Content Starts Here
Slade biography
SLADE BIOGRAPHY
As one of the most successful pop/rock acts in history, to neglect the importance of Slade in the history of music thanks merely to the existence of the perennial Christmas 'favourite', 'Merry Xmas Everybody', would be a serious error. Notching up seventeen consecutive top twenty single hits between 1971 and 1976, including six number ones, this is a band you write off at your peril, and one guaranteed to have had the whole place shaking with their huge live sound, and singer Noddy Holder's inimitable banshee-yell. The poster-boys for the glam rock movement, they were probably the most commercially successful act of their time.
Originally called The N'Betweens when they formed in 1966, the group followed a similar 'early days' career trajectory as the Beatles, learning their craft by playing endless gigs, consisting of cover versions of rock and roll songs. By the end of the decade, and with a solid couple of years gigging under their belts, the band renamed themselves Ambrose Slade, then shortened it to Slade. Interestingly, their 'look' in these early days was a world away from the now familiar long-haired, brightly coloured peacock style of their 1970s heyday - Noddy Holder had a skinhead haircut for a start, and the band looked more like a bunch of trendy football hooligans.
They signed to manager Chas Chandler, the former bass-player in the Animals who had also managed Jimi Hendrix, and soon the band's live performances were becoming as talked about as those of the American guitar legend. With their hair long again, not to mention some platform boots and novelty hats to ensure they were noticed on Top of the Pops, Slade were ready to lead the glam rock movement, alongside such contemporaries as Sweet, Wizzard and Suzi Quatro.
Their first chart success, 'Get Down and Get With it' in 1971, was to signal the beginning of a remarkable run of top twenty hits, and paved the way for some wackily misspelled titles such as 'Coz I Luv You', 'Take Me Bak'Ome' and 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now'. The bassist Jim Lea, also a trained violinist, joined Noddy Holder on song-writing duties, and between the two of them they couldn't stop making hits. And furthermore, they made bad spelling cool a good 35 years before text messaging was even thought about.
'Cum on Feel the Noize', their 1973 number 1 single, has come to be viewed as a genuine rock classic, being covered by US rockers Quiet Riot, and later Oasis. Indeed, the Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher reportedly once claimed that Slade were '...fundamentally more important to the development of music than Radiohead.' As well as their thumping live performances and huge commercial success, the band were always known for their sense of humour and sending themselves up - ah, so maybe that's what guitarist Dave Hill's comical 70s outfits were all about? And in his autobiography Noddy Holder claimed that the moment in seminal rockumentary 'This Is Spinal Tap', in which the band turn up to find they have second billing to a group of puppets, is based in part on something that actually happened to Slade. Their comedy connections don't end here - comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer lovingly portrayed the band as a foursome of mentalists, sharing a house together, as well as sharing obsessions with cup-a-soup and monster truck glue.
Although the band split when Noddy Holder left in late 1991 (having tired of the demands of touring) after their final top forty hit 'Radio Wall of Sound', and Jimmy Lea left to pursue other avenues, founder members Dave Hill and Don Powell continued touring and releasing records under the name Slade (having been Slade II for a while, until Noddy relented and let them used the name). Holder now co-presents a radio show on BBC Radio two with Mark Radcliffe, and has received an MBE for services to music. It is unsurprising also that he played a major part (ostensibly as himself!) in the late 1990s sitcom 'The Grimleys', set slap-bang in the 1970s, a decade which his and Slade's image so aptly evokes.
Related Links
Font size
Mail
My account
Help
Community
Print now
Send to a friend
Related articles
Related products
