SLADE ALIVE - EVERYONE'S A WINNER

Published in 1976, '' ROCK ON THE ROAD '' was a collection of essays on some of the major ROCK and POP acts of the day with photos by MICK GOLD. The book contained an excellent contribution from SIMON FRITH who describes how SLADE '' Weaned the hooligans off the football terraces and back into the concert halls '' . FRITH attended their EARLS COURT show in JULY 1973 and GOLD took photos at HAMMERSMITH ODEON in MAY 1974. What follows is an excerpt from the article and all of the photos that originally accompanied it

'' We went down the Kings Road first - a sunny afternoon and elegant accents, the shops were playing David Bowie and everyone looked suitably weary. French coffee and we got the tube at Sloane Square: it was packed with West Ham's North End. On their way rather than coming back, but happy like they'd already won. Scarves waving, shouting, elbowed ribs - no aggro, friendly but private. They knew something we didn't and by the time we reached Earls Court we'd picked up a Terrace Convention. Clenched greetings but they marched from the station at respectful distances. The singing began: rival anthems, graphic rudeness, but still no trouble. It was truce night. In the stadium the terraces came together and the enemy was outside '' 

'' At a football match the energy of the crowd moves in response to what is happening on the field - it is almost possible to follow a game just by listening. Not completely though, because the bond between footballers and their audience is twisted by two factors. First the crowd is not at one: every moment of joy is someone else's moment of frustration, every step forward is someone's mistake. In games of particular excitement or boredom or skill or brutality the contradictory responses of rival fans can create a pitch of tension which quite transcends what is happening on the real pitch - the crowd's energy becomes self-generated. Secondly, although footballers do respond to their crowds, only rarely do they do so exactly. The crowd is willing them to break the limits of their and their comrades' skills, to ignore the reality of the opposition, the pitch, the weather. Mostly they can't and if you do listen to a football match what you hear is brief moments of exhilaration punctured by periods of lull '' 

'' In it's cheerfulness and unselfconscious passion, Slade's concert was much more like a football match than any rock concert I'd ever seen. But it was unlike any football match too - Slade's bond with their audience was total and never broke: there were no twists. It was easy to say why: Slade's crowd was at one, they had all come to see Slade win and there was no opposition, no rival supporters, no reasons for bitterness: and Slade could and did respond to the crowds demands, they had no opponents to trip them, no lumpy turf, and although their musical skills are limited those weren't the skills they needed for this night anyway - skill here was not a matter of technique but of picking up moods and laying them down without missing a beat of the communal stomp '' 

SKINHEAD SLADE

In 1969 publicist Keith Altham was struggling to gain column inches for the under achieving ROCK band SLADE.The group were managed by CHAS CHANDLER {who had discovered JIMI HENDRIX} but neither their debut LP ''BEGININGS'' or the singles pulled from it had met with any success.

Then he hit on a bold plan to re-style the band in the mold of a teenage fashion that was receiving considerable media attention: SKINHEAD.The skinheads were a smart working class subculture that matched MOD CLOTHING and PROLETARIAN WORKWEAR with the CROPPED HAIRCUT which gave them their name.It was a reaction against both the older generations adoption of longer hair {coupled with a more relaxed dress code} and the look of the 'HIPPY DROPOUT' which had been widely adopted by the young middle class at this time.

                                               SKINHEAD FASHION CIRCA 1969/70

SLADE were initially reluctant to go with this makeover,but faced with an anonymous future on the collage circuit they embraced the chance of appealing to this untapped audience.The group were duly marched to the barbers, dressed in the relevent clothes and attended a hastily arranged photo session.

NODDY HOLDER

JIM LEA

DAVE HILL

DON POWELL

Initially the gamble seemed to pay off.The press started covering the group and they made their first TV appearence performing their current 45 ''Wild Winds Are Blowing''



Despite the attention the new look had got them,the record and two following singles didn't shift in great numbers and they failed to gain acceptence with the majority of skinheads

''We played in Bornmouth one night and it was full of skinheads.We went on stage and they just saw right through us''
DON POWELL

Undeterred the group paid attention to building up their live following and in November 1970 an LP ''PLAY IT LOUD'' was released

                       
                             OUTTAKES FROM THE ''PLAY IT LOUD'' cover photoshoot

SKINHEAD was an aspect of WORKING CLASS STREET FASHION and as such was constantly evolving.First the look moved closer to the earlier look of the MODS.Three button TONIC SUITS,heavy welted BROGUE SHOES,COLOURFUL TIES and ARGYLE KNITWEAR were worn with slightly LONGER HAIR.This development was dubbed SUEDEHEAD.Then came ROUND COLLOR SHIRTS,CHECKED 'RUPERT' TROUSERS,SPOON TOED SHOES and HAIR GROWN OVER THE COLLAR.The overall appearance now contrasted greatly with the look at the start of the decade and became known as SMOOTHIE.

                                            SUEDEHEAD / SMOOTHIE FASHION CIRCA 1970/71

DAVE HILL acknowledged how their dalliance with skinhead culture influenced the future image and sound of the band:

''I developed a hairstyle which came from that skinhead thing where I had very long hair but with a very short fringe.If you think about the bovver boots developing into bigger boots and us having an audience where there all going {stamps feet} all this stamping lark''

JAMAICAN IMMIGRANTS greatly influenced the sartorial style of the SKINHEADS.Trousers worn at 'HALF-MAST',PORK PIE HATS and even the CROPPED HAIRSTYLE itself were borrowed from the the jamaican 'RUDE BOY'.REGGAE was also their music of choice and while this left SLADE somewhat out in the cold with a vast number of skins,those who did follow the band provided a lively contrast to the 'sit down' PROGESSIVE ROCK crowd.The skins were well accustomed to call and response REGGAE tunes like the ''SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP'' and this would have quite an effect on the band and inspire the recording of their breakthrough song: A cover of a little known LITTLE RICHARD number ''GET DOWN AND GET WITH IT''.NODDY remembers playing it live:

''We started doing it and the skinheads used to love that bit at the finish where you put your hands in the air and take your boots off and all that''

The song was released complete with an overdub of STAMPING BOOTS in May 1971 and started to climb the charts.Noddy's raucous vocals and the gruops powerhouse performance made the record stand out and visually they had added some quirky elements to their basic street fashions.Noddy wore a distinctive oversized CHECKED FLAT CAP and SCARF in the style of the British newspaper comic strip character ANDY CAPP.Dave inspired by the new 70's pop sensation MARC BOLAN glammed up in androgynous MULTICOLORED COATS and KNEE LENGTH BOOTS.the GLITTER ROCK image they would be known for had begun to take shape.

The record peaked at number 16 and was the first of 17 consecutive Top 20 hits for the band.The follow up single ''COZ I LUV YOU'' went to NUMBER ONE in November and the band went on to define the GLAM ROCK era become one of the top selling acts in UK POP history.

A PROMO FILM FOR ''GET DOWN AND GET WITH IT''



                                                           SLADE 1971

                                       
                                           SLADE FULLY GLAMMED UP IN 1972

SLADE quotes from:
''SLADE FEEL THE NOISE'' the official biography 1984
''IT'S SLADE'' BBC TV documentary 1999