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When Did It Become Unfashionable To Like Slade?

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I have slowly been working my way through the 1001 Albums… book and have recently listened to Slayed? by the Wolverhampton Quartet. Reading reviews by people who have already started this challenge, I find that they are often ridiculed, dismissed as stupid and compared to darts players etc. Yes, the ‘spelling’ is a gimmick that doesn’t work anymore, but is it really worth getting hung up about?

I was born a generation too late to appreciate the band at their peak, but my Dad loved them, and so did many, many people. They are, in terms of sales, the most successful singles band of the 70s and yet they are hardly ever mentioned these days, expect in reference to that Christmas hit.

By 1975 of course, they were past their peak. But perhaps their death knell was the explosion of punk, or was it the Reeves and Mortimer pisstake, or even the fact they were adored by Oasis.

These days, when discussing Glam Rock (of which they were surely one of the leading lights?) they appear to be dismissed as a footnote, purely for not being T-Rex or David Bowie (i.e. fashionable)

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Comments

  2. I’d classify them as more proto-lad rock than glam rock proper: think a kind of Seventies reincarnation of the Dave Clark Five (but minus the latter’s inexplicable success in the States). Despite Noddy’s mirrored topper and baggy pants, I don’t remember Slade ever really being considered as belonging in the same glam bag as Bolan or The Sweet at the time. Maybe they were just too ugly for the cover of Jackie or something. Rather than representing any genre or movement, they were just … Slade. (Much the same goes for Bowie, who while obviously glam in retrospect, was seen as a bit of an oddball – an outlier – while T-Rex & Co. roamed the earth.)

  3. They were definitely the top band of the 72-75 period but there are times when the kids on the street just turn away. Perhaps they could have changed/developed their sound a bit – but apart from the occasional one-off party tine hit, and that Christmas song, that was when it all ended.

      • They followed that the year after with a set at Donnington, turning a damp, miserable field into an ace place to be for 40 minutes or so. Coming on to an almost audible groan from the crowd, they completely won them over.

        • I was there, they were fantastic, ‘specially because it was late afternoon and still quite light, pausing every 5 or 10 minutes as a plane came in low to land at the East Midlands airport, just over our heads drowning out the PA.

          They were also on a combo bill in the early 80s headlining at the Lyceum, supported by Discharge, and just as ‘I Will Follow’ was hitting the charts a very young U2. As I have probably said before, a weird mix of bands and a very weird crowd that night. Mohawks at the front, trendies in the middle and old farts at the back (where we were). Slade nailed it anyway.

      • A friend who was at Reading reckons that was one of his top gigs.
        Saw them at a Radio 1 roadshow, early70 71?
        Was in Prague at the weekend and there was a poster for Slade UK with Hill and Powell for a concert in October.

    • I’m not agree they were the top band of the 72-75 period. At my junior school the boys liked either Slade or T.Rex (David Cassidy and Donny Osmond for the girls). The more “lad” lads liked Slade, the more sensitive/arty/poncey boys (like me) preferred T.Rex. I thought then and still think now, some few hundred or so years later, that T.Rex were far, far superior.

  5. If you saw them live, in ’72, just as Slayed was coming out, and Mama Weer All Crazee Now was bursting out of the radio, and they were still playing Town Halls and 800 to 1,000 capacity venues and the hadn’t been on telly much…..feck me, they were a force of bloody nature! There was an arrogance, an attitude of ‘we’re the best live band in the bloody country, and we know it and, by 10.30 tonight, your ears will be ringing, your feet will hurt and you’ll have no voice left…..and you’ll know it too.’

  6. Even as late as ’91 they could write a solid gold slab of pop/rock that FLEW out of the radio and grabbed you by the throat. Up there with AC/DC at doing that, for me.

  7. In my oh-so-hip (ie holier-than-thou) circles Slade were never ever fashionable. We heard rumours of them being a really great hard-working paid-their-dues band but all we saw of them was every bloody Thursday night blighting our TV screens with shouty pop songs and stage costumes which tried to be glam rock chic but just looked silly. Oh, and greatest crime of all, they were ugly.
    These days Noddy seems to be a right-on sort of guy and given the right circumstances (around midnight when drink has been taken and dad-dancing has begun) there is momentary consideration given to the possibility we might have been wrong. Next morning all such notions are dismissed.

  8. I like Slade – their pre hits recordings, to my mind, are much more interesting than most of the hit singles, and Jim Lea’s bass playing was incredible (again, something not really heard on those hits).

    • I was going to mention Jim Lea too – a tremendously musical bassist, in a Macca-esque sort of way. And a pretty decent fiddle player too. And just about everything else too, I believe.

      • Jim was always the unheralded musical heart of the band, an immensely talented musician and songwriter. He complained frequently about the outlandish image detracting from the critical credibility of their work, and I think he’s right to a very great extent.

  9. Personally, I’m of the opinion that if you don’t like Cum on Feel the Noize, there’s something wrong with you. What was that TV show where Noddy played a teacher? He did a great acoustic version of Cum on… at the end of one episode.

    They did some cracking singles; others may disagree.

    In addition, they had to be one of the least visually-appealing bands ever to have had screaming girls in their audience.

  10. As it happens, I was reading Simon Reynolds’ 2016 book on Bowie and glam rock, Shock and Awe, and he poses the same question in a long, laudatory chapter on how good they were.

  12. As mentioned above, time spent on the movie Flame seemed to stall and scupper their career, which is sad what with it being such a quality effort with a great soundtrack. The Grimleys clip is lovely…

  13. Don’t like ’em. Never did. Nor T.Rex, Sweet, Mud, Rubettes.
    Liked Wizzard cos I liked the Move, but the LPs were a bit ropey, in truth, trying to be a Brummy Zappa of all trades.
    Mind you, didn’t like Zappa much either.

  14. When were they fashionable? They were huge when I was a lad, but did not have the coolness factor of Bowie, T Rex, Roxy Music etc. But they were a pretty great singles band. I think they disappeared through a) making the film and b) trying to conquer America. When they came back as a post Reading heavy metal band, they made a couple of really nice singles and finally got that elusive US hit with Run Runaway.

  15. “Cum On Feel The Noize” could be seen as a self deprecating plea for acceptance or just a great 3 minute radio friendly blast of sound. They’re one of those bands that must have been great fun to be in. Not many from the era as instantly recognisable as Noddy and Dave. They’ll do for me

  16. ATM – I’ve got the first two pre-TOTP-dominance albums, and one they did much later called ‘Whatever Happened To Slade’, which I bought on the advice of a pal yonks ago. All great fun.

    Now the mate who recommended the later album has moved to the other end of the country, and we haven’t stayed in touch, so I can’t ask him about any others of theirs. So tell me, if I wanted to invest in another, say, three Slade albums, which ones do I get?

    I’m think ‘In Flame’ is probably a must have, but then my knowledge of their album output completely ends….

  17. Slayed? was the first album I ever bought. I selected very wisely. Loved them then, love them now. All bloody nice blokes too. Nod undoubtedly possesses one the great rock voices. Simply a great band. Fashionable, never, but who cares?

    • Blimey, that’s a blast. I remember, poser that I am, was and e’er will be, saying, back in 72, out loud and opinionated, that I did indeed like that version, possibly the only song of theirs I did, but it wasn’t as good as Joe Cockers. This remains true, BTW. (I possibly haven’t ever heard the original.)

  19. They tried to break America, and failed.
    When they returned, they were without a contract and had lost their audience.
    “Proto lad rock” was mentioned above – maybe, just maybe, if they weren’t distracted by the US of A, they may have been the Godfathers Of Punk?

    When they did break America, with Run Run Away, I don’t think their hearts were in it anymore.
    Health problems, and band relationships put paid to any more touring.

    The Slade Box: Anthology 1969-1991 is probably the most played Box Set I own

  20. Saw them live at the Hammersmith Odeon with school friend Max Richter (yes .. that one 😲) in December 1982. Think they were supporting the album ‘Till Deaf Do Us Part’. They were magnificent. Cannot recall the songs from that album but they played all the hits. Personal favourite was Far Far Away. Bet you can’t guess what they ended the show with 😉

  22. Claim to fame…I shared the back of a van with them! We booked them at our college pre-fame and they turned up at the wrong building. Given Cheltenham’s one way system, I volunteered to guide them to the right venue by jumping in the Transit. They were known as a skinhead band, but had left that look behind and were one of the best live bands we ever booked. We rebooked them on the spot for the next year, but in the meantime they had their first hit – they honoured the booking and were absolutely terrific once again. Jim Lea was a standout musician as I recall. Always had a soft spot for them after this – smashing blokes!

  23. I still have this on the pod, from a Word cover disc, I believe, from Jim (“James Whild”) Lea’s solo album. If you can pretend you aren’t reminded, just a little, of God Only Knows, it is a terrific song. Intrigued by this, as a defiant Slate naysayer, I remember thinking I might search out the whole record. I forgot. Until now.

  27. And it ain’t all about the singles, there are some very fin fine tracks snuck away on the albums

    Miles Out To Sea
    (from Old New Borrowed and Blue)

    .
    Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)
    (from Flame)

  28. Last minute replacements for Reading Rock Festival in 1980.
    They were on the verge of retiring and Chas Chandler had to do a lot of convincing.
    In the end they were declared as the best band of the day, and even got the crowd singing Merry Christmas Everybody in August.

    Wheels Ain’t Coming Down (Live at Reading 1980)

  29. Saw them in the 80’s at my student union, when their pomp was well behind them. The gig was a masterclass in how to put on a show and win over an audience.; they were storming, played all the hits and sent everyone home buzzing. Which was a welcome contrast to The Tourists who had been on a week earlier.

    I also saw The Sweet around the same time – a similar experience to Slade, albeit Sweet’s leanings towards Deep Purple seemed more evident.

    • We had The Glitter Band at Hatfield in the early 80s, which was just embarrassing as I remember it – bunch of pot-bellied geezers in bacofoil suits (although they probably weren’t *that* old really). Slade were a little more sensible in their dress sense as they aged (dis)gracefully.

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