Slade

Slade was a British rock band. The group formed in the late 1960s, initially as the R&B act The N'Betweens, and later as the folk-rock act Ambrose Slade, but found great success in the early 1970s, releasing a series of popular singles in a glam rock style. The band remain one of the most recognisable acts of the glam rock movement, and were, at their peak, commercially the most popular band in the UK. Slade's success faded by the mid-1970s, although the group continued to release singles. They enjoyed a comeback in the early 1980s, even managing to enter the charts in the United States, and returned to the UK singles chart in 1991 with a song entitled "Radio Wall of Sound". Slade split up in 1992, although two of the group's original members formed Slade II in 1996.

Career

The group originally formed in 1966 from the component members of two Midlands bands The Vendors and Steve Brett & The Mavericks and was called the N'Betweens, but initially had little success. In the late 1960s the band changed its name to Ambrose Slade and hooked up with manager Chas Chandler, former bass player of The Animals and manager of Jimi Hendrix until a short time before Hendrix died. Their name was abbreviated to just Slade, and the band adopted a "skinhead" look, as an attempt to gain some publicity from what was a newsworthy minority fashion trend of the time.

Related Topics:
1966 - 1960s - Chas Chandler - The Animals - Jimi Hendrix - Skinhead

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They later abandoned this idea, due to the unwelcome association with football hooliganism and trouble that accompanied the fashion. They grew their hair long again, and became a part of the Glam Rock movement, releasing songs with deliberately Black Country mis-spelled titles which made them stand out.

Related Topics:
Glam Rock - Black Country

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This change of direction paid off, and from 1971 the band scored an impressive number of huge-selling hits.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1974 Slade made the acclaimed rock movie Flame. Film critic Mark Kermode believed it to be the best rock biopic of all time. The soundtrack album, which was released to tie in with the film, included the top 5 hit "Far far away" and the top 20 hit "How does it feel".

Related Topics:
1974 - Flame - Mark Kermode

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the advent of punk in the late 1970s, Slade's music became unfashionable and was not considered worthy of radio plays and so their hits largely dried up. They struggled on playing live shows to respectable-sized crowds in clubs and Universities, while waiting for their turn to come again. In August 1980, Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard Of Oz cancelled a show at Reading and Slade (who had in truth all but disbanded) replaced them. They were the hit of the festival and a new run of chart success followed, though not on the dizzy scale of their 70's heights.

Related Topics:
Punk - Ozzy Osbourne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Holder and Lea assumed some production and songwriting duties for other acts, as a result of their resurgence. A fair number of acts have covered their material over the years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They had another two UK top 10 hits in 1984 with the singles "Run Runaway" (#7, which would be their second top 40 hit in the USA (#20) and their first since "Gudbuy T'Jane", which barely made the top 40 in 1972) and "My Oh My" (#2 UK, #36 US). Despite being 'adopted' by fans of a harder rock genre, the band split up officially in 1991 when Noddy Holder left after 25 years in the band.

Related Topics:
1984 - 1991

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Slade's attempts at cracking the American market were largely unsuccessful, although they obviously left their mark on a large number of US bands who cite Slade as an influence. A cover of the single "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Metal group Quiet Riot was a smash Top 5 hit in America in 1983. Slade's sound and image influenced a number of American rock groups in the 1970s, particularly KISS, whose bassist Gene Simmons readily admitted that their whole early songwriting ethos as regards singles was loaned from Slade's good-time approach.

Related Topics:
Quiet Riot - 1983 - 1970s - KISS

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Slade are perhaps best remembered by their fans for their critically acclaimed live shows, as much as the long string of hits that they had in the 1970's, 80's and early 90's.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Holder went on to become a part time actor, most notably in the nostalgic late 90s TV period comedy The Grimleys, set in the early 70s, where he played music teacher Mr. Holder. In one amusing scene he played a Slade song on the guitar, and wistfully wished he had become famous in music... The real Mr Holder was, of course, honoured by his country with an MBE in the Honours List for his services to music. He is also an in-demand broadcaster. He has also appeared on a number of television programmes as a guest and featured in a fair selection of advertisements.

Related Topics:
Actor - The Grimleys - Broadcaster

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jim Lea studied psychotherapy, invested in properties, released a number of singles under varying pseudonyms (Greenfields Of Tong, The Dummies, The Clout, Whild, Gang of Angels) and has recently recorded a number of new tracks on his own, many of which remain unreleased.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hill and Powell have continued in successive new versions of Slade, which have released a number of albums and singles, mainly in Europe, rather than the UK. Between 1992 and 1997 the band called themselves Slade II, but since then, they have reverted back to simply calling themselves Slade.

Related Topics:
1992 - 1997

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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 sketches in one of their TV shows in the late 1990s.

Related Topics:
Vic Reeves - Bob Mortimer - 1990s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~