From Roots To Boots: The Slade Story

Cleethorpes, August 29th, 1978

Tuesday night at Bunnie's Nightclub in Cleethorpes. Noddy Holder has a broken nose, courtesy of Desmond Brothers, delivered the night before at the Stoneleigh Club in Porthcawl, Glamorgan.

"We played a place down in South Wales last night and eh, if you can see all me black eyes and bruises... One of the Bouncers decided to use me as a punch-bag. He eh, he beat the fucking shit out of me.... broke me nose and everything. But eh, the show must go on."
Noddy Holder

In actual fact, one punch had floored Holder. Brothers had been waiting in the wings when the group had come off stage. Holder had shouted at the security through the PA for getting too rough, as can also be heard in the Randwick recording from 1973. He said to Brothers:

"You're a big boy aren't you, picking on people half your size..."

to which Brothers replied:

"I'll see you later and show you how big I am."

Daily Mirror: Wednesday 30th August 1978

Burning In The Heat Of Love is included in the set and Something Else is performed with Jim's solo spot being somewhat messy. It's great to hear how it evolved before he got it in the right order as played at the Reading Festival 2 years later. Also on the agenda is Dizzy Mama as a prototype, Pretty Mama.

Dave has a go at being a 'guitar hero' at the end of Gudbuy T' Jane, lots of noise and feedback but the end result does not impress. He has a solo spot where he plays the old Santos & Johnny classic, Sleepwalking. This harks back to Dave's roots, when he first picked up a guitar. He was inspired by The Shadows, who covered this in the 60's and I'm confident that Dave used to play it with The Vendors.

The band also sing Happy Birthday to roadie, J.J. and there's also a hint of American accent in places. The recording quality is far from perfect but this is a great gig to hear for the fans. It shows the evolution of the band, during the so called 'Lean Years' at a particularly low point, yet still they play with that same ferocity despite Holder under Doctor's orders.