Slade – in concert from Golders Green Hippodrome, London – May 28, 1972 – BBC Radio 1 In Concert –
Slade to end out the week. One of those bands who were massively popular everywhere else in the world, but the U.S. in the 1970s – transitioning over from a largely Skinhead Hard Rock band to Glam/Metal, Slade capitalized on the impossibly high voice of Noddy Holder, the impossibly high platform shoes of Dave Hill and the impossibly bad spelling of their song titles (“Look Wot U Dun”). By 1972, the year of this concert, they were a household name – their then-latest album Slayed? would reach Number 2 and stay in the charts for 52 weeks and they were selling out concerts everywhere; except in the U.S.
Why they couldn’t get arrested over here during that time is a mystery – although, knowing the musical landscape in America at the early 70s, it wasn’t too hard to imagine America finding itself under siege by an attack of mellow while Disco was making grumblings in clubs all across the country to think about Slade.
It really wasn’t until the 1980s that Slade managed to crack the seemingly impenetrable wall of American musical tastes and gain a strong foothold. Mostly because they were riding a wave of Metal at the time, due to the popularity of Slade’s Cum On Feel The Noize which was covered by the U.S. band Quiet Riot – it was the Quiet Riot single which brought attention and curiosity over who the originals were that suddenly made them a popular item, some 10 years after the fact.
This concert takes them back to that early stage of worldwide popularity – recorded in concert at Golders Green Hippodrome by BBC Radio 1 for their In Concert Series, this is Slade as fans knew them best.
If you missed them during this time, most everyone in the U.S. did too, so don’t feel left out. If you’ve never heard them before, this was one of the cornerstone bands of the Glam era. Not as theatrical as say, Bowie or as dramatic as Mott The Hoople, but loud and snotty as only a band of former skinheads could be.
Play loud.
