Slade

So close...

2012-02-14T10:32:00.002+01:00

I visited Don yesterday and we got the last few things in place regarding his biography. I have to make a few changes, then I guess the book is ready for the proof reader. Yay!

Slade on German TV

2011-07-04T14:16:00.004+02:00

Slade were on the German TV show "Fernsehgarten" on ZDF yesterday. They performed "My Oh My" and "Far Far Away" as can be seen here:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1376470/My-Oh-My#/beitrag/video/1376470/My-Oh-My
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1376470/My-Oh-My#/beitrag/video/1376478/Far-Far-Away
Thanks to Jürgen and Wilf for the info.

Don Powell biography blog

2011-05-04T00:30:00.000+02:00

You're now able to follow the progress of Don Powell's biography here: http://www.donpowellbio.blogspot.com

New Q&A

2011-05-04T00:26:00.003+02:00

There's a new fan forum Q&A up on my Don Powell interview blog.

2011 index

2011-01-01T14:28:00.001+01:00

May:
New Q & A, May 4
Don Powell biography blog, May 4

July:
Slade on German TV, July 4

Don and John

2010-11-25T08:07:00.002+01:00

Don Powell is performing at the John Lennon Memorial concert in "Train", Aarhus, Denmark on December 8th. Check it out: http://www.train.dk

Don Powell on stage

2010-10-16T17:25:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow Don Powell is on stage with musicians from the Danish theatre Team Teatret in a charity event called “Kunsten Stiger” at MCH (Messecenter Herning Kongrescenter) in the Danish town of Herning. The event that includes performances from Danish actors, dancers and musicians is in aid of the Parkinson Society. Don & Co. are going to perform modern jazz versions of “How Does It Feel?” and “Far Far Away” complete with cello, trumpet and a female singer. The Danish TV station DR2 is going to tape the event, but as of yet I don’t know when it will be aired. Tickets are available through www.billetnet.dk

Don and I going through the finished bio manuscript last month

2010-09-10T23:51:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday, Don

2010-09-10T23:48:00.001+02:00

It's Don Powell's birthday today, so...happy birthday, Don! How come I've been humming The Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" all day? Speak soon! :-)

The Guv'nors album featuring Don

2010-02-16T14:22:00.000+01:00

Don and The Guv'nors, 2007

2010-02-16T14:21:00.000+01:00

Don, Mash and Jonah in the studio

2010-02-16T14:20:00.000+01:00

The Guv’nors: “The Pint of No Return”

2010-02-16T14:09:00.002+01:00

In 2006 I was approached by Danish rock band The Guv’nors. They had a vision of Don playing drums on their next album and could I arrange for Don to play with them? Of course I could and on January 7, 2007 we went to Smart’n’Hard studios in Aarhus, Denmark, where Don recorded a few tracks with the band. Now The Guv’nors have finished the album with the title “The Pint fo No Return.”

“The Pint of No Return” is a co-production between Trueforce Records, Longshot Records and Contra Records and it comes as a vinyl LP (mine is yellow!) with an additional CD. On the LP you’ll find 12 tracks, whereas the CD boasts 15 tracks.

All songs on the album are self-penned except for the 2 cover-songs: ”Striptease” by Lendager/Dehnhardt – a major hit by the Danish seventies glam-band Walkers – and Slade’s ”Raining In My Champagne” featuring Don on drums. You’ll find ”Raining In My Champagne” on the vinyl LP only, whereas the CD offers you 4 tracks that are not included on the LP, namely ”Sorry We’re From Denmark”, ”Ich Tanze Nur Für Sekt” and 2 bonus tracks in Danish: ”Rockband” and ”40, Fed og Færdig”

The Guv’nors consists of Sonnyboi (vocal), Smidt (guitar), Mash (guitar), Rune P (bass) and Jonah (drums) and together they produce a sound that is best described as working class rock’n’roll. This is hard rock with traces of AC/DC. You’ll detect some Angus Young riffs and pretty neat guitar solos and the efficient rhythm section combined with the raucous front vocal makes the music perfect for head-banging!

The album is raw and energetic. “Skiing in Hamburg” sports great guitar-work and “Sorry We’re From Denmark”/”The Pint of No Return” is damn good rock’n’roll. I found it difficult to sit still to “Ain’t Nobody In” and of course it was great to hear Don on drums on “Raining In My Champagne”.

Very fittingly for a rock album Soren Sonne Hald’s lyrics are mostly about sex’n’drugs’n’rock’n’roll (and football!), but you’ll also find lyrics about losing your youth and trying to cope with being a young, rocking soul trapped in the body of a middle-aged man. Quite becoming, I think.

The album is available in Europe at: http://www.contra-net.com and in the USA at http://www.longshotmusic.com . More info, go to: The Guv'nors.

P.S. I’m pleased to see that 2 of the photos that I shot of Don and the Guv’nors at the studio in 2007 have ended up on the inner sleeve of the album. Thanks for the mention, guys. I had so much fun that day!

Party Hits album

2010-02-06T16:49:00.000+01:00

Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody Party Hits album

2010-02-06T16:44:00.000+01:00

In November 2009 Slade’s ”Merry Xmas Everybody Party Hits” album was released through Universal. Now – almost 3 months later - I finally got my review copy. People have said, ”You can’t review a Christmas album in February!”, but of course I can! As it says in the liner-notes of the album: ”Slade is not just for Christmas”, so why not?

The album consists of 20 tracks whereof 4 are ”festive” songs. Apart from Slade’s Christmas-hit “Merry Xmas Everybody”, you’ll also find Coots/Gillespies ”Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, and Slade’s own ”Here’s To,,,” as well other party-tunes such as ”Let’s Have A Party” (Baxter/Friend/Haynes) and ”Okey Cokey” (Kennedy).

On the album you’ll also find some of Slade’s greatest self-penned hits: “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”, “’Coz I Luv You”, “Gudbuy T’Jane”, “Cum On Feel The Noize” and “Skweeze Me Pleeze Me”, but also songs less known. Of cover songs you’ll find “Let The Good Times Roll/Feel So Fine” (Lee), “My Baby Left Me/That’s Alright” (Crudup), “Let’s Dance” (Lee) and “I’m A Rocker” (Berry) as well as self-penned ones such as “We’re Really Gonna Raise The Roof”, “Hey Ho Wish You Well”, “Do You Believe In Miracles” and “All Join Hands”. My two favourite songs on the album (both self-penned Holder/Lea tracks) are “My Oh My (Swing Version)” from 1985 and “Standin’ On The Corner” from 1974. Those two songs show the versatility of the band.

If some of you are thinking that ”Merry Xmas Everybody Party Hits” sounds a bit like Slade’s 1985 album “Crackers”, you are not entirely wrong. The new album has a few more songs and some of the “Crackers” songs have been replaced by others, but all in all the new album has the same party-feel to it like the old one. And if nothing else, it proves that Slade is not just for Christmas – although this album is gonna come in handy at any Christmas party!

2010 index

2010-02-06T10:54:00.003+01:00

February:
February 6: Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody Party Hits album
February 16: The Guv'nors: "The Pint of No Return"

September:
September 10: Happy birthday, Don

October:
October 16: Don Powell on stage

November:
November 25: Don and John

Don backstage before the concert

2009-12-17T08:37:00.000+01:00

John in tartan

2009-12-17T08:36:00.000+01:00

Dave in red

2009-12-17T08:35:00.000+01:00

Mal in red

2009-12-17T08:34:00.001+01:00

Slade on stage

2009-12-17T08:34:00.000+01:00

Look at those faces!

2009-12-17T08:32:00.001+01:00

Mal and Don

2009-12-17T08:32:00.000+01:00

Heartfelt

2009-12-17T08:31:00.000+01:00

Dave playing two guitars

2009-12-17T08:30:00.000+01:00

Sticks in the air!

2009-12-17T08:29:00.000+01:00

Dave and Don

2009-12-17T08:28:00.000+01:00

Applause

2009-12-17T08:20:00.000+01:00

Don is back for the encores

2009-12-17T08:18:00.000+01:00

Don and Chris Savage

2009-12-17T08:17:00.000+01:00

"Mad" bass player John Berry

2009-12-17T08:15:00.000+01:00

Don w. Christmas hat during MXE

2009-12-17T08:13:00.000+01:00

A sulking Mal with festive Heidi plaits

2009-12-17T08:11:00.000+01:00

John in his Christmas gear

2009-12-17T08:09:00.000+01:00

Dave's Christmas hat

2009-12-17T08:07:00.000+01:00

Even Chris Savage had to wear a Christmas hat!

2009-12-17T08:06:00.000+01:00

Thank you, Bilston!

2009-12-17T08:03:00.000+01:00

Noddy on Sky tv

2009-12-17T08:02:00.000+01:00

Slade in Bilston 2009

2009-12-17T07:59:00.000+01:00

On December 10th I went to the Midlands to spend 5 days with first Slade, then my boyfriend. Sadly he had to work on the 10th, but I was in good company anyway.
At noon I reached the hotel in Wolverhampton and within half an hour there was a knock on the door: Don. It was great seeing him again and we went for tea at the hotel restaurant before taking a taxi to the Robin 2 in Bilston for the sound check. Spent a pleasant afternoon there listening to Slade and Mud with Slade-fan Perry (at least that’s what I think his name was!). Pretty interesting as Chris Savage from Mud has started playing keyboards on some of Slade’s songs and John was on vocal on some as well. I especially liked How Does It Feel? although Slade didn’t play it at the concert that night.
After sound check I drove back to the hotel with Don, Mal and John and at 6.30 p.m. Don and I went back to the Robin 2. We had a couple of sandwiches backstage and when the doors opened I went out front to see some fellow Slade-fans. Hi Dee, Lee, Keith, JC, Claire and Gaz! Nice seeing you all again! Don and Dave’s friends Carole and Vicky were there as well as Dave’s son Sam and as always it was a pleasure to have a chat with them.
At 10 p.m. Slade went on stage and the set list looked like this:

We’ll Bring The House Down
Take Me Bak ’Ome
Lock Up Your Daughters
Far Far Away
Everyday
Let’s Have A Party
’Coz I Luv You
Run Runaway
Gudbuy T’Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Get Down And Get With It
and for the encores:
My Oh My
Cum On Feel The Noize
Merry Xmas Everybody

When Slade entered the stage they were all (more or less) dressed in red except for Don who wore his usual outfit. John was in tartan trousers and Mal actually looked a bit like Noddy with his cap and long hair. John was on vocal on Everyday and Let’s Have a Party and Chris Savage was on keyboards on both song as well as all of the encores.
Dave was in a particularly great mood, jumping and running all over stage, saying that it was always something special to play in Bilston where he and Don had first met and formed the group that would eventually become Slade.
Don too seemed to have a blast, grinning and joking behind the drums and “Mad” bass player John Berry (haha – great typo for those of you who know what I’m talking about) almost keeled over when standing on one leg during Get Down And Get With It.
The concert lasted an hour including the usual banter and jokes from stage and the audience responded well, singing and cheering. I’d say there were about 300 of us that night.
As usual Don lifted up his T-shirt before the encores, showing us a bit of skin, then the band came on stage wearing their Christmas gear. Even Chris Savage had to wear a Christmas hat! Tim of the crew raced Mal around stage as Mal tried to dodge out of wearing a Christmas hat. Finally Tim caught him and seconds later you could see a sulking Mal because he had to wear the Christmas hat with the Heidi plaits this year!
The venue was boiling hot during the encores, both band and audience having a ball. And a bit of a laugh when Don pushed Dave aside on stage for a well-deserved applause afterwards.
After the concert we chatted a bit with friends backstage, before I went back to the hotel with Don, Chris Savage and Tim and Robin of the crew. It had become really foggy outside so it was a bit of a scary ride, but we made it alright. Thanks for a great night out, guys. Hope to see you in concert in 2010! Xx
P.S. A few days later in Birmingham I turned on the telly and who was looking back at me? Noddy! Merry Xmas Everybody!

From Rocks

2009-11-18T15:23:00.000+01:00

Noddy in Rocks

2009-11-18T15:10:00.001+01:00

In the German magazine Rocks (06/2009) there’s a two page interview with Noddy. The usual stuff about Slade’s rise to fame and then a bit about the double CD ”Live at the BBC”. Thank you, Jürgen, for sending me the magazine.

2009-10-01T12:09:00.000+02:00

Slade – Live At The BBC

2009-10-01T12:03:00.001+02:00

Finally it’s here, the 2 CD album from Salvo, “Live At The BBC”. It’s good finally to have the BBC recordings on CD and as always with Union Square Slade-productions the tracks are superbly remastered by Tim Turan.
“I was amazed that the BBC still had these tapes,” Don told me when he presented me with the album a couple of days ago, “We had a lot of fun recording there and we did that really quickly. We used to have three hours to record five songs and there never was any trouble with us.”

CD 1 of “Live At The BBC” consists of twenty BBC Radio 1 recordings (1969-1972) as well as a few Radio 1 jingles recorded in 1973 and 1974. The CD includes both cover songs and self-penned material.
Although half of the tracks were recorded prior to Slade’s heydays, what you’ll hear is a highly professional and very potent band, ably to excite the pants off their listeners. From the energetic opening track “Coming Home” to the rocking “Wild Winds Are Blowing” the CD is a pure delight.
Of the cover songs my personal favourites are Slade’s jazzy stab at Fairport Convention’s “It’s Alright Ma, It’s Only Witchcraft”, their dynamic version of Moby Grape’s “Omaha” and – of course one is tempted to say - Janis Joplin’s “Move Over”. That has always been one amazing song, perfect for Nod’s voice and Slade’s rhythm section.
The one that Don talked about the most was, however, Traffic’s “Coloured Rain”. “I don’t even remember learning it or playing that song,” he told me before continuing, “As I said to Jim a couple of weeks ago, it means nothing to me! It’s so strange!”
Of self-penned songs I have to mention Noddy’s “My Life Is Natural”, Nod/Jim’s “Gudbuy Gudbuy” and Jim/Don’s “Raven”. Nice to see Don and Jim getting a decent mention as the early song-writing team in the included booklet, by the way!
DJ Brian Matthew’s introductions highlight the listening experience of CD 1 and give it an “authentic” feel. The four jingles included are enjoyable as well; odes to Radio 1 over Slade backing tracks of “My Friend Stan” and “Everyday”. Is it just me, or does Slade on “We’re Slade” sound exactly like The Young Ones? (or rather TYO sounding like Slade!!)

CD 2 is the Radio One Live in Concert broadcast recorded at BBC’s Paris Theatre in London on August 17, 1972. The concert shows why Slade was always rated one of the world’s best live bands. The raw energy is mesmerising and the banter fun and colourful. MC Mike Harding chips in as well, talking to Nod between songs.
Personal highlights: Noddy talking to the audience, Jim’s cheeky violin on “Lady Be Good” and Don’s drums on “Good Golly Miss Molly”.

The included booklet features insight interviews with the band members and liner notes written by MOJO’s Mark Paytress.

Birthday "boy" Don Powell

2009-09-10T08:26:00.000+02:00

Happy birthday

2009-09-10T08:24:00.001+02:00

Happy birthday to Don who turns 63 today. Have a good one, Don!

Don and Rocky enjoying each other's company

2009-06-29T13:21:00.000+02:00

Don Powell bio update

2009-06-29T13:16:00.001+02:00

More people interviewed for Don's bio:
Haden Donovan
Dave Donovan
2 of Don's 3 step-children (the third one will be on later)

Don and his sweets

2009-05-27T14:07:00.001+02:00

Spot the rainbow!

2009-05-27T14:07:00.000+02:00

Backstage

2009-05-27T14:06:00.000+02:00

Ray Sawyer and me

2009-05-27T14:05:00.000+02:00

Tim introducing Slade

2009-05-27T14:04:00.000+02:00

Slade on stage

2009-05-27T14:03:00.000+02:00

Tim on stage

2009-05-27T14:01:00.000+02:00

Violin

2009-05-27T14:00:00.000+02:00

I wonder if they shave their armpits??

2009-05-27T13:59:00.000+02:00

Mal, Dave and John

2009-05-27T13:58:00.000+02:00

Well, if it isn't John!

2009-05-27T13:57:00.000+02:00

Sticks in the air

2009-05-27T13:56:00.000+02:00

Hands in the air, too

2009-05-27T13:55:00.000+02:00

BOOTS!!

2009-05-27T13:54:00.000+02:00

Bye, all!

2009-05-27T13:53:00.000+02:00

Slade in Korsoer, Denmark

2009-05-27T13:48:00.001+02:00

On the 21st of May Slade played a festival in Danish town Korsør with an audience of 10,000. Among the other artists on the bill were Sweet, Rubettes and Dr. Hook, but Slade was to close the festival at 11 p.m. Because they were on so late, my daugter Tea and I decided not to spend the whole day there, so we didn’t take the train from Odense until five o’clock.
It’s only half an hours drive between Odense and Korsoer, but what we didn’t know was that it took 45 minutes to walk from the train station to the festival grounds! So it was past six before we arrived.
We quickly spotted Hanne and some other friends (and Rocky, the dog, of course!), so we went over to say hello. Don was somewhere out front talking to some fans, so it took a while before he came backstage. When finally he showed up someone had fetched him a big bowl of sweets so the next couple of hours we spent in a tent backstage eating sweets and drinking tea, while Tea did a cart wheel competition with some of the local crew outside. It was so funny!
We’d been told that it would rain all day, but we were lucky, no rain, but a beautiful rainbow instead!
The rest of the band turned up around nine and I had a nice chat with Dave. Then when Dr. Hook went on I got on the side of the stage to watch them. I’d never seen them live before, but they were amazing! And Ray Sawyer was ever so funny. Afterwards when he came off stage he went directly over to Tea and me to say hello. What a nice man! I even had my photo taken with him.
Finally it was time for Slade to set up on stage and what happened? The rain started to pour down. Tim, Robin, Don and the rest ran around moving things so that the equipment wouldn’t get wet. But then 15 minutes later the rain was gone and Slade were ready to go on at 11.15 p.m.
The set list was as follows:
We’ll Bring The House Down
Take Me Bak ‘Ome
Lock Up Your Daughters
Far Far Away
Everyday
Red Hot
‘Coz I Luv You
Run Runaway
My Oh My
Gudbuy T’Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Get Down And Get With It
And for the encore:
Cum On Feel The Noize
Yes, you’re right. There was no Merry Xmas Everybody. Things were running late, so they had to leave it out.
Great concert anyway although there were a few problems, so Tim had to go on stage. Once to fasten John’s guitar strap and once to help out with Dave’s guitar. Slade did their usual funny routines on stage, dancing around, pulling funny faces and having a bit of a banter between them. Mal thanked the crowd for waiting so long to see them. His bass was REALLY good on CILY, by the way! The audience went nuts when Dave brought out his Super Yob guitar and all in all it was a very good crowd that night. John was actually drying his eyes in mock-despair when they were to leave the stage, but as usual it was Don who really had the audience laughing.
When he went on stage again for the encore, he tripped, then quickly made up for it by pulling down his trousers (the elastic in his trousers had burst before he went on stage) – just enough for the audience to see his left butt cheek. Then he pranced around on the way to his drums. People were roaring with laughter!
As soon as Slade had finished, the local crew started to take down the stage and drive the audience off the grounds. That way we only spent half an hour in Slade’s trailer afterwards and when we left we were the only ones around.
We then walked all the way to the station (and got a little lost on the way), but at the station we met hard-core fans Per and Kirsten and we took the train back with them and their friends. We were back home around 2 a.m., so it was straight to bed! Thanks for a nice night out, all! See you again in August.

Don in front of his new house in Denmark, March 2009

2009-03-24T23:09:00.000+01:00

Don biography update

2009-03-24T22:52:00.000+01:00

Whoa! It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog! Sorry for that, but things have been quite complicated here with health, life, the universe and everything. But anyway….
A lot of people ask what is happening to Don’s biography and the answer is: it’s well on its way! It’s taken a lot longer to do than first expected as it has been very hard to get the different interviews within the original time-frame. But now things should ease up a bit. While you’re waiting here’s a list of the people who have contributed to Don’s bio so far:
- Don’s sister Carol
- Johnny Howells and Mick Marson (former ’N Betweens members)
- Carole Williams (The ’N Betweens very first fan club secretary)
- Vicky Pearson (her cousin who also acted as The ’N Betweens’ hair dresser)
- Tim Ramage and Robin Lavender (present Slade crew)
And then some guys (and gal) who shouldn’t need any further introduction:
- Keith Altham
- Andrew Birkin
- Craig Fenney
- Dave Hill
- Jim Lea
- Jona Lewis
- Suzi Quatro
- Francis Rossi
- Andy Scott
- Graham “Swinn” Swinnerton
- Len Tuckey
- Henry Weck
- Bob Young
The book WILL be finished this year, but for now I don’t know exactly WHEN it will be published. I’ll keep you posted! Until then I’ll try to keep in touch when my health, life, the universe and everything allow it!

2009 index

2009-03-23T22:54:00.007+01:00

March:
March 24: Don biography update

May:
May 27: Slade in Korsoer, Denmark

June:
June 29: Don Powell bio update

September:
September 10: Happy birthday

October:
October 1: Slade – Live At The BBC

November:
November 18: Noddy in Rocks

December:
December 17: Slade in Bilston, 2009

(Mal), Don and Dave pointing at Mick/Mick and Chris pointing at each other (you can just see Chris' finger!)

2008-12-18T13:18:00.001+01:00

Mal...was his voice going to hold up?

2008-12-18T13:17:00.000+01:00

John and Mal at The Robin

2008-12-18T13:16:00.000+01:00

Dave on stage

2008-12-18T13:15:00.000+01:00

CILY: John, Dave and Mal

2008-12-18T13:14:00.000+01:00

Don was there, too

2008-12-18T13:13:00.000+01:00

Long John (Silver?)

2008-12-18T13:12:00.000+01:00

Tim watching from the side

2008-12-18T13:11:00.000+01:00

MXE - Don

2008-12-18T13:10:00.000+01:00

Mal with plait

2008-12-18T13:09:00.000+01:00

The canine crooner KOR

2008-12-18T13:07:00.000+01:00

Slade in Bilston, December 10th

2008-12-18T12:59:00.000+01:00

As always I was in Birmingham earlier this month and as it is only a short way away from Wolverhampton and thereby also Bilston I went to see Slade in concert at the Robin 2 on December 10th.
At 4.30 I met up with Don at the venue where he was doing the sound-check with sound engineer Robin and Tim - ”the guy who does the guitars and all the yelling” – as he put it!
Don came down to say hi and ask about how things went in Birmingham (don’t ask!). Shortly after somebody sneaked up on me from behind and gave me a scare and a hug; Dave Hill had entered the building. John and Mal came in a little later and like everybody else (except Don) they both had a massive cold. I think Robin, Tim and Mal were the most affected, Tim and Mal with their voices almost gone. Robin told me that they’d caught it from T. Rextacy who’d had to cancel their concert the day before.
The guys did their sound check, then we all went back to their hotel in Wolverhampton, Don and Tim in the front, Mal and Robin in the middle and John and me in the back with John’s curry! Fun ride with Don pointing out all the old Slade-related sights to the rest of the band – I knew them in advance!
Don and I had dinner together in the hotel restaurant while the rest of the guys attended to their colds. It was nice catching up with Don as we hadn’t seen each other for three weeks. We talked a lot about the guys I have been interviewing lately for Don’s biography, among others Francis Rossi from Status Quo and Andy Scott from Sweet. We also talked about the very nice Sutton Coldfield-area of Birmingham where I had just spent the past couple of days, Don saying that Slade’s old tour manager Swinn once had a house there.
When Tim and Robin came down to eat, Don went to his room to wash up and I hung out with the guys until it was time to leave for the Robin 2 at 8.30 p.m. At the venue we met up with Mick Marson, the former ‘N Betweens guitarist, as well as Carole Williams, the guys’ first fan club secretary, and her cousin Vicky Pearson. It was so nice to see them all again. Then Don and I went into the audience to look for Don’s nephew, but it took a while before Don found him and instead we bumped into my friend Chris whom I had arranged to meet at the venue. He went backstage with us, as he knows Mick and the rest as well.
When the guys started to change into their stage clothes, Chris and I went down the venue again and I ran into Dave’s son Sam at the bar. Nice haircut, Sam! Then people started to march by and I met up with Lee, Keith, Mark, John (JC), Doug, Fran, Claire, Gaz and the rest, very nice seeing you all again!!
Slade were on at 10.05 p.m., nobody knew what that 05 was all about, the band finding it positively weird. But despite colds, runs and no voices the guys delivered a fantastic show! The set list was (we know it by heart now, don’t we:)
We’ll Bring The House Down
Take Me Bak ‘Ome
Far Far Away
Everyday
Red Hot
‘Coz I Luv You
Run Runaway
My Oh My
Goodbye T’Jane
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Get Down And Get With It
and for the encores:
Cum On Feel The Noize
Merry Xmas Everybody
It’s always a bit special seeing Slade in Bilston, as it is their home grounds, the audience very loud, very drunk and in a total party-mood. It’s really a lot of fun and the guys seemed to have fun on stage as well despite their health-problems! The songs needed no introduction, so when introducing a song like Far Far Away, Mal would go, “I say, you know what to do next!” As usual the guys took the mickey out of each other on stage, Mal looking in disbelieve at Dave during his solos, Don yelling his usual lines behind the drums, John making fun of Dave’s height etc. etc. It was a really great show. In the midst of it all I met my good friend Dee who gave me canine crooner, a toy dog singing Merry Xmas Everybody with Noddy’s voice and a quivering lower jaw like Whitney Houston!
After the show I talked a bit with Marc Michalski, the bass player of Mud II (I usually do when in Bilston), then Dee went backstage with me to say hello to the guys. At that point I was actually a bit worried that I had caught the flu from the guys and Mal jokingly called it “The Slade Fever” and started to imagine me bringing it to Denmark! In the end I turned out to be fine. The guys had a good laugh about the canine crooner, by the way!
After midnight I went back to the hotel with the guys for a night cap, but I had to leave pretty soon, as I was to make my way back to Birmingham – and the airport – at 7 a.m. the next morning!
Anyway, as usual it had been a brilliant night out in Bilston and I hope to see you all again next year. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all!!!

Far Far Away on RTL

2008-11-22T18:07:00.000+01:00

The weather forecast for Tokyo...

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...or McDonald's?

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Slade on German Television

2008-11-22T18:04:00.000+01:00

On Friday the 21st of November Slade appeared on German RTL in the programme ”Die ultimative Chartshow”. The show was about comebacks and the guys landed on place 16 in a chart of biggest comebacks in Germany with Far Far Away that went into the German Top Ten in 1993
Slade performed Far Far Away on the show, followed by an interview with Don and Dave about touring, combacks, Reading and Don’s spandex trousers.
The funniest part of the interview was when the guys put on those “ear” microphones enabling them to get the English translation of what the moderator was saying in German. The moderator, German Oliver Geissen, asked if they could hear him to which Don replied, “I get the weather forecast for Tokyo!”
I think he got the biggest applause of the evening for that remark. When the applause had died down the moderator turned out to be as quick-witted as Don, going, “Newly we had, Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?”, which made Don laugh out loud. Nice one.

Hanne with Mal, Don and John

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Dave with manager Abbie Carter

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Rocky the miracle dog

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Tim and Don doing sound check

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Let me hear ya, Koege!

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Back to back to back

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CILY

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Fluttering their wings....

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Get in line

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Psychedelic!

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Superyobs on stage

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Drum sticks in the air

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Karate Kid John

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Don in a sweaty situation

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The MC and Don

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How low can you go?

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Tim on stage right

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Loads of Xmas hats

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