There are Pop bands, there are Rock bands and then there are musical institutions. All three of these descriptions apply to this four man, hit making machine from the West Midlands. With a string of misspelt chart toppers, an outlandish wardrobe and a killer, live act that was second to none. Slade's achievements during the 1970's were little short of phenomenal: their crunching rock 'n' roll and crazee antics would inspire acts such as Kiss, Kurt Cobain, Oasis, Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Darkness and even comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, to pick up guitars. And what's more, the stunning re-birth from a career slump during the following decade revealed an enviable stubborn streak and tenacity worthy of only the rare few.
Slade were a top notch group that were dragged into the black hole of Glam Rock, a short lived fad that deflected from who they really were, one of the world's greatest Rock bands. Loud, gregarious and, above all, entertaining with an affable, rabble-rousing demagogue up front.
Here, we tell the story of one of the UK's most underated groups. This is the story of Slade, told in a genealogical manner with the factual evidence to back it up where possible. The main source information comes from:
Feel The Noize by Chris Charlesworth
Genesis Sleevenotes by John Howells
Who's Crazee Now? by Noddy Holder
Most of the 'new' info comes from the Wolverhampton (and surrounding areas) newspaper archives scoured by Chris Selby, without whom, this site would not be possible. Please bear in mind that local newspapers, like all newspapers, use artistic licence when reporting. For the purposes of this project, we are interested, first and foremost, in the date. The posts run chronologically, the early years listed under 1971 because that's the earliest date Blogger can handle. The story starts here.
Slade were a top notch group that were dragged into the black hole of Glam Rock, a short lived fad that deflected from who they really were, one of the world's greatest Rock bands. Loud, gregarious and, above all, entertaining with an affable, rabble-rousing demagogue up front.
Here, we tell the story of one of the UK's most underated groups. This is the story of Slade, told in a genealogical manner with the factual evidence to back it up where possible. The main source information comes from:
Feel The Noize by Chris Charlesworth
Genesis Sleevenotes by John Howells
Who's Crazee Now? by Noddy Holder
Most of the 'new' info comes from the Wolverhampton (and surrounding areas) newspaper archives scoured by Chris Selby, without whom, this site would not be possible. Please bear in mind that local newspapers, like all newspapers, use artistic licence when reporting. For the purposes of this project, we are interested, first and foremost, in the date. The posts run chronologically, the early years listed under 1971 because that's the earliest date Blogger can handle. The story starts here.
Intro paragraph by Dave Ling. If any links do not work please let me know in the comments section.
Mickey P. ;-)
