MAMA, WEER ALL CLISHAYZ NOW!
SLADE / LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY 7/12/1983
HERE THEY are again, being famous. With 'My Oh My' doing well, 'Merry Christmas Everybody' pottering about, and with royalties from Quiet Riot's 'Cum On Feel The Noize', Slade ought to be looking like an interesting band. Unfortunately, Slade have a dogged determination to be as ordinary as possible.
Tonight their audience was made for them; a collection of cider filled students in the worst of 1978 fashion, they were old enough to remember Slade's golden days, and tasteless enough to appreciate the drivel Holder, Hill and Co now turn out.
So tasteless that the cheers for 'We'll bring The House Down', that unfulfilled brickie's promise, were louder than those for 'Take me Bak 'Ome', 'Mama Weer All Crazy Now', and the like.
In the 1970's, Slade's combination of melody, the Holder voice, and a rocky stance made for a mad thunderous noise with a bright red lable. Nowadays they're content with an extremely sane thunderous noise, sacrificing melody for cliche'.
There is a kind of poetry about something like 'Merry Christmas Everybody', the descending chords and those despairing vocals gave lines like 'Does your granny always tell you / That the old songs are the best?' a good pop grace.
But put that next to 'Lock Up Your Daughters' (which sounds like a song about locking up your daughters and is about as interesting as mucking out your hamsters) or the atrocious 'A Night To Remember', and you get down on your knees and thank the Good Lord that you never have the slightest desire to see Slade do an evening of bad heavy metal ever again.
Take me back home.
DAVID QUANTICK, NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS 15/12/1983
Slade In England