JUNE / JULY 1974
Slade's British Tour finished with a bang at Hammersmith Odeon, a few weeks ago. It turned out to be one of the best gigs I've ever seen Slade do, and I'm sure that there are at least 3,000 people who will agree with me. This is not to say that any of the other gigs were bad, on the contrary, I have heard that everywhere Slade played they brought the house down .... almost literally sometimes!
Have you heard Slade's latest single yet? If not, it's called "The Bangin Man". The 'B' side is a slow number, personally titled by Noddy, "She did it to me". Both numbers are written by you know who - Nod and Jim.
The Slade Poster sold through the Fan Club has now completely sold out, and Posters can now only be obtained through "Just Posters" .
NEWS IN BRIEF
While on tour in Glasgow, Slade had to escape from the crowds in a Police land Rover and used the Rolls Royce as a decoy .... It was a night of a lifetime for Joy Andrews at the New Theatre, Oxford when she met SIade backstage. Joy, who is twelve, suffers from Spina Bifida and while she was sitting proudly in her wheelchair Dave gave her a cuddle and a kiss ... Everyday was awarded a silver Disc only 3 days after it's release .... The Boys are now touring the U.S.A. and will be back at the end of June .... Two lucky winners from Petticoat's fantastic Slade competition had lunch with the Boys at their Hotel in london. Afterwards they had front row seats at the Hammersmith Odeon to see Slade's last concert on the British Tour.
A WORD FROM DON
Nice to see you all on Tour, it was a tremendous thrill just to be there. A lot of strange things happened while we were on tour. Like the time we had to use a Police land Rover to get back into our Hotel, after the concert at the Apollo in Glasgow, while poor old Swin had to drive the Rolls Royce as a decoy. While he was driving down the street with hundreds of girls running after him we were listening over the Police radio on his progress.
There were several reports from Concert Hall Managers of cracks appearing in the balconys after our shows and of Surveyors being called in to pass the premises as being safe. At Southend they had forgotten to clean the glass roof and when we first started to play the glass rattled in it's frame and dust showered the audience below.
There was a time after leaving a concert we were stopped by a Policeman in a Panda Car and were informed that we had two girls hanging onto the back of the Rolls and he even wanted to book us for it, until he saw a crowd of girls charging down the road towards us, he then said 'forget it' and disappeared from sight, leaving us to make a quick exit.
COMPETITION
There are four winners of the last competition, they are:
VINCENT McCORMACK of SOUTHPORT
LIZ REES of SOUTH WALES
DAVID DILLON of STOURBRIDGE
PAUL KEMP of SURREY
They will be receiving Slade's latest single long before it's in the shops. This issue's competition is to design a new Guitar shape for Dave Hill, All entries to be sent to the Slade Fan Club Office and please mark the envelope with a large 'C' on the left hand corner.
TOUR REPORT
Around the same time as Dave Hill was staggering back to his Hotel after an all-night booze up, a girl slithered down a drain pipe somewhere out in the provincial backwaters of Nottingham. A moment later she was streaking through the dawn towards the main London Freeway - a somewhat bizarre sight in her top hat and frocked coat, with little else to her credit, but a pair of pink knickers and a ticket for a gig the other end of England. Siades latest concert was due to start in London that night, but at the eleventh hour her mum had tumbled the plan. Despite a four year reign as Britains Number One Group, Slade still manage to conjure up visions of pagan vandalism in the minds of the law and order brigade, and just as the Barbarians sealed the fate of Ancient Rome, so they see Slade to be the last nail in the coffin of the long buried British Empire.·
The girl arrived in London in true Slade style - riding with a truck driver in the cab of his ten ton Pantechnicon. A motley crowd of multi-coloured kids milled around the entrance doors of the theatre haggling with the ticket touts for seats. The concert had been sold out with in hours of the tickets going on sale, and the touts were having a field day .... or so they thought until one of the Road Crew tackled them. As soon as they saw the police moving in the touts took to their heels, leaving the Roadie to hand out the tickets to a sea of clammering hands - compliments of the management.
Inside the theatre, a team of heavies had already linked arms to hold back the tidal wave of fans from the stage, the support act droned on in the background attempting the impossible in the teeth of "We want Slade", while the group were changing in the dressing toom upstairs.
Dave Hill was also fighting a losing battle trying to cover up his hangover circles with a layer of glitter but otherwise the atmosphere was casual routine. Slade have always had an uncanny knack for retaining an earthy sense of normality right up to the moment they walk on stage. In the dressing room they are simply Noddy, Dave, Jim and Don. Seconds later they're transformed into the Champion Super Yobs - Slade.
From the moment they stride in from the wings, the kids are on their feet, waving banners in the air, showering the stage with deluge of top hats and knickers. Noddy takes over the mike: "It's really great to be back in London again ... "He gives the audience a quick rundown on the menu, including a Streaking Competition" ... Dave's entering 'cos he reckons he's got a bigun. Well that's what he told us, so now's his chance to prove it ... ", then launches into their opening number.
Whether the architects of the theatre ever had the likes of Slade in mind when they built it isn't known, but it certainly says something for the foresight of our Victorian ancesters that they could have come up with a design to withstand the current volume of sound blasting from the four dozen speakers on stage. Added to this the level of decibels emanating from 3,000 pairs of lungs, and it's little wonder that the stage door man resorted to wads of cottan wool in h is ears. "Believe me, I've seen em all Valentino, Sinatra, the Beatles ... you name em they've been here, but this, never". He steps aside as two Ambulance Men carry out the first casualties for a dose of fresh air and smelling salts.
Inside the theatre the temperature was like a Sauna bath out of control. Even the die hard press photographers were mopping themselves with their lens cloths. The group wind up their current single. Then Noddy tells the crowd to "Let it rip" - as if they hadn't already. The musclemen go bananas trying to hold back the heaving mass from cascading into the Orchestra Pit. The North Country girl inched her way to the front, then lets fly her pair of knickers onto the stage. They land by Noddy's feet. "Think they'd suit me". The kids scream for him to go ahead. He takes a discreet sniff and hurriedly throws them to Don who already has three pairs crammed over his head.
With the final number over, Slade leave the stage and the deafening roar behind them. After a suitable pause the return to a renewed assault of bras, suspenders and other unmentionables, as well as a shower of confetti blown in from the wings by two wind-machines. Already a group of girls have taken Noddy at his word and streaked onto the stage; the girl awaits her moment, then suddenly vaults over the bouncers and makes a mad scramble towards Jim with arms out streched ... only to find them taken up by a roadie as she's carried unceremoniously from the stage.
After a third encore, Slade left for the dressing room and an End of Tour party - Dave's third in a row. The fourth came the following day as the group set off for New York and the beginning of yet another tour. At around the time Dave was settling down aboard the Jumbo, the girl from the North Countryside was starting out on her return journey - heading home to face some very different kind of music.
JAPAN
In just two weeks in March, Slade have conquered Japan.
They have done it with their music, their good humour and their ability to inject more magic into a stage show than any other ten Bands in the business They have played before Kamikaze audiences in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo - audiences intent on showing their appreciation by attempting to reduce gleaming new concert halls to honourable Japanese rubble.
These audiences are made up of youngsters who think nothing of climbing on top of each other until there is a 15 foot mountain. of squirming bodies in front of the stage. And still the ones at the bottom manage to enjoy themselves. They shout "We love Slade, We love Slade", only it comes out "We ruv Srade, Srade, We ruv Srade"which in no way detracts from the buzz. When you consider that the Band has never played Japan before, the fans were extraordinary well informed. They raised their clenched fists to show that they had printed S-L-A-D-E across their knuckles.
They knew when to shout and when to listen. They were already familiar with the "Old, New, Borrowed and Blue" material. For most of the tour, the opening set was played by a local band called the "Bad Boys". Now this is a quaint little outfit which is modelled - note for note and gesture for gesture on the early Beatles. It was an inspired billing. A reminder of British Pop's glorious past, followed by a high-powered serving of its glorious present.
For nothing, to my mind, has as much to do with our Pop present as Slade. They represent everyth ing that is good about what is happening now.
(An extract from an article by Bob Hart).
SOUVENIR PROGRAMMES
A limited number of the "Slade's crazee nite" Spring Tour Programmes are now available to Fan Club Members, who were unable to see Slade live and therefore did not purchase a programme. The cost is 35p which also includes postage and packing. The Magazine is in full colour throughout, and only available from me at the Fan Club address. Please make cheques or postal orders payable to the 'Slade Fan Club'.
Once again I find myself at the end of another Newsletter, but before I go, just to remind you it will be Jim and Nod's birthday on the 14th and 15th June, respectively.
THE BANGIN' MAN
JAMES LEA/NEVILLE HOLDER
1. When you wake up in the morning
And you can't remember much about the night before
Then the lady who's beside you gets up
She goes right out and locks the bathroom door
Your head won't stop singin' The phone won't stop ringin'
Your plane is gonna leave at 12.15
And it was close to six o'clock before you got to know a little dream
CHORUS
Look at the Bangin' Man
He says he can time after time He'll get down, down, down, To Bangin' back home
Repeat
2. I bin in 50 different towns
In 50 different days
They all got different names
I bin in 50 limousines
In 50 hotel rooms
They all look the same
And your head won't stop crackin'
Your case needs unpackin'
The only sound is from the T.V. screen
Until a knock comes on the door and standing there's another little dream
3. When you wake up in the morning
And you can't remember much about the night bek-" A small reminder of the state you were in
Are all the tattered clothes across the floor
Your head still keeps singin'
The phone still keeps ringin'
Remember just exactly where you've been
'Cos there ain't no doubt about it there's no
better things to see than what you've seen
© Copyright 1974 by BARN PUBLISHING LTD
