Slade started out as The N'Betweens in 1966.
They changed their name to Ambrose Slade,
but later shortened it to just Slade.
As The N'Betweens, they wore suits and
followed the style of most pop/rock
bands of the time. They cut their
hair short to look like skinheads. Chas
Chandler, ex-bassest for The Animals and
Chandler, ex-bassest for The Animals and
manager for Jimi Hendrix, took them
under his wing. His vision was to run
their career like the Beatles. Give them
an image, get a couple of hit singles
and make a movie. They did
get the hit singles, in England mostly,
but the movie, "FLAME", didn't
help their career. They continued
on with the four original members
until Noddy Holder and Jimmy
Lea retired. Noddy continued on
as a radio disc jockey and TV personality.
Dave Hill and Don Powell continued on
as Slade with new members.
Slade - (a history)
Slade - (a history)
My friends and I saw Slade perform at
Winterland in San Francisco twice in 1973.
You can see our photos and read our
memoirs at - Brit Rock By The Bay
My friend, Dan Cuny, took this photo the
first time we saw Slade and framed it.
He brought it with him the next time to
have the band autograph it. After waiting a while
outside Winterland, he spotted one of the
roadies and asked him to give it to the
band to autograph, which he did. When he
brought it back out we enjoyed what had
been scribbled on the frame, but we couldn't
figure out the one on the right. The band finally
did appear and Dan asked Noddy Holder
what the drawing on the right was. He
replied, "It's a dog pissing on a tree."
This is me in Dan's bedroom playing
a ukulele. He decorated his wall with
rock posters and a Slade flag.
Early promo photos when they
were The N'Betweens.
Their short lived period
as skinheads. It wasn't a popular
look for them and even scared people.
The article below is from,
"The British Beat 1960-1969"
By Terry Rawlings,
© Omnibus Press 2002
This great blog gives a detailed
history of The N'Betweens
The article below is
from the "Illustrated
Encyclopedia of Rock."
By Mike Clifford.
© Harmony Books 1986.
An early article from "Beat
Instrumental", 9/71. They were being
promoted as a "New Wave" of
rock musicians and stated that the
Beatles were "old men now".
"Slade Alive!" was a break through
for the band. It captured the excitement
of them on stage and their raunchy sound.
They prided themselves
at being straight forward rock
with no gimmicks.
Others would disagree.
A very positive and rather colorful review.
The words "glitter rock" were not used
here, but instead, "Tough-Glam."
A detailed history of the band
and how Dave Hill came up
with the glitter look.
Slade were receiving the attention
they desired with girls tossing their knickers
and bras on stage. They were accused of
copying Bowie and Bolan, but denied
it since they had never heard of either when
Dave Hill adorned glitter on his face and
created his space-age glitter suit. Chas
Chandler dumps on Bowie and Hill
explains what "Super Yob" means.
(The writer got it wrong and
called it "Super Hob").
Since the break up of the
Beatles, the rock world seemed
to be searching for a look.
Dave Hill created a big splash with
his glitter and space-age suit.
It influenced many others, but
it didn't last long and never caught
on in the USA.
Tragedy struck the band shortly
after I saw them play in SF. Don
Powell was nearly killed in an auto
accident. Jim Lea's brother filled
in while he recovered.
This article is about
their US tour
and was published
two weeks after I saw
them for the second time
at Winterland in SF.
Don Powell was back,
but still had difficulty
remembering his
drum parts.
They had a big hit with,
"Merry Xmas Everybody."
Jim Lea talks about the
difficulty of breaking through
in the US. "The radio DJs
won't play our music."
"Stomp your hands, and
clap your feet" received
mixed reviews.
Their upcoming movie,
"Flame" is announced.
They discuss their future
and the movie, "Flame",
which was soon
to be released.
"Flame" is released.
Die hard Slade fans flocked
to see the movie, but it did
poorly in the US. Their heavy
accents were hard for Yanks
to understand. Some theaters
even added sub-titles.
Slade continued to record good songs
and draw large crowds.
A personal favorite of mine from 1976 -
Here are some of the
albums which make up
the Slade story
