Slade news November 2012
An evening with Noddy Holder in conversation with Mark Radcliffe in May 2013
May 2013: Thursday 9 - Oakengates Theatre, Telford
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Thanks Dave Kemp for the info !
East Anglian November 28, 2012:
"They were two of the 70s’ biggest glam rock acts, clocking up 36 hits between them during that decade alone. Now they’ve joined forces for a UK tour. MARTIN HUTCHINSON chats to Slade’s Dave Hill while entertainment writer WAYNE SAVAGE catches up with Sweet’s Andy Scott.
FORTY years may’ve passed, but audiences still can’t enough of Slade and Sweet’s happy, energetic rock.
Both had their origins in the 60s and both charted for the first time in 1971.
...
The man he replaced in Sweet, Malcolm McNulty, now sings lead vocals for Slade and they can boast two original members in flamboyant guitarist Dave Hill and drummer Don Powell.
Bassist John Berry, formerly with Les Gray’s Mud and Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers, completes the line-up.
Dave, who still lives a stone’s-throw from the council house in Wolverhampton where he grew up, has only praise for his new band-mates.
“John fits in really well and also plays violin, which is useful as we need a violin in Cos I Luv You. Malcolm is a really good guy.
“He’s originally from Liverpool and has a really strong voice; not dissimilar to Nod,” he says, referring to original singer Noddy Holder.
Slade’s hit-making career included no less than six chart-toppers including Cum On Feel the Noize, Skweeze Me Pleeze Me and the perennial festive favourite Merry Xmas Everybody.
Christmas isn’t Christmas until you’ve heard it.
Some of their hits entered the charts straight at number one, a feat unheard of since The Beatles and achieved when going straight in at the top actually meant something.
Dave tells me Slade have worked with Sweet many times.
“We play a lot of festivals together on the continent – we’re both very big still in Germany and often play in front of crowds of 20,000.”
He is disappointed the same crowds aren’t generated in the UK.
“Promoters won’t take a risk really. Over in Germany for instance, it’s like when we were having the hits. The festivals are just non-stop fun.”
“It wouldn’t happen here, people are too fashion-conscious about music; over in Europe we get whole families coming to the shows.”
...
Dave and Don have been in bands together since 1964 and he has no thoughts of stopping; he still enjoys performing.
“Immensely, in fact you’ll realise that when you see us. I’m happy to be doing something I love and that gives so much pleasure to so many.
“I plan things better now and am more relaxed. A few years ago I had a stroke on stage but I’m fully recovered. At 66 I’m not out to prove anything. I enjoy the challenge of each show being different.”
Speaking of the show, can we expect a hit-fest?
“Oh yes, I don’t think anybody will be short-changed with regards to songs they know. All the number ones and probably the twos and threes, but I might drop in a couple of surprises,” he laughs.
“Sweet will start the show, then we’ll come on and we’ll finish with Merry Xmas Everybody. Nobody can follow that,” he says with a hint of pride in his Warwickshire tones.
As for the future, Dave is upbeat.
“Next year we’re hoping to do a new album of new songs, re-recorded hits and some strong covers. I enjoy gardening and doing my own music and retirement? I can’t even spell the word. I’m the Bruce Forsyth of rock”.
...
“It is a Christmas tour… basically Slade have probably the most iconic UK number 1 Christmas hit ever.”
Slade and Sweet will be bringing their show to the Ipswich Regent Theatre on Sunday, December 2 and remember... it’s Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssss!!!"
http://www.eadt.co.uk/entertainment/ipswich_regent_rocks_to_the_sound_of_slade_and_sweet_1_1713638#
Glam rock legends Slade and Sweet reunite at the Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent
Nov 22 2012Flintshire Chronicle
"TWO pioneers of glam rock are to team up for a national tour which will visit Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent.
Slade and Sweet are considered two of the most important bands of the era and are back with plenty of glitz, hits and ballroom blitz.
They are known to have influenced worldwide stars such as Kiss, Alice Cooper, The Ramones, The Clash, Oasis and many more.
The tour will feature original Slade founders Dave Hill (guitar) and Don Powell (drums) alongside current Slade members John Berry (bass) and Mal McNulty (vocals).
Speaking ahead of the tour Powell described the continuing thrill of performing live on stage, and said: “It’s like a big party really, when we go up on stage now we always say this is not a concert, it’s a party!”
Fans will be treated to hits such as Cum On Feel The Noize, Mama Weer All Crazee Now, Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me, and many more.
...
Slade and Sweet visit the Victoria Hall on Sunday, November 25. To book, call the box office on 0871 871 7649 or visit www.atgtickets.com/victoria-hall."
SSS in Sweden August 2013
One hard S with two soft S's will play first time together in Sweden in the summer of 2013: Slade have a concert with Sweet and Smokie in Varberg (75 km south from Göteborg) on the west coast of Sweden on Friday 2nd August. The next day 3.8.2013 the three groups give a concert on the same coast about 200 km to the south from Varberg in Malmö, Amiralen.
"Smokie, Sweet & Slade - 3 brittiska pärlor
Sweet och Slade, legendariska glamikoner, och Smokie, balladmästarna – på samma scen, samma kväll! Förvänta dig en minnesvärd ”Classic British Rock – experience! I den svenska sommarkvällen!
...
SLADE
Slade följde i samma 70-talsvåg av glamrock. Med hits som Cum On Feel The Noize och senare Run Runaway m fl har de också satt djupa spår i folksjälen.
...
BILJETTER
Pris: 395:- + serviceavgift.
TID & PLATS
Fredag 2 augusti 2013
Dörrarna öppnas 18.00
Start: 19.30
Socitetsparken, Varberg
För bordsbokning på Societetens Restaurang ring 0340-67 65 00.
Hallands Nyheter 19.11.2012:
"Nostalgikväll i Societetsparken i sommar
Sweet, Slade och Smokie kommer till Varberg i sommar. Samma kväll dessutom, så det är upplagt för riktig nostalgi.
De båda sistnämnda banden har fortsatt att turnera och spelat ganska flitigt i Halland genom åren. Slade har inte varit här lika ofta och tvingades ställa in när de skulle uppträda i Halmstad för två år sedan.
- Det blir första gången de här tre banden spelar samtidigt i Sverige, hävdar arrangören Björn Nohlgren.
Den 2 augusti kommer de till Societetsparken i Varberg och från de ursprungliga banden är minst en medlem fortfarande kvar; Sweet (Andy Scott), Smokie (Terry Uttley), Slade (Dave Hill och Don Powell)."
http://hn.se/nojekultur/musik/1.1842711-nostalgikvall-i-societetsparken-i-sommar
Slade will be back in their home town in June 2013
Slade are going to play at Robin 2 in Bilston on 21st June 2013.
Advance ticket price: £18.50, door price: £20.00
"When I was in school there was only one band that you were proud to say that you had seen play live. It was Slade. This was before they became a joke. It was before you dared not admit you liked Slade. Before their records were remaindered in Woolies. It was before Noddy left to go to be an actor in The Grimleys. It was even before Slade became a household name, part of our national heritage and glam-rock heroes. It was before they gave us their Christmas number one. It was when they were known for just one thing – for being the best hard rock act around.
In those days, at school, things were divided into two musical camps: One lot liked hippy stuff. They liked Yes, Pink Floyd and Tyrannosaurus Rex (not T. Rex.) This lot went around in hippy clothes such as loon pants, cheese-cloth shirts and old trench coats. They said “Peace” a lot. The other camp – the ones that adults called “Skinheads” (point of order – we just called them “Skins”) had short hair, wore boots, and liked Slade. This was before punk. It was before 2-tone. It was long before ‘Madness.’ The only thing that the skins could call their own kind of music was Dave and Ansell Collins. And Slade.
Slade came out of the Black Country in 1971 with “Get Down and Get With It”. And with it came boot stomping rock ‘n’ roll heaven. That song was originally recorded by Little Richard for the “Okeh Sessions” . And it gave everyone a chance to get their boots on and stamp their feet.
The Slade boys – drummer Don Powell, guitarist Dave Hill, singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea were raised on fine music – such as John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf. They had played support slots for bands such as The Yardbirds (fore runners of Led Zeppelin.) In 1971 it was their chance to take centre stage.
...
Little Richard Get Down and Get With It
But, when Chas Chandler (former manager of Jimi Hendrix), came into possession of the brand, and began to drive the musicians towards success, things began to get out of hand. After the successful – and much-loved single “Coz I Luv You” (written by Lea and Holder) we then got a flurry of misspelled pop songs like “Take Me Bak ‘Ome” and “Look Wot You Dun”. And Slade gradually became a ‘Glam Band’ I always thought that they seemed reluctant to go down the glam-rock path. Well, except for Dave, that is. His glitter wig and super-yob guitar can never be forgotten. The story goes that, after an altercation in the dressing room on Top of the Pops – when Jim once again criticised Dave for wearing a tin foil jumpsuit – Dave allegedly responded to the criticism by saying “You write ‘em Jim, and I’ll sell em !”
Looking back at the early 1970’s (and in light of the Jimmy Savile allegations) I sometimes get a feeling of nausea – rather than nostalgia about the times. This was the era that brought us Gary Glitter and “Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah)” with the “Do you wanna touch me there, where?” lyric. It was addressed to little girls. And little boys. And I also remember Sweet’s ‘Little Willy’ (You can’t push Willy round, Willy won’t go.) And just knew that Mary Whitehouse would write in about it.
So when Slade played live at the Anvil Basingstoke this week, it was probably reasonable to exclude “Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me” from the set list. And thinking about this reminds me that my favourite song by Slade was “Gudbuy T ‘Jane” and it was kept from the No 1 slot by the innuendo laden Chuck Berry hit “My Ding-a-Ling.” (Which Mary did complain about.)
...
At the Anvil, the band worked their way through a series of ‘Crazee’ rock numbers – and they had the audience up and dancing almost immediately. Just like the old days. Everyone was standing. Everyone was stomping . Best songs in the show were, for my money, the excellent “Everyday” (I forgot how good that number was) and the Celtic sounding song “Run Runaway”.
I missed “Far Far Away” and I really liked “Nobody’s Fool” back in 1976. But that was forgotten too. But we still got “Mama Weer All Crazee Now”. Thank goodness.
Dave Hill still haunts the stage with that silly smile of his. Trying to boot things. Still being the class clown. And Don still looks as menacing as he ever has been. Mal actually sounds like Noddy. And that must be a hard act to follow. And John played a passable violin solo on “Coz I Luv You” – but it was not as good as Jim Lea. Their performance was exhilarating. Strong, heavy and full of fun. Just like a Slade show should be.
Some of these old bands become shadows of themselves. They sometimes become affectionate cover bands. Of their own music. But Slade have not crumbled. They are still full of energy. It’s encouraging. They really know how to perform. And they are loud. That’s why they brought the house down at the Reading Festival in 1980.
And before the curtain call at The Anvil, Dave came out on stage to thank the audience. “It was not a bad year that?” He chirped. “It’s been good hasn’t it?” Everyone agreed and clapped some more. Party hats were rushed on by roadies. And the group got back on stage. And they played “Merry Xmas Everybody”.
Before the concert, I was thinking about that song. And I was hoping that they would not play it. But they did. And do you know what? It brought a tear to my eye."
Link:
http://staines.me/2012/11/15/slade-live-at-the-anvil-basingstoke/
The Guardian 6.11.2012:
"Birmingham City Council's automated phone line is having trouble with locals' accents. But, as one proud owner of a Midlands lilt explains, it has a few unexpected benefits
People automatically assume you are stupid
...
It's useful in flushing out idiocy in others
...
It's attractive to women of a certain age
...
It is delightfully suited to the gastronomical delicacies of the area
...
You are automatically mates with Noddy Holder should you ever actually meet him
And you simply cannot put a price on that."
The whole article: The Guardian 6.11.2012
Both bands had their origins in the 60s and both charted for the first time in 1971 (Sweet in March, Slade in June).
...
The man he (Andy Scott) replaced in Sweet, Malcolm McNulty, now sings lead vocals for Slade, who boast two original members, flamboyant guitarist Dave Hill and drummer Don Powell. Bassist John Berry, formerly with Les Gray's Mud and Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers, completes the line-up.
Hill, who still lives a stone's-throw away from the council house in Wolverhampton where he grew up, has only praise for his new bandmates.
"John fits in really well and also plays violin, which is useful as we need a violin in Coz I Luv You," he says.
"Malcolm is a really good guy. He's originally from Liverpool and has a really strong voice; not dissimilar to Nod," he says, referring to original Slade singer Noddy Holder.
The band's hits included chart-toppers Cum On Feel The Noize, Skweeze Me Pleeze Me and the perennial favourite Merry Xmas Everybody.
They have played with Sweet on numerous occasions. "We play a lot of festivals together on the continent – we're both very big still in Germany and often play in front of crowds of 20,000."
Is he disappointed that the same crowds don't turn out in the UK?
"Promoters won't take a risk. Over in Germany it's like when we were having the hits.
"The festivals are just non-stop fun. But it wouldn't happen here. People are too fashion-conscious about music.
"Over in Europe we get whole families coming to the shows."
Hill was renowned for his outrageous costumes. For Top Of The Pops he wouldn't let anyone see what he was wearing for the show until the last minute, often appearing to howls of laughter from the rest of the band.
He laughs: "No one saw what I wore until we were ready to go on."
Although Holder hasn't been part of the Slade line-up for years, Hill says: "I'm happy to be doing something I love and that gives so much pleasure to so many. I plan things better now and am more relaxed."
He admits: "A few years ago I had a stroke on stage but I'm fully recovered. At 66, I'm not out to prove anything."
Will they play all the hits?
"Oh yes, I don't think anybody will be shortchanged. It'll be all the number ones and probably the twos and threes but I might drop in a couple of surprises."
He adds: "Next year, we are hoping to do a new album of new songs, re-recorded hits and some strong covers. Retirement? I can't even spell the word. I'm the Bruce Forsyth of rock."
MXE UK tour 2012 opening in Folkestone, Kent
A great trip and concert review from Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody UK tour 2012 opening in Folkestone on Wednesday 7th December on Dave Kemp's Slade website:
Thanks a lot Dave, Don and Dave (+ John and Mal) ! Without forgetting Abbie, Rob and Tim !