Slade

Odds and sods about the British rock band Slade

Tuesday, November 22, 2005


CR photo Posted by Picasa

Classic Rock

My wish has come true. There's another 6 pages article/interview with Noddy in the December issue of Classic Rock and the interviewer Geoff Barton is loads better than the one from The Word.
Once again Nod is plugging the upcoming DVD and CDs "The Very Best Of Slade" and once again he stresses that there are no plans for a reunion. When asked: You've never been tempted to re-form the "classic" line-up?, he answers, "I think the others would have done. I'm the one that's probably put the spanner in the works. We get offers every year, very good offers, especially at Christmas time obviously. (…) I have no inclinations."
However, the interview gets all the way around. It mostly deals with Don's accident in 1973, Nod's career before and after Slade, Slade's early years, Flame, Ozzy Osbourne, producer Roy Thomas Baker who worked on the You Boyz Make Big Noize-album (1987) and also The Darkness. There are some nice pics as well.
There are a few inaccuracies in the article, mainly concerning Don's accident, but on the whole it's a great read. It even includes some "Where are they now?"-interviews with Dave, Jim and Don. Here Dave tells that the present Slade plans to release a new studio album in 2006 and Don admits that in the beginning with the present Slade he wasn't too crazy about having to play holiday camp circuits and similar venues. Most interesting is probably the interview with Jim, where he reveals that he has made a new solo album called "Therapy", but that the main obstacle for getting it out is, that he doesn't want to tour or do interviews. The guys talk about a lot of other stuff in the interviews as well.
Finally the Classic Rock December issue also includes a "Richie Edmunds talks Slade"-column where The Darkness bassist shares his thoughts on Slade. Among other things he says, "The original Slade were a real band of the people. Just honest, working-class rock music. (…) A lot of people owe a lot more to Slade than they would like to admit."
This article is really a must.

Saturday, November 19, 2005


One of The Word pics Posted by Picasa

The Word

The December issue of The Word features a 6 pages long interview with Noddy. The interview is quite good with several nice pics, but the interviewer Mark Ellen is a bit too star struck for my taste. I mean, it's okay that he's in awe about interviewing Noddy, but does he have to be it on the expense of the other guys from Slade?
You get a whiff of it already in his description of the original band on stage. Don is said to hunch over his kit "like one of the vultures from The Jungle Book." Jim is dismissed as the pretty-boy of the band and Dave is said to be "apparently only four foot high" and have an "ape-like grinning countenance" and a haircut done by "someone with a grudge against him".
From here on Jim is depicted as some sort of helpless kid whom the others had to take care of and his huge contribution to the band is hardly mentioned.
Dave and Don really get the knife, when Ellen claims that they "are still dragging themselves round Europe". In my opinion they don't exactly "drag" themselves. Actually their popularity in Europe is quite amazing considering that Nod and Jim are no longer in the band.
Nod ends the interview by dismissing any plans of a reunion: "I don't think there'll ever be a reunion. I don't miss it."
The interview as such is - despite all - rather good, but I wish that someone else had conducted it.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005


Newspaper photo, November 14, 1974 Posted by Picasa

1974 articles

I just received two 1974 articles on Slade. The first is a newspaper article from November 14, 1974, the same day as the first of four concerts that Slade gave in Denmark that year. The article includes an interview with Noddy. The headline is a quote: "It's much more difficult to be rich than to be poor," says Slade-singer Noddy Holder.
Noddy admits, that he worries about losing his money and that the band is contemplating to leave England because of the British taxes. He continues telling that he wanted to be a teacher, but that his own teachers were happy when he left school. He also says that the band is hoping for a new Christmas hit like MXE and he actually foresees that MXE will become a new "White Christmas" with new releases every year.
The article states that the guys are living in respectively London and Birmingham and that Nod is the only one still single. The photo (above) is from the Danish press conference at the Plaza Hotel, Copenhagen.
The other article is from a magazine a little later that year. It says that Slade's concerts have been sell-out successes all over the country, but that at their first concert in K.B. Hallen back in 1973 chairs for £ 5,000 were smashed. At their next concert in 1974 costs for chairs were around £ 300. Slade's Danish promoter says that because of that, promoters are afraid to book them and that this might be the end of big rock concerts in Denmark. As we all now know this was not the case. Neither was the gloomy prospect of the headline: "Has Slade been to Denmark for the last time?"
Thanks to Heine for the articles.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005


Don, 2003 (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Dave, 2003 (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa

2003 photos of Don and Dave

Søren Duer, the guy behind the Køge Civic Festival-photos featured on this blog, has sent me some newer photos of Don and Dave from a gig in Brøndby Hallen, Denmark on March 1, 2003. It's Søren with them on the photos below. Thanks a lot!


Don, Søren and Dave, 2003 Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, November 09, 2005


Don in the WBTHD-video Posted by Picasa

The DR archives

Yesterday I went with Don to the archives of the Danish National TV-station DR. His girlfriend had taken the day off to drive us, which was really nice of her, as it was a drive of several hundred kilometres. Mikael Helmuth of the Team Theatre also wanted to go with us, so we were quite a party.
The DR archives didn't have that much on Slade, though. Apart from the programme about the concert in K.B.-Hallen, Copenhagen, 1974, which I have reviewed in the October 2005 archive of this blog, they only had 3 videos. One was the promo video for My Friend Stan, one was a Top Of The Pops take of Merry Xmas Everybody from 1973 with Don wearing Noddy's mirror hat to cover the scar on his head after his accident and one was a 1981 video of We'll Bring The House Down. None of us had seen that last video before and it was really interesting. It was made before and during Slade's gig at the Gaumont and although it was playback it was good. There were many close-ups of the guys on stage, but also wide shorts with the guys on stage and fans in front of it. The funny thing is that on the close-ups the guys were lined up the usual way with Jim on the left and Dave on the right side of the stage when watching from the audience, but during the wide shorts mirrored images were used. Also the lip sync work of Noddy and especially Jim was rather bad, but the guys seemed to have a great time, Jim and Don laughing and Noddy freaking out at the end.

Friday, November 04, 2005


Slade at the Lochem Festival, 1981 (c) André Verhage Posted by Picasa


Lochem (c) André Verhage Posted by Picasa

Links and photos

On www.poprocknews.com Monika Kahle has put up a report and lots of photos of the new Slade's concert in Salzwedel, Germany on October 22. On the poprocknews gallery you'll also find photos made by Dutch André Verhage of the original Slade's gig at the Lochem Festival in Holland, May 25, 1981. André kindly let me put some of the photos on here as well as on my Jim Lea-blog. Thanks to both André and Monika.

Thursday, November 03, 2005


Slade on stage, July 23, 1978, Denmark (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Don, laughing (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Play it loud (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Having fun (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Jim and Dave (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Noddy (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Nod and Dave (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Jim again (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


The sound seems okay (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Don, stripped to the waist (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa


Nod and a laughing Dave (c) Søren Duer Posted by Picasa

More 1978 photos

Danish Slade-fan Søren Duer sent me some more photos from the 1978 Slade-koncert at the Køge Civic Festival on July 23rd. I've put the best ones on the blog. Enjoy. And a big thank you to Søren for letting me use the photos.