JUNE / JULY 1972
I hope you have noticed the new address, for this is where all letters etc. are to be sent - please remember.More photos for you in this issue, I hope you like them. It seems as if May was great month for the boys. Along with other things, the tour as a great success, and I really don’t have to say it, but they're all “ALIVE” and well.
There are a few tee shirts left, so those who still want one, just send me your name and address and membership number together with a cheque or postal order for 1O p, made payable to r n Productions. Please mark all cards and envelopes with a 5’ to help with the sorting out.
Birthday time again. It’s JIMMY’S first, which is June 14th,and NODDY’S on June 15th. We all wish them the very best. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS.
COMPETITION
This month’s competition has been brought about by Noddy. He asked me the other day if I knew any jokes that he could do on stage. I said that I did not, but I bet that the fans did. we decided to leave it up to you - Noddy will select the Winner.
Please remember to mark the envelope with a large ‘C’ when sending in your entries - to the new address.
NEWS IN BRIEF
SLADE had their first big break for holidays, just before their British tour, for nearly two years.........While playing at one of their concerts in Holland the fire brigade was called in to support a balcony. Fans climbed to safety...The vibrations were too much for it............. Jimmy has started to learn yoga........... The boys may do an American tour at the end of August
NEW SINGLE
TAKE ME BAK ‘OME”/”WONDERIN’Y” POLYDOR 2058231
This was released on May 26th, so it should now be in every shop. Jimmy and Noddy wrote the ‘A’ side, but Don helped jimmy with the ‘B’ side.
A WORD FROM JIM
So many people have come up to me and asked about my life, saying that I was the least known about of the 4 of us, that I am going to put it right.
I was born in a public house in Wolverhampton, and lived in and around the town until the age of five. After that we moved to a village in the country, where infant life was a ball. At nine, my mother asked me if I would like to learn how to play an instrument, as her family tree depicts a long line of professional orchestral musicians. Her father was a violinist so that more or less settled the choice of instrument with tuition from a local professor I began to practice for an hour a day.
At school, art music and French became my top subjects, although by the time I reached G.C.E. standard music and art began to clash. At fifteen my interests in music lay in a £3.50 guitar, and the Shadows. The violin fell by the wayside. I eventually joined a group called “Nick & The Axemen all my thoughts and interests were fed into the group and everything else suffered. My parents were truly disappointed at my dropping the violin and at that time I had been in the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra for over 18 months.
When it was time for me to leave school, I applied for four art colleges, including one in London. By this time I was playing bass guitar. The Axemen had made no progress, but I was surprised when I spotted an advert in the paper for the job of bass player with a top local group, and my idols of the time -“The ‘N Betweens”. An audition was arranged and they seemed interested and said they’d let me know.
A week later they came to my house and said if I wanted the job it was mine. It meant turning professional but I accepted, we began practising and within the next week my acceptances came through for all the art colleges My mother didn’t speak to me for a month but she eventually accepted it.
The new group made a living including one trip to Germany and one to the Bahamas. Then we met Chas Chandler, and from there our rise to fame as SLADE.
HOLLAND
“Now I want you all to let yourselves go”, says Noddy, with his usual checked cap, sideburns bushing out, green shirt, braces and boots. Next to him Dave smiles, while wearing a shiny silver coat and Christmas tinsel in his hair, with Don lurching behind his drums and Jimmy pounding his bass in a bright yellow jump-suit.
This evening’s gig turned out to be a small club - one of Holland’s many youth centre venues - which the boys gained experience playing on their previous tours. They start with “Hear Me Calling”, and the place becomes electrified, immediately the audience begins to stomp. Then it’s into their quiet number, “Darling Be Home Soon”, but soon it’s back to the beat and thud of “Get Down & Get With It.” After an hour it’s all over, finishing with “Born To Be Wild”, which just about sums up their entire stage act.
The next morning they are in the television studios near Amterdam, it’s for a programme called “Top Pop”, and they decide to play their next single, “Take Me Bak ‘Ome”.
Now it’s of f to the Paradiso. This is the main Dutch venue, and one of the toughest to play. Slade go on about 11.00 p.m. At their backs must be the biggest light show in existence. It’s hard going, though the sound and separation are better than previous gigs, not until “Get Down & Get With It” do the audience come to light.
But all good things come to an end, with the last word from Noddy - “Reckon we could have gone on all night and just played rock ‘n’ roll.”
TAKE ME BAK ‘OME
Came up to you one night,
Noticed the look in your eye,
Saw you was on your own,
And it was alright,
Yeh it was alright.
Said I could call you Sidney,
I couldn’t make out why,
Standing here on your own,
An’ it was alright,
Yeh it was alright.
Chorus
So won’t you take me back home,
Take me back home,
And we can find plenty to do,
And that will be alright,
Yeh it will be alright.
You and your bottle of brandy,
Both of you smell the same,
Still on your feet still standing,
So it was alright,
Yeh it was alright.
Superman comes to meet you,
Looks twice the size of me,
I didn’t stay round to say goodnight,
So it was alright,
Yeh it was alright.
Chorus
Workout
© Copyright 1972 by BARN PUBLISHING LTD
QUOTES FROM PAPERS
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
“‘Slade Alive’ is just what it implies, having been recorded before a rowdy crowd of fans at Command Studios. If you’ve ever been to one of their noisy gigs you’ll know exactly what I mean.
MELODY MAKER
“Because it was recorded in a studio proper, before an audience, they’ve achieved the kind of balance and sound not often heard on a live recording.”
RECORD MIRROR
“On stage the group hold attention with their cavorting antics and general enthusiasm, and to followers this is a good album to keep to remind them of the live performances they see.”
SLADE TOUR
Needless to say the tour has been a tremendous success with their excellent P.A. and the always capacity halls, the boys never failed to excite the coolest of crowds.
Well done SLADE and I expect you re very proud of yourselves after all that.
DATES
I have listed below the boys’ dates for June and July. Please check with your local press as these dates are subject to change.
JUNE |
|---|
2nd Winter Gardens. Blackpool |
3rd Dreamland, Margate |
10th Rock Street, Wellingborough |
11th FINLAND |
17th Glasgow |
20th Merton College, Oxford |
23rd Exeter University, Exeter |
24th California Ballroom. Dunstable |
25th Cliff Pavilion, Southend |
28/2nd GERMANY |
JULY |
7/8th FRANCE |
11th Macarno, Portsmouth |
12th Town Hall, Torquay |
13th Starkers Club, Bournemouth |
14th Queens Hall, Barnstable |
15th Penzance |
22/25th SPAIN |
28th Macarno, Blackpool |
29th Belfrey, Sutton Coldfield |
30th Douglas, Isle of Man |
It seems I’m coming near to the end. Just lately I have been receiving letters from girls who have taken a fancy to SLADE’S ROADIES, so in the next issue, if I can get their permission, I’ll include an article about them.
While we are talking about the roadies, let’s thank them for the great job they do to keep SLADE on the road.
Well, that’s it for this issue.