again, in time to become a leading part of the glam rock movement, releasing songs with deliberately Black Country-style mis-spelled titles which made them stand out.
From 1971 to 1975, the band scored many huge-selling consecutive hit albums and singles. Singles entered the charts at number one - a feat unheard of since the days of The Beatles. Their concerts were all automatic sellouts, and the band was the first to take the risk of booking the massive Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London for a couple of nights (although David Bowie promptly booked the venue for a couple of dates before Slade were due to perform). Following this period, Don Powell was critically injured in a car crash and the band's future was left in the balance. Powell eventually recovered, although he still suffers with acute short-term memory and sensory problems.
Slade starred in the rock movie Flame in 1974. Film critic Mark Kermode believed it to be the best rock biopic of all time. The soundtrack album included the top 5 hit Far Far Away and the top 20 hit How Does It Feel. The movie was a dark gritty work about the seedier side of the music business, and was not what many critics and fans were expecting. It reinforced the inaccurate idea that Slade suffered from internal disputes and cost them some fans.
After touring in the United States for a year, Slade became overshadowed in the UK by the advent of new pop teen idols and the development of Punk rock in the late 1970s. Without radio play, Slade's hits largely dried up. They moved from the major Polydor label to their manager's own label, Barn Records; and then to their independent Cheapskate label. They carried on playing concerts at bigger clubs and universities, while waiting for chart success to come round again. The music press either grudgingly acknowledged the power of their live shows, or simply ignored them - mainly the latter.
Due to changes in music trends and the advent of punk rock and New Wave music, Slade's success faded somewhat by the late 1970s, although the group continued to release records. They enjoyed a return to the UK charts in the early 1980s, and managing to enter the charts in the United States.
In August 1980, Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard Of Ozz cancelled their set at the Reading Festival with very short notice. Slade, who had all but disbanded, were recommended to replace them. A demoralised Dave Hill had effectively left the band and initially refused to do the show when asked by the other band members, but manager Chas Chandler convinced Hill to play what could very well have been their last ever live show in front of a huge crowd rather than in a small club. To Hill's utter astonishment, the band were well-received at the festival, and quickly became darlings of the music press again — despite doing nothing different at Reading than they had done onstage in recent years.
A new run of chart success followed, though not on the large scale of their 1970s heights. Holder and Lea became in-demand for production and songwriting duties for other acts for a while. Slade had another two UK top 10 hits in 1984, with the singles Run Runaway and My Oh My (#2 UK, #36 US). Run Runaway reached #7, which would be their second top 40 hit in the USA — and their first since Gudbuy T'Jane, which barely made the top 40 in 1972. Interestingly enough, these hits happened despite Slade not touring to support the releases.
They later returned to the UK singles chart in 1991 with the song Radio Wall of Sound.
Noddy Holder became weary of constant touring, effectively managing the band and of the music business and left the band in late 1991 after 25 years. The remainder of the band were given a period of notice in which to consider their options. Rather than take on another singer, Jimmy Lea effectively retired. Dave Hill and Don Powell (the band's founder members) formed Slade II with three other local musicians at that point. The name was once again shortened to Slade after a period.
[edit] Post-Slade careers of band members
Noddy Holder became an occasional actor, most notably in the nostalgic late-1990s television period comedy The Grimleys. He played Mr. Holder, a frustrated small-time musician with a day job as a music teacher. He is a broadcaster, and has appeared as a guest on television programmes, and in advertisements. In 2005 and 2006, Holder is a bi-weekly television reviewer on the BBC Radio 2, Mark Radcliffe show. Holder has been awarded a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to music.
Jimmy Lea opted not to continue with Slade when Holder left the group. He has studied psychotherapy, invested in properties, released several singles (mainly under various pseudonyms: Greenfields Of Tong, The Dummies, The Clout, Whild, Gang of Angels), and has stockpiled enough new solo tracks to fill a number of albums, which remain unreleased.
Dave Hill and Don Powell have continued the band, calling themselves Slade II between 1992 and 1997 due to initial objections from Jimmy Lea, and then reverted back to calling themselves Slade, as Noddy Holder eventually came down on their side, granting them the right to work as SLADE. They have released an album and several singles, mainly available in Europe rather than the UK.
The entire original line-up's back catalogue is being comprehensively remastered and reissued in extended and enhanced versions on CD in the UK by Union Square Records, during 2006 and 2007. The Shout Factory label are releasing collections in the USA.
[edit] Band members
[edit] Past members of Slade
- Jim Lea - Bass, guitar, violin, piano, keyboard (1965-1993)
- Noddy Holder - Vocals, guitar (1966-1993)
- Steve Makin – Guitar (1993)
- Craig Fenney – Bass (1993-1995)
- Steve Whalley - Vocals, guitar (1994-2005)
- Trevor Holliday - Bass, backing vocals (1994-2000)
- Dave Glover - Bass, backing vocals (2000-2005)
[edit] Current members of Slade
- Dave Hill - Guitar, backing vocals
- Don Powell - Drums
- John Berry - Bass, violin, backing vocals
- Mal McNulty - Vocals, guitar
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
 1. Beginnings
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 2. Play It Loud
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 3. Slade Alive!
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 6. Old, New, Borrowed and Blue
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 9. Whatever Happened to Slade?
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 11. Return To Base
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 12. Slade Smashes
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 12. We'll Bring The House Down
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 14. Slade On Stage
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 15. The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome
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 16. Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply
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 17. Rogues Gallery
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 18. Crackers- The Slade Party Album
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 20. Wall Of Hits
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 21. Feel The Noize- Greatest Hits
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 23. The Slade Box 4 CD Anthology 1969-1991
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[edit] Reissues
 1. Beginnings/Play It Loud
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 2. Slade Alive! - The Slade live anthology
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 3. Slayed?
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 4. Old New Borrowed And Blue
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 5. Crackers The Rockin' Party Album!
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[edit] Albums by Slade II
- 1994 "Keep on Rockin" Did Not Chart
- 1999 "Wild Nites" Did Not Chart
- 2001 "Superyob" Did Not Chart
- 2002 "Cum On Let's Party!" Did Not Chart
[edit] U.K. Singles
- 1966 "You Better Run" Did Not Chart
- 1969 "Genesis" Did Not Chart
- 1969 "Wild Winds Are Blowing" Did Not Chart
- 1970 "The Shape Of Things To Come" Did Not Chart
- 1970 "Know Who You Are" Did Not Chart
- 1971 "Get Down And Get With It" UK #16
- 1971 "Coz I Luv You" UK #1
- 1972 "Look Wot You Dun" UK #4
- 1972 "Take Me Bak 'Ome" UK #1, (US #97)
- 1972 "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" UK #1, (US #76)
- 1972 "Gudbuy T' Jane" UK #2, (US #68)
- 1973 "Cum on Feel the Noize" UK #1, (US #98)
- 1973 "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" UK #1
- 1973 "My Friend Stan" UK #2
- 1973 "Merry Xmas Everybody" UK #1
- 1974 "Everyday" UK #3
- 1974 "The Bangin' Man" UK #3
- 1974 "Far Far Away" UK #2
- 1975 "How Does It Feel" UK #15
- 1975 "Thanks For The Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)" UK #7
- 1975 "In For A Penny" UK #11
- 1976 "Let's Call It Quits" UK #11
- 1976 "Nobody's Fool" Did Not Chart
- 1977 "Gypsy Road Hog" UK #48
- 1977 "Burning In The Heat Of Love" Did Not Chart
- 1977 "My Baby Left Me - That's All Right" UK #32
- 1978 "Give Us A Goal" Did Not Chart
- 1978 "Rock N Roll Bolero" Did Not Chart
- 1979 "Ginny Ginny" Did Not Chart
- 1979 "Sign O' The Times" Did Not Chart
- 1979 "Okey Cokey" Did Not Chart
- 1980 "Alive At Reading '80" (EP) UK #44
- 1981 "We'll Bring The House Down" UK #10
- 1981 "Wheels Ain't Comin' Down" UK #60
- 1981 "Knuckle Sandwich Nancy" Did Not Chart
- 1981 "Lock Up Your Daughters" UK #29
- 1982 "Ruby Red" UK #51
- 1982 "(And Now The Waltz) C'est La Vie" UK #50
- 1983 "My Oh My" UK #2, (US #37)
- 1984 "Run Runaway" UK #7, (US #20)
- 1984 "All Join Hands" UK #15
- 1984 "Merry Xmas Everybody" (re-issue) UK #20
- 1985 "7 Year Bitch" UK #60
- 1985 "Myzterious Mizter Jones" UK #50
- 1985 "Do You Believe In Miracles?" UK #54
- 1986 "Merry Xmas Everybody" (re-issue) UK #48
- 1987 "Still The Same" UK #73
- 1987 "That's What Friends Are For" UK #95
- 1987 "You Boyz Make Big Noize" Did Not Chart
- 1988 "We Won't Give In" Did Not Chart
- 1989 "Let's Dance" Did Not Chart
- 1991 "Radio Wall Of Sound" UK #21
- 1991 "Universe" UK #42
- 1998 "Merry Xmas Everybody" (re-issue) UK #30
- 2006 "Merry Xmas Everybody" (re-issue) UK #22
[edit] Singles by Slade II
- 1993 "Hold On To Love" Did Not Chart
- 1994 "Merry Xmas Now" Did Not Chart
- 1995 "Hot Luv" Did Not Chart
- 1995 "Black and White World" Did Not Chart
- 2002 "Some Exercise" Did Not Chart
- 2002 "Take Me Home" Did Not Chart
[edit] DVDs and Videos
 1. Wall Of Hits - 1991, |
 2. Slade In Flame - 2003, |
 3. The Very Best Of Slade - 2005, |
| Preceded by: Little Jimmy Osmond Long Haired Lover From Liverpool |
UK Christmas Number One single
Merry Christmas Everybody 1973 |
Succeeded by: Mud Lonely This Christmas |
