SLADE

Slade foi uma banda britânica de glam rock formada em Walsall, Wolverhampton em 1966. Foram inicialmente um grupo de Rhythm and blues, sob o nome "The 'N Betweens", e mais tarde um grupo de folk rock sob o nome "Ambrose Slade".

Tornaram-se bastante popular no início da década de 1970, desta vez adotando o estilo glam rock e finalmente o nome "Slade", lançando uma série de canções que lideraram as paradas musicais britânicas.

O Slade foi um dos grupos musicais mais representativos do glam rock, sendo a banda mais bem-sucedida, comercialmente, do Reino Unido durante a década de 1970 de acordo com o The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums. Nesse período, foi a banda que mais liderou os charts do Reino Unido, tendo colocado 17 singles no top vinte em apenas três anos (1971–1974), 6 deles em primeiro lugar. Eles também foram os primeiros a liderar as paradas britânicas por três vezes consecutivas. Todas as seis canções líderes do Reino Unido foram compostas pelo vocalista Noddy Holder e pelo guitarrista Jim Lea. Apesar de tudo, o grupo começou a perder popularidade em meados da mesma década devido a uma turnê malsucedida na América do Norte.

Em 1980, recuperam sua popularidade quando foram convidados de última hora para substituir o músico Ozzy Osbourne nos Festivais de Reading e Leeds. Ainda no início de 1980, voltaram as paradas britânicas com o lançamento do single "My Oh My", que também apareceu no ranking dos Estados Unidos. Em 1991, estavam novamente entre os melhores do Reino Unido com o single "Radio Wall of Sound".

A banda se separou em 1992, e dois membros da formação original formaram o grupo "Slade II" no mesmo ano, mas ainda assim é referida somente como "Slade".

No auge de sua carreira, o Slade teve como concorrente conceituados grupos musicais como Wizzard, Sweet, T. Rex, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter, Queen e David Bowie. As vendas totais no Reino Unido situam-se em torno de 6 milhões de cópias, sendo que o single "Merry Xmas Everybody" já vendeu mais de um milhão de cópias.[1]

Diversos artistas de gêneros como punk rock, grunge e glam metal já mencionaram ter Slade como influência. Incluindo Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Kiss, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot, Poison, Def Leppard, Cheap Trick e Oasis.[2]

Slade - Full Concert - 08/04/75 - Winterland (OFFICIAL) 

Although Slade saw their biggest commercial success between 1972 and 1974, this show, culled from the archives of promoter Bill Graham, showed the Brit rockers were still red-hot as a live act in 1975.

Opening with "Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing," they move next into "Bangin' Man," a song that described life as a rock star in the mid-1970s. Another highlight is an extended version of "Let The Good Times Roll," which moves into "Get Down and Get With It." There are more big hits thrown in for good measure, making this a complete Slade show.

Formed in 1966 in the English industrial midlands as the N'Betweens, the band soon built up a formidable following on the live circuit playing their own versions of contemporary rock covers and obscure U.S. R&B records. A name change to Ambrose Slade and a record deal with Fontana records followed, but it wasn't until 1969, when they were signed up by former Jimi Hendrix manager and Animals bass player Chas Chandler, did Slade begin to make themselves known to a wider audience.

Chandler changed their name to simply Slade, and it was he along with publicist Keith Altham who changed their image to that of "Britain's first skinhead band," a move that, while it got them the publicity they wanted, didn't help with any chart success until 1971, when they released their version of an obscure Bobby Marchan track entitled "Get Down With It." That song propelled the band into the charts of the day with a #16 hit. By now they had grown their hair, and as the U.K.'s flagship TV pop show, Top Of The Pops was now being transmitted in color, they adopted a "primary colors rule" approach and were one of the pioneering bands of the glam look. "Get Down With It" was soon followed up by the first of their six U.K. #1 hits "Coz I Luv."

Slade then embarked upon a five-year run of constant chart success in their homeland and were huge in Europe and Australia. Despite many attempts at breaking the U.S. market, they never really caught on with the record-buying public but were influential nonetheless with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, who witnessed them at New York's Academy. Simmons has recently admitted that without Slade, there would have been no KISS.

It would take America another decade before Slade received their first chart hits with the early-'80s songs, "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway." This success followed the publicity they received after Quiet Riot had scored successive #1 U.S. hits with covers of two of Slade's biggest hits "Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," the latter which can be heard here as the show's closer.

This show was recorded in August of 1975 while Slade was touring to promote the soundtrack LP from their feature film Flame, which had been released to critical acclaim in their homeland. Many of the songs here are from that album, including "How Does It Feel?," widely regarded as the band's finest moment. The classic hits are represented too, including "Gudbye T'Jane," "Far Far Away" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," as well as long-time stage favorite "Just Want A Little Bit," which features the blistering bass of virtuoso Jimmy Lea.

0:00:00 - Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing

0:05:19 - Bangin' Man

0:10:04 - Gudbye T' Jane

0:14:27 - Thanks For The Memory

0:20:52 - How Does It Feel?

0:26:15 - Just A Little Bit

0:35:46 - Let The Good Times Roll / Feel So Fine

0:44:04 - Get Down and Get With It

0:52:18 - Mama Weer All Crazee Now