Initially known as Ambrose Slade, the band formed in 1966 with the original line up comprising of vocalist Noddy Holder, guitarist Dave Hill, Jim Lea on bass and Don Powell on percussion. Releasing their debut album “Beginnings” in 1969 although with little chart success, it demonstrated the band’s diversity with the inclusion of covers by Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Steppenwolf and Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes.
The seventies saw Slade dominate the UK chart with a string of number one singles including: “Coz I Luv You”, “Take Me Bak ‘Ome” and “Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me”. Slade’s success continued with the 1972 album “Slayed” and “Old New Borrowed and Blue” (1974) which also saw them clinch the number one spot in the UK charts.
On an incredible high, in the mid-seventies Slade made another attempt to crack the USA touring relentlessly for two years sharing the stage with the likes of Black Sabbath, Aerosmith and ZZ Top. In 1977 the band were invited to perform the track “Gyspy Roadhog” on an episode of Blue Peter, instead it resulted in a flurry of complaints due to the song’s reference to drug and alcohol abuse which subsequently led to the song being banned from the BBC altogether. Struggling to maintain precedence in the charts left Slade back at square one during the late seventies.
Thanks to a spot of luck in 1980, Slade re-entered the spotlight when they replaced Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osborne at Reading Rock Festival which steered them back onto the road of success, releasing the albums “We’ll Bring the House Down” (1981) and “The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome” (1985).
Aside from providing the eternal Christmas classic and a string of hit singles, Slade will forever be one of those band’s whose influence is everlasting, with tracks that soundtrack scores of generations who have inspired instrumental contemporary rock bands such as: Smashing Pumpkins, Motley Crue, Cheap Trick and The Sex Pistols.
Sometimes, you just need a good, old-fashioned dose of glam rock. The thing you have to recognize when watching an “older” act in concert is that you’re not really there for the performance, you’re there for the nostalgia. And while Slade may have abandoned a lot of that glam rock couture that marked its heyday, the attitude is still all there.
You see it on the stage. This British rock band has aged well, and in a strange twist of time, you can hear the people they influenced in the music. Your mom, your dad? They were right when they said that the old songs were better. Perhaps the best part of concerts like these is the audience. They, like you, hopefully, are there for the artist. They’re there for the experience and the nostalgia too. So they’re into it, they’re grooving, in a way that a more halting, timid audience seeing a newer act for the first time just can’t manage.
There’s a certain swell of belonging, a nice feeling of coming home after a long trip gone that newer acts can’t manage either. It’s a combination of an act that knows what they’re doing and an audience that’s getting off on it. It’s the best kind of feedback loop.
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