APRIL / MAY 1975
Terrific news about the British Tour! The tour follows hot on the heels of the boys' hit film FLAME. The boys are planning to play fourteen dates, up and down the country during April and May. It will be their first British tour in a year. Tickets can only be bought at the box offices and ticket prices range from £1.00 to £2.50. The full dates will be reproduced further on in this Newsletter.
A number of fans have written in to express their disappointment when buying the single 'How Does It Feel' contained in the normal Polydor wrapper. I am afraid that Polydor only printed coloured singles sleeves for the first 200,000 singles produced.
In this months issue of the Newsletter I have included two new articles. The article I mentioned in the last Newsletter about Dave writing on how to play the guitar. The second article materialised from the high volume of letters all asking the same questions, the answers to these questions are printed further on.
The fans who have ordered either notepaper or transfers and have been waiting for their orders to arrive should have received them by now. The delay was caused by a dispute within the manufacturing company which has now been resolved.
Just a reminder that if you have changed your address, please inform me of your membership number when writing in.
DAVE & HIS GUITAR
My first guitar wasn't an expensive electric one like I've got now. It was the sort you've probably got; An ordinary six stringed accoustic one, with either nylon strings or steel ones.
I was so excited when I took the gleaming new (er, second hand!) instrument out of its case but then came the moment of truth which you've all probably faced. I picked it up, managed to hold the neck with my left hand and prop the body of the guitar on my knee and then came the awful thought, 'elp, what do I do next?'
Well, it's to help you over this dreadful moment of crisis that I'm writing this! Please remember to write in and tell me if I'm not being clear about anything, because I've never tried to teach anyone to play before. I think that the first thing I ought to mention, before getting on to the actual playing, is how to look after your guitar. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you're the sort of person who is likely to leave the guitar leaning against the arm of a chair where the dog is most likly to knock it over, but guitars can be damaged so easily. One unlucky knock or fall could easily chip or crack the wood or even bend the machine heads (those bits of metal at the top) and that'll mean a trip to your local repair shop, if you're lucky enough to have one near you.
That's why it is always best to start with an inexpensive secondhand one! Always prop it up in a corner, or else lay it flat on top of a cupboard or high surface that no-one's likely to sit on.
Naming the different bits of a guitar is very simple. The main body of it is called the body, the long bit is the neck and the metal strips running across it are called frets. The strip of wood that you fix the strings through down by the sound hole is called the bridge and the metal screws that you thread the other end of the strings through and tighten up are called machine heads. Like any bit of machinery they need the occasional touch of oil to keep them running smoothly. Not too much though, or you'll end up looking more like a car mechanic than a guitarist!
If your guitar came with a set of strings already on it, take a close look at them and if they seem in any way rusty or worn, invest in another set quick, before the old ones break or cut your fingers to pieces.
If you haven't got a piano at home, it'll be difficult tuning your guitar to the right pitch, so it is worth spending £1 or so on a set of things called 'pitch-pipes'. These are six little pipes fixed together which you blow to find out the correct note to tune each string to. That's about all the advice I can think of at the moment. I'll go off now and prepare my notes for next time when I'll be showing you some chords that you'll actually be able to sing a song to.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Slade In Flame, the Panther book by John Pidgeon, jumped to No.3 in the best selling paperbacks according to the Sunday Times chart. It is one of the largest printings Panther have done for home market only, (250,000) ... The long awaited release date for North and South Ireland is 19th May, where it will be screened in all major towns ... Advance congratulations to Paul Taylor who is marrying his fiance on June 7th to the sounds of Slade played on the church organ ... Over the last six months the boys have purchased new cars; Jim, a blue Silver Shadow, Dave, a gold Silver Cloud, Don, a brown and green Silver Cloud and Nod, a gold Cornish Convertible. When travelling together they use the groups' car - a Phantom Six Rolls Royce ... Congratulations to Adrian Falconer who won a competition run by the television programme Day By Day, and spent the day with Slade which was filmed and televised later in the day.
BRITISH TOUR
During the tour, programmes will be available in the foyers of all the venues, so please do not patronise the 'Rip Off' merchants selling low quality Posters, Programmes, T-Shirts and Pendants etc., outside the theatres.
The full dates are as follows:-
April 18th - Winter Gardens, Bournemouth
April 20th - Odeon, Birmingham
April 21st - Capital Theatre, Cardiff
April 22nd - Colston Hall, Bristol
April 23rd Gaumont, Southampton
April 25th - New Victoria, London
April 26th New Victoria, London
April 27th Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
April 29th - Belle Vue, Manchester
April 30th - City Hall, Newcastle
May 2nd - Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
May 3rd - Apollo Theatre, Glasgow
May 4th - Citadel, Edinburgh
May 5th - Empire, Liverpool
ANY QUESTIONS?
Lots of fans have written in asking where they can obtain old singles and the L.P'S Beginnings and Play it Loud. If the single is over two years old it has been deleted and therefore unobtainable unless a shop has any left over stock. The L.P. Beginnings (released in the U.S.A. as BALLZY), is now deleted and, in fact, very rare. Recently I have heard that a copy was sold for £12. On the other hand, Play It Loud is still available but not all record shops stock it. These shops can order it from Polydor, record No. 2383 026.
Some fans have also enquired about an album called Coz I Luv You, this I'm afraid, was only released in Europe and therefore unobtainable in the British Isles.
Look out for a new single to be released by Slade end of April or beginning of May. They are at present in the recording studios laying down the song, but as of yet nobody knows what to call it.
That seems to be it, cheerio for now.