Slade were massive, and what did massive bands do at this time ? Well they made a movie didn’t they, usually some sort of slapstick comedy caper, which is exactly what Slade didn’t do. Slade only went and made what is now regarded as one of the greatest films about the grubby side of the music business, “Slade in Flame”.

The film sees two rival bands playing the club circuit (the backing band for ageing singer Jack Daniels (!) features Dave Hill, Jim Lea and eventually Don Powell while the singer for Roy Priest & the Undertakers is Noddy Holder). Those 4 eventually come together as the fictitious Flame who are taken on by a marketing company and eventually reach the top, only to break up at their peak due to their disillusionment with the business. It’s a dark and gritty film, described by critic Mark Kermode as the “Citizen Kane of rock musicals" and stars some great British acting talent as the supporting cast, Tom Conti, Alan Lake and Johnny Shannon (one of those you’d know him if you saw him actors) among them.

The other star of the film is Slade’s soundtrack, which makes up arguably their absolutely best album. It kicks off with the utterly brilliant “How Does It Feel ?” a song I’ve loved since first hearing it aged around 12. It was played at a dear, dear friends funeral as the curtains closed around him some years ago. I was fine until that point but as Jim Lea’s piano started I couldn’t hold it in anymore and turned into a blubbering wreck, it still tears me up now. 

“Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing” appears in the film being played at the newly formed Flame’s first gig. It’s prime glam-rockin’ Slade and the scene itself is perfect, with Noddy as music hall front man and the band really flying.

There is plenty more prime rockin’ Slade to keep fans happy. "O.K. Yesterday Was Yesterday”, the superb "Lay It Down" and “Standing On The Corner” are all real rockers. But Slade were changing, lead single “Far Far Away” demonstrated that. It was a gentle acoustic tune regaling the listener with tales of some of the things the band had seen and done while touring the world but professing ultimately that there’s no place like home. It’s a great, great song and reached #2 on the singles chart. Follow up single “How Does It Feel ?” confirmed the bands growing musical horizons but only reached #15, the first time they had missed the top 5 since “Get Down And Get With It” in 1971.

The film itself being quite bleak and the noticeable change in sound, following on from “Old, New, Borrowed & Blue”, means you can mark the release of this film and album as the point in time where Slade lost their crown as Britain’s favourite band. “Slade in Flame” really is their strongest album but Slade were seen as a good time, Glam-tastic, boot-stomping singalong band and on this album they were obviously moving on and away from that. America beckoned and Slade would never again be the chart topping good time boys of the early 70’s.

Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing - https://youtu.be/nePTkyIEPjM?si=B1btmJ6jdiWKMhEE

The album that Slade had begun to record when drummer Don Powell was involved in a serious car accident was finally released in February 1974. As the follow up to “Slayed?” it was maybe not what fans were expecting. It contains 12 songs, 11 written by Lea/Holder but if what you were expecting was another record of the “street rock” of “Slayed?” well, “Old, New, Borrowed And Blue” is somewhat more varied than that.

It starts in fine style with a Glam-tastic roar through 50’s R&B groover “Just A Little Bit”, orignally written and recorded by Rosco Gordon in 1959 and issued at the same time by Tiny Topsy (a version that caught on on the rare soul scene in the 21st century). After that it’s Lea & Holder all the way. “When The Lights Are Out” is a rare Slade song NOT sung by Noddy Holder but by Jimmy Lea. It’s a bouncy, poppy thing, very much the twin of “Miles Out To Sea” later on side 1. If you were to ask me for an example of Noddy Holder in good form I would point you toward “My Town”. The song is a harmonious Beatle-esque romp but the vocal, hells teeth it’s a miracle Nod’s larynx survived. Should you ever wonder why it was that AC/DC wanted Noddy to replace Bon Scott all your answers are here in “My Town”.

Side 1 concludes with “We're Really Gonna Raise The Roof” which sounds exactly like you would imagine a Slade song titled “We're Really Gonna Raise The Roof” would sound. But wait, the sharp eyed Slade fans among you are shouting…you’ve missed one out, and indeed I have. If you’ve ever heard a Slade live recording or been lucky enough to see them live you may have noted Noddy Holder’s onstage persona. It’s part rock ’n’ roller, part cheeky chappy music hall comic, part fairground barker, it’s quite old fashioned with the feel of another time. Reportedly his first live performances were as a young boy, stood on a table at his Dad’s working mens club singing old songs for the drinkers. And boy does he channel all those influences on Side 1’s remaining song “Find Yourself A Rainbow”. It’s a proper wartime style, back street pub singalong led by honky-tonk barrelhouse piano, played by Tommy Burton, a black country pianist who Slade likely met at their regular watering hole The Trumpet in Bilston (The Trumpet is not actually the pubs name, trivia fans, but a nickname. The pubs name is really the Royal Exchange and to find out why it picked up that nickname, you have to visit the pub). Street rock this ain’t!

The weird and wonderful sounds continue on t’other side. The fantastic “Do We Still Do It”, “Don't Blame Me” (which had originally appeared as the B-Side to "Merry Xmas Everybody" the previous year) and “Good Time Gals” are what you might rightly expect from Slade. But “How Can It Be” comes on as a bizarre Country/Calypso hybrid. Which leaves us with the two singles “My Friend Stan” and “Everyday”. The piano is back for “Everyday” although this time played by Jim Lea. It’s a big soppy love ballad which does have a sister song which I much prefer (“She Did It To Me” the B-side of follow up single “The Bangin' Man” and containing the lyric “Cos I knew that soon we'd fall, ‘Everyday' has said it all”). “My Friend Stan” is another piano led song that is something of a cross twixt “Everyday” and “Find Yourself A Rainbow”, a good pop song that has the music hall feel about it.

“Old, New, Borrowed And Blue” reached #1 in the UK and was certified Gold by the BPI before it was released, on pre-orders alone (in 1974 that meant sales of £150,000 when an LP cost around £2.50, so around 60,000 pre-orders !). Maybe the stylistic adventures were already planned, maybe they came about because of the extra songwriting time Jim and Nod had due to Don’s recovery. Who knows but it was a brave, and successful move.

Find Yourself A Rainbow - https://youtu.be/_uVXg__7uQE?si=D6mVWvKiQmyd3d86

“Sladest” is a compilation, a rather strange compilation and OK it begins with “Cum On Feel The Noize” which you would think negates my waffling about this song at the end of our last blog post. But let me say it again…”Sladest” is a compilation, you get it. ? Good, then on we go.

Eight of the tracks are big hit singles, including 5 #1’s. Of the remaining 6 songs one is from previous album “Slayed?”, four are from “Play It Loud” and lastly there’s a flop single from 1969. All in all a very strange collection.

“Slayed?” had been released in November 1972 and their next album, “Old, New, Borrowed And Blue”, appeared in February 1974, that‘s only 15 months apart which these days is not a great deal of time between albums. In 1973, for a “pop” group, it was a lifetime. 

On the 4th July 1973 drummer Don Powell was involved in a serious car accident which threw Don’s and Slade’s future in to doubt. He was in a coma for 6 days and tragically his fiancée, Angela Morris, did not survive the crash. Slade had begun to record their next album but that was obviously now delayed. Polydor obviously felt that a gap needed filling and in September 1973 “Sladest” was that filler.

The strangest inclusion is the 1969 single “Wild Winds Are Blowing”. It was released by Fontana Records so it wasn’t even a Polydor recording (although by 1972 the Polygram group, which at the time was a subsidiary of Polydor, was distributing the Fontana catalogue). To have this and “Cum On Feel The Noize” on the same album is a striking demonstration of how far Slade had come in just 3 years.

Wild Winds Are Blowing - https://youtu.be/FLzvI2d0IJo?si=waoARGScbiX8KNlO