SLADE

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

 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)

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.

Hold Tight ( audio clip)

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

From Roots To Boots

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". 

If This World Were Mine (audio clip)

"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."

Merry Xmas Everybody (live clip)

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 - 

Nobody's Fool - (live clip)

Here are some of the 

albums which make up 

the Slade story

Journey to the Center of Your Mind - (audio clip)

Gudbye to Jane - (live clip)

Mama Weer All Crazee Now - (live clip)

"Pirate Radio" - (clip from the movie)

Noddy Holder - (a history)