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Friday 13 March 2020

The Slade Brigade


Everyday by Slade popped up on the radio the other night and it got me thinking as to whether they had appeared on these pages before. No, seems to be the answer which is slightly strange given that The Sweet have appeared a few times.
A Glam Blur v Oasis debate. Who was the best?
I'm going for Sweet in this instance given that spelling was never Slade's strongpoint.
I actually saw Slade at the Glasgow Apollo just after they had moved on from their glam phase and had become a semi Heavy Metal Band.Not quite sure why.

I know an ex-blogger who once saw Dave Hill  doing his shopping at Waitrose in Wolverhampton

Slade - Everyday

Slade - Far Far Away

Slade - Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me

11 comments:

  1. This video of take me back hlme has greatly cheered me up

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEOoXjdnOmw

    Was Dave Hill actually a bit baldy hence that preposterous hairstyle? I never did ask him.......

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  2. Definitely Sweet, but either of them well ahead of Blur or Oasis

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  3. If you're going to talk about Slade and Sweet, you have to give a mention to Mud and the demigod that was Les Gray.

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    1. A frient tells a story of ehen he was Ents Sec at Bell St Tech in Dundee and had booked Les Gray.
      The bold les turned up with two ladies of the night and a bottle of champagne and promptly passed out.
      They managed to revive him and he went out and put on a stonking show

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    2. A gem. I'm nicking that one. For short while I was on the Ents Cttee at Aberdeen College of Ed. We booked some great bands back then but the most amazing was when a Glasgow band called Tear Gas played the 1st half of their show and then a bloke in a striped jumper asked if he could front the band for the 2nd half. I recognised and said "Yes, please do". The bloke went on stage and sang a string of oldies including Del Shannon's "Runaway". His name was Alex Harvey and that night, we lucky folk saw the 1st live gig by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (and yes, even then Zal Cleminson wore clown make up.)

      I have another tale about Frankie Miller and my mate Andy, but that'll keep for another day.

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  4. At my school in 1971/2 it was strictly a case of T.Rex vs Slade. No prizes for guessing on which side my allegiances fell at the time.
    https://thenewvinylvillain.com/2017/09/15/an-imaginary-compilation-album-139-t-rex/
    Sweet sat outside that particular contest for us. We all got into them them from the moment we flipped the 'Co-Co' single and found the mighty 'Done Me Wrong All Right' on the b-side.

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    1. Just read on your blog of Dave Hill sacking Don Powell which is a little sad.

      Slightly preferred Slade to Sweet myself but they both made some fantastic singles.

      Jamie

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  5. Slade could've/should've been in Britain in 1976 - they would've been hailed as one of the godfathers of Punk. Too busy in America, and then going into decline.
    Their early 80s HM phase (in my mind) proves what they could've brought to the party.
    Still rate the guitar solo on "My Oh My" as one of Dave's best.

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    1. A bit hyperbolic there but at your prodding, just watched a clip of My Oh My on a 1973 David Frost prog and for a few seconds I was transported back to that time - we often say/it is often said that things were more innocent back then but of course they weren't, bad things have always happened and we're just recalling our responsibility-free youth. Summat like that anyway.

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  6. Everyday was one of Slade's best songs but people remember the earlier stuff with the childlike spelling best.

    As TS said it was T.Rex v Slade. Sweet had their heyday ever so slightly later so weren't direct competition at the time. Think I would have come down on the side of T.Rex at the time but looking back now Noddy and the boys certainly had fun making those daft records and Dave Hill's outfits and hairstyles were a sight to behold.

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