MELODY MAKER Band Breakdown - 4 March 1972

Words by Chris Charlesworth ~ Pictures by Barrie Wentzell

DON POWELL is the quiet member of Slade, the toughest-looking of the bunch and the least known. He started drumming at 15 after playing the bugle in the Scouts and graduated to the drums for marching practice around the streets of Wolverhampton.

"I wanted to play the drums in the Scouts but you had to learn the bugle first. I used to stand at the back and puff my cheeks out so that it looked as though I was playing. They found out but let me play a drum all the same."

At 17, he borrowed a kit and joined the In Betweens. "I just picked it up as I went along. The group were playing rock numbers, many that I'd never heard before. I had to buy the record and take it home to learn the drumming because I wasn't into rock and roll at all at the time. All the rest of the groups were doing Buddy Holly material, but we went through all the different styles.

"When Dave joined us he was Chuck Berry influenced, but we went through blues and on to the Stax and Tamla things as well. I always used to listen to the bass drum on records. I could never be bothered with the cymbals or hi-hats. I like a full sound and not tinny noises."

Don remembers the skinhead days of Slade with some regret. " We could never get interviews because interviewers would refuse to talk to more than one of us in one room at any one time. I think they thought we were going to hit them. Everywhere we went people thought we were going to cause trouble. Other groups wouldn't play on the same bill as us, or they wouldn't speak to us in the dressing room.

"Looking back at the publicity photos I can understand it because we looked really hard, especially me. I used to go and get the cash for the gigs because I looked the hardest. It was difficult to con us."

Don was always optimistic about eventually being successful throughout the lean years. "We all seemed to know that sometime we would make it.I never thought anything else. I think Chas Chandler has played as big a part as we have because he has given us confidence and pushed us to do things we wouldn't do ourselves. He has made us more confident in our records. We have never gone on stage with our heads down."

Don helps in the writing of the lyrics to Slade's songs. "I can't play anything else besides the drums, and it's very hard if I write anything to get it through to the others. I never write around a drum pattern, but I am learning to play the guitar so that might help. I have just started miking the drums up on stage because I love it when it's loud. Only once have I been hurt because of the noise at the back which was really hitting me. It's best to work up a real sweat as a drummer, and push it as hard as you can."