Monsters Of Rock Festival 1981

Castle Donnington, August 22nd, 1981

The crowd had been soaked to the skin twice already before Slade came on, which was not a good start, as they must have felt thoroughly damp and miserable by now!

But, Slade did what they do best and delivered the following Setlist to the best of their abilities:-
Dizzy Mamma
When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin'
Take Me Bak 'Ome
Lock Up Your Daughters - (premiere!)

Everyday
Pistol Packin' Mama
Gudbuy T' Jane
We'll Bring The House Down
Get Down And Get With It
Mama Weer All Crazee Now
Cum On Feel The Noize
Born To Be Wild
Merry Xmas Everybody
With such miserable weather dampening the events, it would be easy to hold damp memories of the gig, too?

However, Jim Lea does recall the band’s celebrated performance at Donington in 1981 with great pride.

“It actually started the year before, when we replaced Ozzy Osbourne on the bill for the Reading Festival (August 24). We were really all over at that point and were about to split up. I remember Tommy Vance coming into our dressing room beforehand, and saying, ‘I know what you can do. You know what you can do. So do it’. We went out there, and no word of a lie we stole the whole festival. It was incredible. Afterwards so many musicians wanted to slap us on the back and buy us drinks. It was amazing.

“I know Def Leppard followed us and had a really hard time. They got jeered and bottled, which was a little unfair.

“Anyway, Maurice Jones, who used to manage us and promoted Monsters Of Rock, was there that day. He offered us the chance to play at Donington the next year (August 22), and we had another great day. I recall that half the PA didn’t work when we were on, but I really don’t think (headliners) AC/DC sabotaged us. Why would they? At the time they were the biggest rock band in the world.

For an in-depth review of the gig, read Carol Clerk's first-hand account on Slade In England.

To play and view the entire Setlist, click on here.

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BACK IИ BLACK?

Ironically, Noddy Holder had been Angus Young's first choice for AC/DC's replacement lead vocalist, after the untimely demise of Bon Scott in 1980!

But, when asked if he wanted to join the band, only a year before, Nod replied, "I've got a band!" (*)

However, Nod was a fan of AC/DC, so one has to wonder what their comeback album would have sounded like, had they not had settled on their second choice, Geordie's Brian Johnson?

And.....Nod could have been headlining!

(*) = as legend would have it!

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