Slade

Odds and sods about the British rock band Slade

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Footage from Copenhagen 1974

Last month I mentioned some rare footage that I have on Slade in Copenhagen 1974. I've now checked it out with the TV-station that aired the footage back then. It turns out to be part of an 11½ minute long item in a youth programme from November 23rd 1974 about Slade's concert in "K.B.-Hallen", Copenhagen.
I just received a copy of it from the TV-station and to my surprise it was in colour. The clips that I had seen so far from this footage have always been aired in b/w so it was a nice surprise. There is not much on Slade, though, but it is quite a good piece on rock concerts back then.
The first 2 minutes you see Slade's road crew built the stage, set up the lights etc. You can easily spot Swin, Charlie Newham, Johnny Jones and Haden Donovan among others. The commentator tells that the film crew wasn't allowed to film Slade doing sound check. And with almost horror the commentator reveals that Slade kicked in a locked door at the venue instead of waiting for someone to find the key.
The following 1½ minute is interviews with young fans waiting to get in. They talk about the ticket prize being 48 Danish kroner (£ 4) and that they are probably going to wreck the chairs at the venue. You also see some British blokes selling Slade scarves outside the venue.
The next 30 seconds are showing Don and Jim backstage having a go at the buffet consisting of smoked salmon, cold meat, chicken, fruits and a wide range of whisky, gin, champagne and other such beverages.
A police officer outside the venue is then interviewed for about a minute, vending his frustration about not being allowed to get rough with the kids who try to sneak in without a ticket. Then it is back to Slade again for another 30 seconds.
Now they have changed into stage clothes and they are all backstage. Dave and Jim are tuning their guitars and you can hear Dave say, "I think it sounds well." "Not to me, it doesn't," is Jim's answer. Dave is then stomping around in his $-boots yelling, "Are you in, Noddy?" whereupon Noddy roars, "We are going to rock and roll in Copenhagen tonight!" "Rock and roll in Copenhagen tonight," Dave repeats while Jim is playing an acoustic ditty on his bass guitar. Don is staying behind, drinking from his huge magnum whisky bottle.
Slade's Danish promoter Erik Thomsen is interviewed for 2 minutes, telling that the band costs approximately 45,000 Danish kroner (£ 3,750) per concert and that they walk away with a profit of 30,000 Danish kroner (£ 2,500). During the interview there are more footage of the guys backstage, Dave tuning his Superyob guitar, Jim getting his scarf tied, Nod eating and Don still drinking. Dave leaves the room, returns, then Jim leaves.
During the next 60 seconds you see Slade coming down the stairs from their dressing rooms and wait to get on stage. Some of the guys from the road crew are cracking jokes, making Jim laugh and Don look rather confused. The noise from the fans in the concert hall is massive and Slade enter the stage.
The last two minutes of the programme is without original sound. Instead you hear "Hear Me Calling" from the Slade Alive! album. On the visual side you mostly see young fans going berserk, but also a short clip of Slade on stage, where Jim has already stripped off his jacket and gets behind Noddy, so that Nod, Jim and Don are lined up behind each other. Dave is doing his own thing on his side of the stage, although both Jim and Nod are shouting something at him. Jim then walks back to his own stage side. And that's it. That's all there is.
The TV-station no longer has the original tapes with the full concert etc. They also don't have the copyright to anything else with the original Slade. Both this station and the other major Danish station TV2 that came into business in the 1980's have material on Slade II, but nothing on the old Slade.
The programme here mentioned can be ordered from arkivsalg@dr.dk and prizes run between 1,000 and 4,000 Danish kroner (£ 85 and £ 335) for those 11½ minutes depending on what it is going to be used for, if you were present during the concert yourself and other such things.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home