DON POWELL INTERVIEW with Paul Lythe, FEBRUARY 10th 1988
Originally printed in the Jan - March 1988 issue of PERCY.

Don and his wife Joan graciously invited me into their home in London to talk about how things are going at the moment. The band have yet to decide their plan of action for the rest of the year. So before finding out what he has been doing with himself, I first asked Don what he thought went wrong chart-wise with the last two singles 'You boyz' and 'We won't give in'.

Do you really think it is the lack of airplay?

"I really don't know why we have problems like that. We just seen to get the token plays, but the records tend not to bite and get dropped. Obviously we are disappointed and will have to decide what we are going to do next. At the moment, no-one in the UK seems to want to know. We never seem to get any recognition for anything we do. Even rock encyclopaedias about the 70's never mention us and the BBC have virtually ignored us in their 'Rock and roll years' programmes."

"It just doesn't seem fair because Nod and Jim are still great songwriters and have never received the recognition they truly deserve. We had three singles in 1973 go straight to number one - even the Beatles didn't accomplish that, but it's a feat that's never remembered!  I've had a few Radio One producers to dinner and they say they can only give records a token play, and if there's no reaction, that's as far as it goes."

But hundreds of fans wrote in to the station for plays of 'We won't give in' and Bruno Brookes was complaining about it!

"I know. Doesn't make sense, does it? Someone up there has got it in for us!"

I thought 'You boyz make big noize' was one of the most contemporary things to come out of the band for a long time and deserved far more success.

"I agree, but that fell on deaf ears as well, didn't it? Again, I just don't know what the answer is. One day we'll get it right."

Enough said. Well, what have you been doing recently?

"In fact I've written a children's book called 'Bibble Brick' and I am currently waiting for the drawings to be completed for it. I've seen a few drafts and they are looking good. I don't want to say too much about the storyline just yet, but I can say that Joan has written four songs that go with it, so we may be looking to release it as a book / cassette type package. It could lend itself very well to TV or radio, so perhaps something might happen there as well."

Don's wife had recently been conducting interviews on BBC Radio 4's 'Kaleidoscope' for the World Service and was a free lance journalist. She is also very knowledgeable about the antiques world and wrote columns in many national newspapers on the subject. I asked Don if his wife is educating him on the subject of antiques and how well is he doing?

"I'm really enjoying myself and learning all the time. We often go to fairs around the country together and it is very interesting. I eagerly point out pieces, thinking I've found a bargain, and she just says 'reproduction!'

Have you bought any pieces for yourself recently?

"As a matter of fact, on my last trip I couldn't resist a lovely teapot I found that I thought would look good on the piano in our lounge. Joan thought it was hideous and banished it to under a chair in the kitchen. Shame!"

I reminded Don about one of those trips when he put diesel in the car by mistake. Had he learnt his lesson?

"Yes. It's funny. Every time I go into a garage now I always look twice before I fill up. I've certainly learnt that lesson the hard way. I really wanted a big hole to swallow me up that day!"

How is your solo project coming along now?

"Well. It was shelved for a long time while we were recording the last album, but the basic tracks have all been put down. Joan wrote the melody and we recorded it at Jona ('Stop the cavalry') Lewie's studio. It still needs re-mixing and finishing properly though."

(At this point Don asked if I would like to hear the rough tape. I was very honoured and can best describe it as a possible dance record with a rhythmic beat. I will definitely be interested to hear the finished product.)

"If I manage to get a record company interested in it we'll see if it can be released. It's entitled 'Amnesia', which is very apt, don't you think?"

Yes. How are you coping with that nowadays?

"OK really. It comes and goes all the time. The other day I went out to some local shops, but when I went to find the car - you guessed it - I'd forgotten where it was. I thought it was basically down to a choice of four streets, but just couldn't find it and I was left thinking that maybe it wasn't one of those and got totally confused! In the end I had to sheepishly ask a taxi driver to run me around until we could find it. I was very embarrassed to ask, but he turned round to me and said 'Believe it or not, mate - you're the second bloke today to do that' and he asked me if I was new to the area. I daren't try to tell him the whole story, so I just laughed to myself and said yes. Fortunately, that kind of thing doesn't happen too often these days!"

What sort of music do you listen to at home?

All kinds really. The last album I bought was 'ESP' by The Bee Gees, which I thought was great. I've also bought all The Beatles albums on CD, but I'm sure that wasn't a very smart move because all the flaws are highlighted with the better sound quality. I prefer to remember how they originally sounded in the 60's."

How is your country residence coming along now?

"Everything is fine, although we are mainly based in London because of Joan's work commitments, we do like to get down there when ever we can."

So life's based around Joan at the moment then?

"Yes. In fact I'm basically a kept man! While Joan goes out to work I sit at home doing interviews. I love every minute of it. Joan is like a rock to me and she has made ma a better man for it. It's a hard life!!"

Did you see The Who coming out of retirement to perform live at the BPI awards?

"Yes, I don't think they should have done it, though. They had obviously worked very hard to be able to do it and were cut off because the programme was too long. What a waste of time!"

Don't you think Slade fans will be saying 'if they can do it, why can't you?'

"It would take ages for us to come up to scratch, so I don't know how long The Who must have taken to rehearse even a short performance like that. I bet they are disappointed and wished they'd never bothered with all the hassle that it caused!"

I watched you on daytime live and your drumming was well synchronised with the music. How easy do you find it to mime on television shows?

"I don't find it too difficult as it tends to come fairly naturally to me. Although it can be awkward if the playback monitor is too quiet. It's strange really, a lot of TV studios have dreadful playback, but the Pebble Mill show was OK."

Simon Bates said recently that Slade seem to be haunted by the 'My oh my' hit. Do you think that this is true?

"Not really. I think we are probably more 'haunted' by 'Merry Xmas'!"

Have you ever considered the use of kettle drums in the production of Slade material?

"It is very difficult to answer that one. We try different things when we're in the recording studio to see how they sound. So maybe that will be something to consider for the future."

The song 'Love is' was thought to be a good choice for a single in 1985, but wasn't liked by RCA. Couldn't that be released on Cheapskate?

NODDY HOLDER was interviewed by PAUL LYTHE in London on 20th April 1988.
Originally printed in the April - June 1988 issue of PERCY.

I met Nod briefly at this hotel in London and was greeted by him in the lounge as he was talking to two members of a new heavy metal band 'Marshall Law' (Andy Pike - vocals and Andrew Southwell - guitar), who were both quizzing our man on how he has managed to last so long in the business. Andy was particularly interested in some hints on how to keep his voice in shape whilst on their current tour. Nod gave some 'fatherly' advice, but explained that his voice had always been fairly easy to 'maintain', having left Doctors completely baffled as to how he does it, a long time ago!

Having said goodbye to the new fans, I asked Nod if he had been doing anything of interest recently?

"Apart from the two BBC shows ('Pop score' and 'Back to square one'), I've recently recorded a song [which later turned out to be TEAR INTO THE WEEKEND] for a radio advert with Pepsi Cola. It had already been written and they asked me to put the vocal to it. It is a rock'n'roll type tune in the 'Mama weer all crazee now' mould."

How did they approach you to do it?

"I got a phone call out of the blue, they sent me the lyric and offered me some nice money, so I couldn't refuse!"

Why did they particularly pick you?

"Some guy in their production team was a fan in the seventies, and remembering the voice, thought I would fit the bill."

When will it be heard?

"It has been specifically made for the US and Canadian markets. if they should decide to go ahead with it, it will probably be broadcast within the next three months."

How long did you take to record it?

"It didn't take very long at all. In fact I went into the Redwood Studios in London and put my vocal to a backing track that had already been pre-recorded. As I was leaving, some session backing singers came in to finish it off."

Were you pleased with the result?

"I haven't actually heard the finished product yet, although it seemed pretty good at the time."

Do you think that the video compilation of the old favourites will ever be released?

"As you know, we are currently looking into the possibilities of doing it and would like to release the early 70's promotional films. the problem is locating them."

Now that you are not under contract with RCA anymore, will you be releasing anything for CBS in America?

"They contacted us in January, having heard some of the tracks that me and Jim demoed for the 'You Boyz' album, but hadn't actually used. They told us they liked them and we are waiting to see whether they will come back to us about it."

What do you think of the current situation here in the UK with the lack of interest in the last two singles?

"I don't really know why things haven't worked out for us. I suppose it has a lot to do with timing as well as having a good song. Look at the charts at the moment - Danny Wilson's song 'Mary's prayer' was originally released 18 months ago and I thought it was a great record then, even though it flopped. But now look at it . .  top ten!"

"It's always been the same in this business, luck and timing. I'm sure it will happen again for us. It's just a matter of the right song at the right time. Who knows why 'My oh my' should suddenly take off and have been such a huge hit, when the one before it did nothing? 'You boyz' was a great single, but obviously the timing wasn't right for it."

Do you think that 'You boyz' or any of the non-hits would ever be re-released then?

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of re-releasing them, but you can never tell. With a band like us there is always a song that will come along. We've got such a great back catalogue of good songs as well as the new ones. Look what Quiet Riot did for us in the States with 'Cum on feel the noize'. It became a huge hit for us as songwriters and created an interest in Slade for its origins. From that we were approached by the record companies and then 'Run runaway' gave us our first big hit out there. Who's to say that the Britny Fox version of 'Gudbuy T 'Jane' won't stir people up again!"

Have you had any approaches by other companies in the UK, or are you going to continue independently?

"We haven't really approached any other companies to take us on yet. At the moment I don't think it would be worth it, although I'm sure they would be interested, because they know we can still write good songs. I think at this point in time, if we came up with the right song, we could probably do it ourselves more easily. Don't forget, you have to work within the confines of the contract when you're tied to a big label and you have to do things how THEY want them done. With RCA, we would send them the demos of our songs and THEY would decide if it was good enough for release. They would also dictate whether we should use such and such producer, etc. OK, at the end of the day we still have to agree to it, but all of this takes time. Independently, we have the freedom of choice and can do what WE want to do. With the last album, we were held up waiting for producers to become available and songs we'd written and demoed a year earlier weren't even completed a year later!"

You must lose some of the excitement, then?

"Yes, the buzz and enthusiasm that the instantaneous thing can give you is lost. With the 'Boyz' single, we went into the studio and within two or three days it was finished. When you're hanging around for so long, waiting for the Ok to do this and that, you get fed up mucking about. Doing it yourself, you can churn it out when you want to. In the old days, we used to write a song, be in the studio one day and it could be on the radio the following day."

Will there be another single released this year?

"If the right song came along, yes, but we haven't got one at this particular moment in time, although who knows what will happen tomorrow . . .!!?"

FAN QUESTIONS TO NODDY HOLDER FROM PERCY THAT MONTH . .

Have you ever considered an album of Slade ballads?

"I've never really thought about that . . . actually I think that would be a very good idea. We've got some great ballads and it would probably work. Maybe not in the near future, but it's definitely worth considering."

With the last real success being the Reading festival, do you think it would be a good idea to release a heavy song along the lines of 'Won't you rock with me', which I think would go down really well?

"Yes, I think it would be a good idea, but then we considered 'You boyz' to be pretty heavy and of course 'We won't give in was a heavy ballad! Everyone we spoke to loved both of those records, but they just didn't catch on at all."

Of all the album tracks you've recorded, are there any that you regret were never released as a single? 'Hey ho wish you well' and 'Ooh la la in LA' always looked as if they would be follow up singles.

"That's a difficult one . . I thought Ooh la la in LA' was a great record, but probably not the right song for the UK, although it was released in Germany and did pretty well. One track I've always liked is 'It's your body not your mind' from the 'Til Deaf' album, and I thought perhaps that would have been a good one to put out. I tend to like a song all the way from the writing stage all the way through to the final production. Some I like when they're finished, but most of the ones I like, I've stuck with from those early stages."

Will Dave's solo album ever be released and do you feature on it at all?

"I've sung two tracks on it. Dave has written quite a lot of different songs and has mainly used girl singers. I don't know how he actually plans to release it yet though. He has done some good stuff - different to ours, quite similar to the group Heart."

What happened to the Andy Miller song you recorded a few years back?

"It was entitled 'Another win' and written for Status Quo by Andy and Francis Rossi, and Quo recorded it as well. We did it about four years ago and I liked it. We've probably still got the master tape somewhere, although it may not have been completely finished. the song was recorded by a few other artists, but Andy thought ours was the best version."

What happened to the duet with a 'famous' female singer and who was she?

"I recorded a track for Dave's album called 'What are we fighting for?' with Ruby Turner. Dave sent it to her record company, but they thought it was far too heavy for her, even though it came out really well! Since then he has used another female singer for the song, but he still has the original vocal on tape."

Are there any plans to release the 'older' material on CD at all?

"We've been approached about releasing some albums on mid-price CD's, but we don't want to do that. So at the moment only 'You boyz' and 'Rogues Gallery' have been released in the UK, although CBS basically released 'Kamikaze' as 'Keep your hands off my power supply' in the States."

PAUL LYTHE INTERVIEWED DAVE HILL AT SLADE'S OFFICES IN LONDON ON  27th JULY 1988 - THIS INTERVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE JULY - SEPT 1988 ISSUE OF PERCY.

I met Dave at the office in London and asked him what he had been doing lately and how was the solo project going?

"I'm still working with my girl singer and I'm currently trying to get someone interested in the material. We can then hope to make an album which could possibly include a track or two featuring Nod as a special guest. I've got one song already recorded by Nod, but we may do a couple more and then choose which ones to use. Nod's really doing it with me for the interest and to see how it sounds. It also helps us to keep us both involved and recording in the MIdlands is very enjoyable. I know fans are starved of material at the moment and although it's not Slade stuff, there is a lot of mine and there will obviously be certain similarities."

Do you intend to play any of it live at all?

"From a personal point of view, I would like to see myself possibly perform at some point in the future. I think that this would be refreshing, but would not mean the demise of the band or anything. It also doesn't mean that we won't be touring as a unit again. I never rule that out! I always think that to be very possible, should the timing be right. At this moment in time, I think the best thing for the band is to try out these individual projects. If anything should come of them, it will only serve to resurge the band itself."

Will you be getting another band together, then?

"I may do. I don't necessarily need a band as I'm writing with a guy called Bill Hunt, whom I've written songs with for about 5 years now.  We stockpiled stuff over the years and and used several singers. My original idea for a group was a Carol Decker / T'Pau type of thing, but that's already been done now. In a sense I suppose it could be more like The Eurythmics, although I would only do backing vocals!"

Have you settled on a singer yet?

"I like the girl I've got now, she's not a 'Sabrina' type. She can sing and is different to the current crop of female artists. Her name is Karen McKee, and together with Bob Lamb, i have produced a couple of demos for her. It's Bob's studio that I use and I suppose I've used it now for about 4 - 5 years. You know, it could almost be a bit of history in the making .. I don't think there's ever been a lead guitarist with a band who've had as many hits as Slade that has become successful again in his own right. That in itself is difficult to cope with, because it might not happen, but there's no point in me having that thought!"

What will happen if this should take off? Where would that leave the band's activities? Wouldn't there be a conflict?

"No. I don't think there would be a problem. I see it similar to Phil Collins. He can wear two hats - as himself and as Genesis. So I don't really think it would be difficult at all. But to put the fans at ease, I must say that there will never be another Slade, I'm just trying to diversify and keep myself active."

Are you trying to do this independently, or will you be approaching a big name label?

"I would be quite happy just to get the stuff heard, so an independent situation would suit me fine."

Do you have a problem thinking of ideas for your songs?

"Admittedly I would rather be touring around the world, because you can't get many ideas doing the washing up at home! I'm always looking for inspiration. I sometimes feel that I'm unemployed, because basically that's what it is. Slade are 'on ice' for the moment and I've got to keep myself occupied. I cannot afford to stop working. I don't want to retire and I certainly don't think that Slade have stayed together this long for nothing . . . "

Was there a genuine reason for parting with YOB 1?

"I didn't want to sell the car at a later date when I possibly might be forced to for one reason or another. It was just sitting in my garage not being used and would deteriorate, so the cost to keep it in good condition would grow. I thought it was such a great car that it deserved to be used, but it was a bit grand and showy for where I live. I find it more enjoyable driving round in my wife's Metro, without all the fuss that YOB 1 caused. the other thing was the fact that although it was a great number plate, I don't like the element of violence attached to 'Yobs' these days, especially with the football troubles."

"For Slade the yob thing was always a laugh, but nowadays the whole 'yobbo' syndrome is far too offensive. I know that maybe the fans will think it some sort of loss, but I really feel like if you have owned something like, say the 'superyob' guitar that Marco still has, let's face it, whoever it belonged to it will always be 'Dave Hill's guitar', won't it? The same will apply to that number plate. So really, it will always be with you even though you're without it!"

Were you sad about losing it on the big day?

"I was glad to see Jenny and a few other fans there. They were very supportive and distracted me from the situation. Had I been there on my own, maybe things would have been different."

When did you start taking an interest in the Jehovah faith and will it affect your career in any way?

"It all started just prior to the Reading festival and I hope that it will benefit my career because I will avoid certain things that could cause problems. The basic thing with the doctrine is that you don't just listen, you study the Bible and have to check it all out. I simply make a living in show business and you have to be very clean cut. Just look at Hank Marvin. He is an Elder of the congregation and has been a witness for a very long time. There are certain aspects I have to watch out for though. I cannot perform certain songs that might convey Satanical, sexual or political lines and I have to view things more deeply."

"For the fans, I would say that the only thing that affects me really is that I don't celebrate birthdays or Christmas and I wouldn't want to perform 'Merry Xmas' on TV, etc. Don't get me wrong though, it was a great part of my life and I still like the song a lot. I'm not a baptised Witness, although I'm not far from that. I'm not quite ready, although I do do door service, which can be very interesting when people recognise me, because they will talk to me rather than close the door like normal. Overall it has made me a better man. I'm trying to  be a bit more caring for people and make up for certain aspects of my past that I'm not too proud of. My kids are now 5, 7 and 13 years old and although I've been forced to stay at home a lot over the past few years, I don't think it has hurt, in fact it has brought us together more as a unit. On the other hand, I don't think a month or two away touring now will do me any harm!"

Do you think that by not touring over the last few years it has allowed the band to experiment and record songs that couldn't be played live on stage?

"I think we've always done songs that were difficult to play live, and with today's technology, anything would be possible. I think the use of tapes in conjunction with the set is now more acceptable. Having said that, we would probably only use them for a couple of songs anyway."

What do you think about the lack of public recognition for the band at the moment?

"The nature of this business is very fickle. One minute you're doing all the right things and the next you're forgotten. It has always been the same in this business. A few years ago we were patted on the back, now we're out of the limelight. In a way I can understand why people desert you and lose interest. But right now we nee all the fan to stand by us and be patient a little longer."

FAN QUESTIONS TO DAVE HILL THAT MONTH:

What was the guitar tuning used on the slide guitar for 'Gypsy Roadhog?

"If I can remember rightly it was:  Top E tuned to E / B tuned to B / G tuned to G# / D tuned up to E / A tuned up to B / Bottom E remains the same"  [the standard 'E' slide tuning] "So when you strike the strings openly you can play the chord and by running up and down the neck you play continuous chords. If you listen carefully you will notice that the song 'Them kinda monkeys can't swing' also uses the exact same tuning."

Do you find it easy to write your own songs?

Not really. Although I mustn't allow it to become a chore. It's easier to write songs when you're enjoying yourself and sometimes you get inspiration to do it at some very awkward times. I certainly don't want to force myself to do it!"

Why didn't Slade tour Denmark in 1980 / 1981 / 1982? 'We'll bring the house down' was a hit in 1981 and the album was selling very well.

"We were probably caught up with tours of Britain at the time and also it was maybe not a viable thing to do because of the costs involved to do it."

Whatever happened to Dave's 'Superyob' guitar? I know that Marco from Adam and The Ants bought it and used it in the 'Apollo 9' video, but how come Dave seemed to be using it in the 'Little Sheila' video?

"It still belongs to Marco, but I borrowed it again from him for that particular video. As a matter of fact, it was also used in another video a few years ago by Madness, so it has become quite famous in its own right!"

I have a single called 'Run with the Devil' and I'm sure it's Slade singing it. Is it them?

"He must mean an acetate or something. I don't remember it, but I'm not sure because it sounds familiar, although it's a title that I don't like!"

[The track could be by the group GUN, who released a single of the same name in the 70's]

Did you really blow the headsets in the studio where you recorded the 'Till deaf' album? (I have it on good authority that you did!)

"Pardon ??"

JIM LEA WAS INTERVIEWED BY PAUL LYTHE AND DAVE KEMP AT SLADE's LONDON OFFICE ON 5th OCTOBER 1988.
This interview was originally printed in the Oct - Dec 88 'Percy'.

Once again Dave Kemp and I had the opportunity to meet with Jim at the office in London and found him in good heart. Our first question was bout his involvement with the new single by Chrome Molly and about what was happening with it.

"Nod and I had actually written the track for Samantha Fox last year called 'Shooting me down'. We had been headhunted by Sam's record company and they wanted us to write a song for her, with me producing it. When we met them they told us that Stock, Aitken and Waterman had done a track with her, but by the way they were talking, they didn't seem overly struck on it. They said that there were two more songs to do for her album and asked when would our song be ready? I gave my usual reply and exclaimed 'when it happens!' I went on to explain that if it was going to come into my head, I would probably just think of it when I was walking down the street. So it was impossible to give them a specific time."

"To cut a long story short, a couple of weeks later, Nod and I demoed the tune and sent it off to the company. Literally two weeks after that, 'Nothing's gonna stop us now' was released and flew up the charts. Unfortunately, the album was hastily packaged and put out before she'd had time to record our song, so we literally missed the boat!"

What did they think of it though, and how did Chrome Molly eventually get to hear about the song?

"They liked it a lot and told us that they would still want to hold onto the track, but of course you could hang around forever. Chrome Molly sent me some of their tapes about a year ago. Basically they only had a publishing deal at that time, so I was a little puzzled and didn't know what they were asking me to do. They eventually got a deal with IRS, which is Miles Copeland's label and sent me another song eight weeks ago, which IRS said would be their next single. They initially wanted me to co-produce it with John Punter, which I didn't really mind. Although, what with costs of two producers plus the lack of authority in sharing the role, I didn't think it would really work out. Eventually it was agreed that I would do it on my own and I sent them 'Shooting me down' in case they might like it. Later on I rang their manager who asked me to come and see them play. He also explained they had a bit of a time problem, so I cut short my holiday in Cornwall to see them. When we met I asked what they thought of the song, to be told it was already in the band's set and that they loved it. The record company thought it was fantastic and gave us the go-ahead to do it as the single instead . . . in fact I saw them on the Saturday and we were in the studio on Monday. I didn't know the guys at all and we didn't even rehearse it, but everything went great."

How long did it take to record, then?

"We completed it in three days, which is just how I like to do things. Very reminiscent of our early days as Slade - straight in, no mucking about!"

What sort of song is it?

"Funnily enough, I've just done an interview with Kerrang about it and they suggested that it was very much like what Bon Jovi might have done. I replied yes it probably is, but was it really like that or what Slade might have done? I told him that Bruno Brookes played 'Mama' straight after Bon Jovi's 'Bad medicene track the other night and he had commented that a lot of the sounds in today's rock bands were done by Slade years ago. The reporter thought about it again and agreed that a lot of American bands do sound like an updated version of Slade, which was quite a compliment!"

Why doesn't Slade take advantage of this fact and cater for a new market then?

"Well I can't really answer that at the moment!"

We then moved on to a letter that I had received from Ossie Crabbe in Ireland. He had written to me explaining why he didn't renew his membership during 1988, using some very strong language. He wrote a 12 page letter, levelling many criticisms against the band, explaining that he was fed up with nothing happening and that certain events and no touring over the last five years had been a mistake. I had given Jim a copy of the letter at Earls Court a few days before and he was very eager to discuss it in detail . . .

"My first observation was that here was a guy who loves us so much that frustrated love had turned to hate, and I found it very interesting. In fact if I were to write a letter to the band about the current situation, I could have probably written most of what he did, because I DO understand his frustration and identified with it greatly, as no doubt you would."

"When we did the endless touring our loyal fans had us to themselves, but when we made it again, things weren't the same and we couldn't see everyone backstage like we used to - even though we wanted to. Now we have the situation where we're not in the limelight again and yet that contact is now missing. It's even more difficult and is a bigger problem for us now, because we must seem very distant to people like Ossie, who've probably never had to chance to even see us play live!"

"One criticism I can't agree with was that in his aggression he was saying 'be aggressive' for me, he said 'What are you, a f***ing ballad band?' The thing is for example, just before I went on stage at Nottingham University, 'My oh my' comes into my head . . .  There's nothing I can do about it . .  What am I supposed to do? Suddenly here's a tune that sounds like a hit record to me. Does Ossie want creativity stifled and me to be blinkered saying 'this is how we're gonna be' and ignore any other style, etc? If I'd thought like that, we wouldn't have had a hit with that song, which meant we wouldn't have come out of the doldrums in 1983!  We had hits with 'Everyday' and 'Far far away' and people DO like that sort of thing. So I couldn't agree with Ossie on that point. Mind you, even my brother Frank says 'Stop all this mucking about and be a rock band!' "

"Ossie also asked why did we do a 'crummy' college tour with 'My oh my'. the truth is we'd already agreed to do that tour before the song became a hit and we didn't know what would happen to it, so it was all very unfortunate."

"He also complained that only two of the band turned up at the convention . . and from my point of view I would like to say in the magazine to anyone who is interested that I am introverted and have great difficulty with being in crowds. I feel especially uncomfortable in that type of situation, because it's the way I've developed as a person over the years. I don't know whether I will always be like that and, who knows, one day I might be able to stand up at the convention and make a speech or something. Right now, though, I would feel very uncomfortable to go into a room with a lot of people who are fans. The other reason is that they will be asking the same kind of question as Ossie, possibly being as aggressive about it . .  and in any case I haven't any answers for them!"

"We've all got older and our inhibitions have changed over the years and Dave's are now out in the open about Christmas, etc. I think Nod's not saying he won't go on tour again because he won't, he's saying he can't at the moment! People's personalities change as they get older and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it! Unfortunately, Ossie's comments about not touring are difficult to answer. Our strongest point has always been live work and we have the power to steal the show like we did at Reading and Lochem. In fact we've recently been told that both shows 'died' after we left the stage because we'd used up all the energy the crowd had to offer, and for that reason it's a crying shame that we're not on the road."

Do you miss it, then?

"Yes I do, although as the years go by it's becoming not so important. I play badminton at my daughter's school and I don't think I've ever won a game, but I know I can win as the bass player with Slade. I don't get down at losing at badminton because I do it for the exercise, but I would get a lot more fun and far more exercise touring with Slade. For instance in 1980, we'd been doing all these daft tours and when I went into hospital for some tests they told me that I had the pulse of an Olympic athlete! There's so much energy used on stage and I would far sooner get my exercise like that, than with a badminton racket . .  even though I can't play the game anyway!"

Does that mean you would consider playing in another band?

"That is very difficult to answer, but I understand why Nod feels the way he does and why people change. I respect his decision fully and I am very loyal to the band. I certainly won't give up hope for the future. In any case I can't see that there will ever be another band with the power of Slade and Iwould definitely feel second rate in any other . . . "

What else have you been doing this year?

"Nothing! Zippo! In fact, the Chrome Molly project was my first musical activity since the Christmas show last December. Mainly because I was looking for answers to many other things, which I shall not go into!"

What is happening with The Dummies material?

"Yes, bad move! we got into the studios and listened to it recently. Frank was keen to do it, but I'm not at the moment . . "

But you were so enthusiastic!

"No, I was never enthusiastic!!"

You were, Jim! You were raving over 'Nobody's fool' and the others when you did them.

"At the time I was, but now it's horrible - like looking at a picture of yourself with sideburns and bell bottom trousers!

Hasn't being in the studio recently re-lit the flame?

"As a matter of fact I am in the studio with Frank at the moment working on a couple of ideas. I've got this thing about talking on records, but every time I hear the radio there is someone talking. It always seems that when I think of something, someone else is already doing it! I don't know whether anything will come of it, but I started in September, just after the Chrome Molly thing. Having got in the mood and particularly as I don't like sitting around at home doing nothing, it's really to keep me going. I've just read 'Inhibitions, symptoms and anxieties' by Freud and there comes a time when I have to say to myself, 'I can play guitar as well as read!!' I'll probably be doing the singing myself, although I don't want to be too upfront about it . . "

FAN QUESTIONS TO JIM LEA THAT MONTH :

In a previous interview Nod said you had a great back catalogue of songs. Why not put them out on an indie label, like the Dummies material?

"Well, for a start off there are only demo's sitting around and none of them are complete as it's only me and Nod on them, not Slade. We were doing things in ten minutes, etc, so they are not viable propositions to put out on record at the moment. They are good songs though and we might even record them properly sometime (at which point Jim exclaimed 'I don't write naff songs, man!')  There is actually one recent track that has been recorded and of course a handful from the old days like 'Love is' which was never right on the record and should have been done in some other way. Mind you, if we do decide to do anything this year we might be able to do something with it as a b-side. We've also got a version of the old Fontella Bass thing 'Rescue me' somewhere. It's no good, but I'm sure fans would be interested to hear it! It would be a crying shame to put out 'Love is' though, because it really does need re-doing."

Can you tell me how much money went to the Band Aid and NSPCC charities from the royalties of 'Do you believe in miracles?'

"It's still coming in all the time. I actually got a letter about six weeks ago where sales have been dribbling in all over the place from 'Crackers' as well as the single. Certainly a few thousand pounds have been paid over and I keep getting these very nice letters all the time saying 'Thank you very much, Mr Lea'."

Who would you say was the best group to have supported you over the years?

"It would be very difficult to say who was the best, but I was talking to Rick Parfitt of Status Quo the other day at Earl's Court and he still insists that the best time they had ever had was when we both went on tour to Australia in 1973. When I asked him if he'd fancy it again, he replied 'I don't know about that, Jim - we might never come back!' In fact Alan Lancaster met his wife at a Slade press conference there and as you know has quit the group to stay in that country. Rick also asked when we would be on the road again and said he will definitely be on the front row when when we are."

"He also reminisced about the time he and Fran Rossi first saw us, just after we'd shaved our heads and were at Manchester University. All the 'cool' bands were in one hall and all the 'pop' groups were in ours - i.e. The Foundations, Slade and Status Quo. Fran and Rick were standing watching us play and I could see them giggling , whispering and I thought they were taking the mickey out of us, but Rick told me  'You must be joking. We were saying that we thought you were blinding and we were amazed at all the gear you had on stage. We couldn't believe what you were up to!' He also remembered when Nod used to say '. . . and now we're gonna feature Jimmy, our bass player, on violin, give him a round of applause!" I told him that I also remembered seeing them sniggering to one another, thinking to myself that they thought what the hell was some joke violin player doing on stage? Rick's reply was that they were actually saying 'What next? This is amazing . .  We thought it was incredible and we still do!' - which again was quite a compliment."

"To be quite honest, most of the groups that we've ever met, however big, come up to us and say to us that 'You guys have done everything' and we certainly didn't realise that we now have that level of respect within the business . . . . " 

On that happy point we concluded our interview.

NODDY HOLDER INTERVIEW conducted by Malcolm Skellington, 22nd May 1989

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE APRIL - JUNE 1989 ISSUE OF PERCY

A warm sunny day in London and I find Nod relaxing prior to recording another edition of BBC radio 2's quiz show 'Pop score'. A great delight for me to be able to interview your favourite front man and I'm sure you will be pleased to read what he had to say.

I'm sure you must be disappointed with the lack of success of 'Let's dance', but was it really a genuine attempt to make the charts or was it just a release for the sake of getting something out at Christmas?

"No, we thought it was a good track. We'd pondered over a few different songs, but we decided that 'Let's dance' stood a good chance of getting some airplay around that time because when we didn't release a single the year before, all the jocks wanted to know why. So we decided to put the record out, hoping it would get the plays, but it wasn't the case. Only the commercial stations like Piccadilly and some of the others played it regularly, but without Radio One, you're sunk."

Are you always happy with distribution and the job pluggers do with your records?

"You can't really fault that because you can't make the radio stations play the record, you can only service the station and take the record into them. Same with the shops - you can't force them to buy it unless it becomes a top 75 record and then they'll get it anyway, because they know it will sell and not be left on the shelf."

Who makes the choice of the next single? Is it just you and Jim?

"All the band are in on that decision and of course Colin has to be involved also."

Did you contemplate releasing a new and unheard track? Was there any alternative to 'let's dance'?

"No. Nothing that we considered strong enough to be a single. We had a great reaction to 'let's dance' when we first recorded it. The record company thought it was a great track, but wanted to release 'Miracles'."

You obviously enjoy doing your radio shows for Piccadilly and Xtra AM. Is being a DJ something you intend to pursue over the next few years?

"I'd not really thought of it like that. It's just that Piccadilly had asked me to do a one off show on Slade's music, and then the producer, Paul Lockett, asked me to do eight more programmes and it went on from there. It's something that had been thought about for a while and Paul thought I would be ideal for a one off show because I'd had first hand knowledge of the 70's. After the first eight shows, we hadn't scratched the surface of 70's music so I just carried on."

"Then the people from Xtra asked me if I was interested in doing a show for them, as they thought my accent would go down well in the Midlands. It's not something I've thought about doing as a full time career, but it's good fun and I enjoy doing it. It's something different."

Are most of the requests on your show from Slade fans?

"Initially there were a lot at Piccadilly, but not so many now - but I am getting a lot at Xtra."

How much preparation is required for your show?

"It varies depending on the records I play and if I know much about the artist, but it takes a good day to prepare for each show normally."

You've certainly made a lot of Slade fans happy by doing the radio shows, but whilst we're on the subject of making the fans happy, is there anything to look forward to in the near future?

"We've had a few approaches from companies asking us if we fancy doing something on the recording scene and we have started negotiations. So, it's possible that we may be recording this year, but I don't think there will be anything [released] this year more than likely next year - but nothing is signed and sealed yet."

Is it OK to print that in the magazine?

"Yes."

Has anyone ever approached the band with the idea of making a film about the life of Slade?

"Yes. A girl from America came up with the idea about a year ago. She wrote in and asked if anyone would object and said that she was trying to find someone to back the idea and if we liked the script, could she go into it further. But that was the last we heard about it. I can't imagine anyone putting up the money to make a film about us though!"

I was talking to Dave just before Christmas about his solo project and he expressed a desire to play a few smaller venues just to try out his material and get the feel of playing live again. As you've helped out vocally with some of Dave's stuff, I wondered if you would consider singing with his band if you were asked?

"I haven't discussed it with him and he knows I'm not into touring, but I suppose I would consider it."

In the last edition of Percy, it was mentioned that the Earl's Court film had been found. Have you decided to do anything with it yet. 

"Yes, we've got it now, but haven't had a chance to have a look at it yet. What we have seen. . the sound is very bad, but we may be able to salvage some of it for use on a compilation video. It would take a lot of work on it to make it into a concert type film and that might not even be possible."

Is the film actually owned by Perseverance Ltd?

"Well, it's actually owned by Whild John Music Ltd."

1991 is the 25th anniversary of Slade. Can we expect some kind of celebratory record or video to mark the occasion?

"We are looking at the possibility of a compilation album and video that would be TV advertised, but talks are in the early stages, so I can't say much now."

DAVE HILL INTERVIEW FROM THE JULY - SEPT 1989 ISSUE OF PERCY, CONDUCTED BY MALCOLM SKELLINGTON AND MARTIN BROOKES.

This was an interview that I was looking forward to and the day held a surprise or two that I really had not anticipated, so read on. Thanks to Martin Brookes for sparing the time to come along and act as Slade historical advisor for the day. We met Dave in the boardroom at the London office and the first and most burning question came first.

Dave, we all want to know what's happened to the Nod and Dave single. We are constantly having letters wanting to know when it is going to be released.

"You mean the Everlys song. Well, that's what I'm here for really. We want an answer on it really. It got held up. . . How can I put this? Basically, Polydor have got it and they haven't made a decision, so really we feel that we've got to get it out this year, bearing in mind that I started it last year and finished it at the beginning of this year. We won't find out if it's a hit unless it comes out!"

"It was just a thing we did for fun. Nod and I got together to do it and we recorded one of my own songs, which is also good and will probably be on the b-side. 'Crying in the rain' came from a bit of a jam. We actually did an Elvis song as well, 'A fool such as I.' Although it's not as good as the Everlys song, Nod sings it really well. We've got the prospect of the band thing as well, which is also with Polydor, but we've got to get a decision and I hope to see the record out within the next couple of months, and I'd like people to have it. It's a good piece of work. Not highly produced or anything. It's just done on a 16-track up North and it's not high-tech - just done on a feeling really. Unfortunately, I can't give you an answer on a release date so you'll just have to hang on a little longer."

What else are you doing studio-wise? Your own material?

"Well, I can tell you this actually, maybe the fans will like to know. I found a black singer who is only 14 and he's got a slightly 'Stevie Wonder - type' voice. He's totally inexperienced, not used to a studio, but I think he's got a remarkable talent. He's a natural. John Mostyn, who manages Fine Young Cannibals, and I saw this lad at a talent contest, and I've recorded one of my songs with him just to see how he can manage in the studio. And me and John Mostyn are doing some recording sessions with the band who won this talent competition, so you can see I'm keeping busy."

"I'm also writing a few songs, some of which are with Slade in mind for the future, maybe the next album. But until we get a decision on it, we can't say a lot about it, so yes, say negotiations are still on."

Do you think Chas Chandler could re-kindle some of the old magic, if he came back as your manager and producer?

"It's a difficult one to answer. I would say that some of the old sounds were good. They captured a moment in time, really. You tend to go away from each other and you start to do different things and start to think differently. I don't deny Chas' abilities as a manager, but sometimes you part because at that time it's best to part and as you get that bit older you tend to almost manage yourselves."

"Colin Newman is involved with the band on a management level, but each of us has our opinions and that gets a little complicated and sometimes you could do with a person to say 'do this and do that'. But, it's very hard now to impose a situation where we are told what to do. No-one's going to take that anymore. You've heard us say at Fan Club conventions that we are looking to have a future and further the band and put it back into some sort of successful state again. And it's probably taken this type of 'doing our own thing' situation to maybe arrive at something that's going to work for us all. What was happening before was that we were making LP's for record companies and maybe all of us not enjoying it 100%. I think if we make another record together we'll enjoy it more because of our individual experience on our own projects."

Do you think that your 25th year together in 1991 is a good reason to get a new album out?

"I never thought of that. It would be a good time to release a new, or even '20 greats' type album and also the video that Colin is trying to sort out."

A lot of fans write in and suggest making a live video sometime in the near future to celebrate 25 years of Slade.

"Yes, it's a good idea, if we were back in the studio and in practice again. Yes, I see no reason why we just couldn't get on with it. We'd have to get used to the gear again after all, we haven't played together for three or four years, but you don't forget.

I was hoping to have Don here today and get you to talk in depth about your years together, but Don couldn't make it. So Dave, are you aware that you and Don have been associated with bands for over 25 years now?

"I'd like to have seen Don. Has been 25 years? Send Don a message in this magazine : 'If I haven't contacted you before you read this Don, give us a ring and we'll get our walking sticks out and go for a drink. Happy 25 years, mate!' "

Going back to our discussion earlier, re producing and looking out for new talent. When the day comes that Slade are no more, will you concentrate on that type of work?

"Yes, I'd like to help people. I think the natural thing to do for people in our line is to go into production and management. Not so much management - you get a lot of problems with artists and you don't want people ringing up at all hours of the night moaning about the band. I think writing songs and producing would be for me. You've got to enjoy what you're doing and I wouldn't want a lot of hassle from people complaining the bass player hadn't turned up or the like!"

You said you were writing some new songs with Slade in mind. How did your only solo composition get onto the 'Til Deaf' album?

"You mean M'hat, M'coat'. It's just something I used to play around with when we were touring Europe and Jim said we should record it. So, we were in the studio and Nod was bashing out a few chords and really Jim rearranged it. We really recorded it on the spur of the moment and I think that's why it turned out so well. It was the first song I ever wrote and a few people, mainly fans, said 'why don't you write some more?' and that's what got me into composing. I did a few things with Nod in the early days like 'Gospel according to Rasputin', but 'M'hat' was my first real solo effort.

During your last concert at the Glasgow Apollo and in previous concerts, you were joined on stage by a local character by the name of 'Jet Mayfield'. Can you confirm how you met and his whereabouts now?

"I think it's Jet Mayfair, not Mayfield. It was a bit of a novelty thing we used to do up there. He used to turn up maybe for every group. We used to bring him on with his guitar and plug it into the amp and turn it off probably. He enjoyed himself, but I don't know what happened to him. We used to get one fan turn up in a Cinderella outfit at the Aldridge Community Centre. We always had odd things like that happening."

Have Slade ever been invited to play concerts in the USSR?

"You never know, if we get a record deal, we could. But no, we've never been asked. We played in Poland a few times and the way that things are opening up in the East, who knows? Is there anyone in Russia you can correspond with for the fan club - it's a good idea to keep in touch."

Dave brought a number of stage costumes along to auction through the fan club - The white 'All join hands' outfit, the 'Run runaway' long black coat with chains, The 'Lock up your daughters' (Dutch sleeve) leather jacket. He also brought the black and red leather jacket used on the Belgian sleeve for 'I'm a rocker'. He was hoping to raise some money for the purchase of some equipment to use for home song demos. Fans were invited to send in their bids via the fan club. So that's where those stage outfits went.

THE SLADE ARCHIVE FINDS A GOOD LONG JIM LEA INTERVIEW from 1990

From Percy

I sometimes get nervous before doing interviews and this time was no exception.  Of all the band members Jim Lea remained an unknown quantity as we had only met briefly a couple of times before.  The Myzterious Mr Lea put me at ease immediately we started talking.

I’ve spoken to Colin Newman several times over the last three or four months and he has told me about the negotiations with Polydor for a new album, so as I’ve said to both Nod and Dave in the past – when can we expect some positive news?

" We don’t know whether that’s Kosher at the moment, just because we’re talking does not mean anything.  This business is classic for the phone call that never comes, everything seems to be going great and they say we’ll ring you but sometimes that call never comes.  It looks like the Hits album is going to occur and Polydor asked what we were doing, we said not much, so that’s how talks for a new album began.  It’s very nice to be asked by a major company, rather than going around demoing your songs.  I think that people in the Fan Club don’t realise what a cut throat business this is, one day you’re in the next you’re history.  I was listening to Jonathan King the other day talking about Kylie and Jason and he was saying that Pete Waterman should go to them and say you’re very young and having great success at the moment but it won’t always be like this and you should be prepared for it.  People don’t realise how quickly record companies go off the boil and they are looking out for the next band to give them success.  It’s not the same for us now, we’ve had so many bloody comebacks I feel that now our history is regarded not as ‘Oh yes you were that band that dressed up in daft clothes on Tv’ but more ‘you are a great influence on today’s music scene’, so that point of view may be the same within the business.  I know it’s a different feeling now from what it was in the ‘70s and it’s very nice for a major company to approach us, so who knows, it may come off."

Are you prepared for it if the deal does come off?

"I don’t know about the others but I’ve got used to a passive life at the moment.  People say what are you doing and I just say I’ve retired.  I don’t mean that the band has split up, we’ve just stopped, it was not intentional.  I suppose you could say we’re taking time out to recharge our batteries, find new inspirations and do some of the things that we’ve not had time to do in the past as well as to contemplate the future.  As all the fans know we toured for years, so I think we’ve all deserved this rest and will be ready to go when the time comes.  We’re not finished yet, there’s many a good tune played on an old fiddle."

Has this rest period given you time to write new songs or have you just got the music business out of your mind altogether, not that you can, as it’s been a big part of your life?

"Well yes, I have forgotten about the business to a certain extent, although you can’t stop tunes popping up in your head, but at one time I’d always listen to Top of the Pops and read the pop press, now I’d rather listen to the political programmes.  I suppose I’ve grown up.  But saying that, a mate of mine plays in a band and I went to see him at a gig the other week and I got up and danced the night away and had a real rave up.  I was drenched almost as if I’d been in a swimming pool, and going back to your original question, am I ready for it if some said “OK now you’re  on guys” that passive mentality that I’ve acquired would turn into an aggressive stance, I’m sure."

But have you had time to write new material?

A number of fans have asked why doesn't Dave Hill get more material on Slade records?

"Best of luck to Dave with his solo pursuits.  Over the years he has never really bothered with musical input except for M’hat M’coat.  He put a couple of songs up for the last album but like any other band the choice of material has to be a democratic decision along with the record companies involvement with the selection process.  I’ve not heard much of his material but I’m told it’s good and when the time comes for a new album we’ll all have to go through the same process of selection and Dave’s songs will be given every consideration, along with the rest."

Have you done any production work lately?

"No, I get offered production work but I have to look at the financial rewards and what you have to put on the line for it.  A lot of the time people like to work with you because you mean something to them.  They are fans really, that’s the easiest way to put it.  I enjoyed doing the Chrome Molly sessions.  It’s good meeting other bands and working with them but I tended to think that financially it wasn’t worth it.  You’re under a lot of pressure with the record company and the artists and you’ve got to come up with something to keep the record company happy at the very least, so you really are under pressure.  It was like that with Slade, it ended up that way at least.  I was the one that was in that role, until one day I realised that I should get the credit, so it became produced by Jim Lea and not produced by Slade, although the band had lots of say.  It was very expensive having Roy Baker on the last album, but I was pleased to let other producers do the work.  I didn’t want the pressure."

We get letters asking if there are any songs in the can that could be used as a special issue just for the Fan Club?

"Yes there is a track actually.  It didn’t get onto the last album because it didn’t feel right.  Dave Kemp heard it and said it was a Coz I Luv You type song.  It’s called Love Is but I do not know whether we would put it out though."

Would you consider letting Stock, Aitkin and Waterman produce you, possibly under a pseudonym?

"I’m sure Stock, Aitkin and Waterman would jump at the chance to produce us but I do not think it would do much for our credibility.  I don’t know what it is about our career, but I feel as though we’ve been written out.  Some of the old die-hard fans have felt the same way.  It’s almost like a conspiracy where we never get mentioned when it comes to the seventies.  We may have looked like a bunch of yobs then but we never stood still.  We evolved different hair styles and moved on from the skin head image into the Glam stuff.  I never felt happy about the dressing up bit, it got a bit tacky.  I was well into making an image for ourselves but things went a bit over the top for my liking.  It was like at Top of the Pops, with only five minutes before we went on and Dave would come out of the loo in his Metal Nun outfit when we did Cum on Feel the Noize.  Dave and I still have conversations about those days and he stands his ground on the subject of image making and of course he’s entitled to his opinion."

Another subject that a lot of fans write in about is the possibility of doing a couple of special live shows, because there is not a really good live film or video of you in concert.

"The only thing I can say to that is when you rehearse for a while you then go on stage and for the first couple of gigs you’re terrible but after say six shows you get it together and then we interlock and after a few more it becomes second nature and we become super-human.  We don’t even have to look at each other, we don’t have to think, you get this feeling.  I’ll never forget the Reading Festival, we were asked what we wanted on the monitors and said Nod’s vocal and the snare drum.  The guy asked what else we wanted and I said that’s all.  We didn’t need it, we played to the feel, we can perform like that, it’s a feeling I can’t explain any better."

Do you ever pick your guitar up and put things down on tape at home?

"I don’t use tape recorders, I don’t use guitars, I don’t use anything. I picked up a guitar the other day and then after a short time my fingers started hurting just like when I first started, because I don’t play enough. I don’t need all these things, guitars get in the way, tape recorders get in the way, musicians get in the way.  Now you’ve got computers to do all that sort of thing who needs instruments.  I’ve been in the studio a bit just lately and just dipping my toe into the computerised world of music.  I think to myself, hang about, am I going to do things like I always did or am I going to get on the band wagon with computers and things.  I went into the studio yesterday and hardly touched a thing but came out with nearly a finished track.  I’ve go this idea to do We’ll Bring the House Down as a house number in the style of Metal/House fusion with the chorus in Metal and the verse in a House sample type sound.  I just get an idea, book the studio and get on with it."

Is there anything you’re working on as a Dummies or China Dolls type project?

"That’s how all this studio stuff started.  Frank said why don’t you do this and that, and I went into the studio with about twenty songs I wanted to do but finished up trimming it down to five." 

Would you consider putting any of this material out on record?

"I’d never dream of doing that unless someone really got behind the record with good promotion and marketing."

So how are you going to know if it is worthwhile, will you send it out to record companies to see if they want it?

"I’m passive on that point at the moment.  I didn’t do it with that intention.  I think I’ll hang on to it for the time being.  It’s an expensive business so you never know, it would be a shame for it never to be heard but I’d have to wait for the right moment."

Did you record in London or the Midlands?

"I can’t work in the Midlands. I have to work in London, although it’s an absolute rat race down here.  You’re isolated from the family and mates, so all you can do is work.  I’ve also done another version of She Did It To Me with an ex-singer from Uriah Heap, with an absolutely panoramic version, it’s great. I did a version of the old Johnny Kidd and the Pirates song I’ll Never Get Over You, you’d never know it was me though.  I’ve also done 7 Year Bitch but not like Slade’s version and there is also some stuff that you’ve never heard of, but I haven’t finished it yet.  There is a track that I’ve written called Radio Wall of Sound and it sounds just like Slade, even my brother Frank says it sounds like Slade.”  

I know if I put this in the magazine thousands of letters will come flooding in asking when you’re going to release the tracks.

“It’s just something I wanted to do, although it felt a bit funny doing it by myself, but I can’t imagine it being released, then again you never know.  I just enjoy doing it and I’ve learned how to produce myself.  Anything I do is because I want to do it, not especially to be famous.  I don’t want fame.  I like dumb rock, songs like I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash, Mama Weer All Crazee Now and Cum on Feel the Noize.  If you’ve got the ability to write all types of music what do you do?  You can’t just put out rock type music with a heavy beat.  I remember at the premier of Flame when Alex Harvey came up to me and said, “What the fuck are you doing writing all this Far Far Away shit, you should be doing songs that tear people apart” and I think he was really saying you’re one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands around.  So what do you do, sell yourself down the line or put everything out that you’re capable of doing, rock and the softer stuff.”

I’ve asked both Nod and Dave in the past if they thought it would be a good idea to get the DMC or the Music Factory to do a Slade megamix.  I think it would be a great party record and a good commercial opportunity. 

“I personally would not be opposed to that. It’s a good thing that Jive Bunny are doing.  I also like the idea of using old records in advertising, you have to use whatever means you can to get your material used and if it cheapens it, so what?  It’s better than having it left in the attic.  I remember that we did My Oh My and Run Run Away.  We made some demo versions with Nod and Don and Colin Newman said “these would be great songs for adverts,” so we put some other words to My Oh My.  Nod was singing” We all like our Guinness My Oh My,” and did words for Heinz Baked Beans and something for Kelloggs Corn Flakes and even though the idea was put forward to an advertising company it was rejected.”

From the July - September 1990 SLADE International Fan Club Newsletter

NODDY HOLDER and DAVE HILL INTERVIEW

Normally I think myself lucky to arrange an interview with a band member once a quarter because they are all busy men doing one thing or another but this time I feel extra lucky to get together with two band members for a cup of coffee and a chat about Slade, old, new, future and past.

I had a meeting the Colin Newman recently and he held up a 58 page document, a contract from Polydor for some new material.  Have you signed it yet or are you about to?

Nod: We have not discussed it yet, none of us have seen it yet even.

Dave: It’s the usual stuff, dot the ‘ts’ and cross the ‘is’, you can only do this and that with our permission etc, and of course the financial side has got to be good.

So it’s just a case of the four of you to say yes and sign on the dotted line.  Do you foresee any problems?

Nod: Not really, but we do not know what the deal is yet.  We’ve got to work out whether the deal is OK to cover the cost of making an album.

Dave: You know what it’s like when you’re making records, we’ve got to have money to make records, the way it always works. We’ve got to look at it sensibly, we’re not kids anymore and obviously we see ourselves in a good position with the 25 year business next year and all the old product that’s got to be taken into account.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the contract says.  We cannot say that much about it because it’s up to the four of us to get together and thrash it out.

Is it a case of you each getting a copy of the contract in the post, signing it and sending it back after you’ve discussed it with each other?

Nod: No, we’ll probably go to the office and Colin will sit and go through it with us.  We’ll have to sort out the cost of recording because we have not been in the studio for a couple of years and costs have risen dramatically since then so we have got to sort a budget out.

Is that the costing for an album you are talking about?

As far as I know the deal isn’t for an album straight away.  It will probably be for a couple of singles with the option for an album if the singles do OK.

Dave: I think it’s a sensible thing to do for a record company, they’ve got to check out what we can do and if we have a hit with a single then it’s good for them to have an album deal with us.  

Nod: We’ve been waiting for eighteen months now for this deal and we’re not going to jump in with both feet just for the sake of having a single out.  Whatever happens we’ll be having a Hits album out, and all the old albums will come out on CD, signed, sealed and delivered, but we can’t give you a firm answer about new product.

I’m really looking for the biggest ray of hope that you can give to the fans.

Dave: You’re looking for light are you?  Well, I can tell you there is light.

I suppose the good news will have to wait for the final magazine of the year?

Nod: Everything will be discussed and sorted out within the next few weeks and we’ll probably finish up with a deal for a couple of singles and the option of an album to follow.  Even if we only do a couple of singles and they are hits it will help sell the Hits album.  Also, our back catalogue is going to be released on CD and we are bound to get some airplay of the older stuff because a lot of radio stations won’t play anything that’s not on CD these days.

With all this business going on with Polydor, will it affect anything that Dave may be working on as a solo project?

Nod: We don’t know yet, that’s why we’ve got to look at the contract carefully.  There are all these things to take into consideration.  

Dave: They don’t want you doing anything willy nilly just when you like, they want all your efforts to go into their product unless you get special permission to do work outside the contracted terms.

Nod: It could prevent Dave bring out an album of his own, so we don’t know until we see the fine print.  They might want Slade but not anything Dave wants to do be himself.

Dave: I’ll consider all that personally and weigh it up between my stuff and the interest of the band.  The financial commitment the record company make could well make it worth your while leaving solo projects alone for the time being.

Nod: H was in that position before with the RCA deal, he wanted to do some solo stuff and so did Jim, but they could not go through any other company, so if RCA did not want the solo stuff they were f…ed.

When you decide you’re going to make an album do you deliberately try to keep it a secret?

Nod: You can’t keep it a secret really, but you keep what you’re putting down on the album a secret.

Is that for any particular reason?

Nod: It could spoil the impact of the album and the songs could get pinched, but it’s really better for people to hear the songs in the right running order to get the whole flow and impact of the finished product.  Your weakest tracks have to be put in between your strongest tracks or the whole thing could sound bad.  More often than not I decide the running order of the tracks and then put it to the others for approval and hopefully the dynamics of the album have the right effect on the listener.

Did you decide the running order of songs for the stage act as well or was that a joint effort?

Nod: I used to work out the running order for the live show.  We’d put different songs in from tour to tour, but the format of the show was pretty much the same, it was just a case of where to fit in the new song.  If we’d do a new song we’d always follow it with a hit so that you had that good balance. That was one of our fortes in live shows. We’d have peaks and dynamics, ups and downs, so that they didn’t get boring.  I think that’s one thing you could never say about our live shows, that they never had boring patches in them

Dave: We could never be accused of drastically changing the stage act.  We always had the violin bit and me on the speaker and I suppose we knew that it worked well.

Nod: In the seventies we’d throw something out of the act and the punters would go berserk, so we’d have to put it back in.  We had to try new songs like Darling Be Home Soon and Move Over and we’d probably only leave those songs in for two tours and then we’d put them on an album when we knew they worked.  Just A Little Bit is another case.  Our theory or rule was if we went out on tour with an new album we’d put three or four new tracks in the stage act but people would still think we were doing the same show as the year before, so you see the changes were subtle so the rhythm and dynamics of the show were still there.

Do you still get big promoters offering you £50,000 or big money to do a live show?

Nod: Yes, all the time, although I don’t think we’ve been offered £50,000, but we have been offered good money for a one-off.  You just can’t do one-offs though, you need a crew, rigs, six weeks rehearsal and then you’ve not made any money.

Dave: They don’t realise we have not played together for years, they think you just get on stage and off you go, it does not quite happen that easily.

Nod: The type of promoter who offers that sort of money are the ones who don’t know anything about rock ‘n’ roll, they’ve just got lots of money to throw around.

I only asked that question out of curiosity and to get an idea if you were still a sought after band.

Nod: Every year we get offered a Christmas tour.  We’ve had three people on the phone this week asking if we’d tour for Christmas, but it’s much too late to think about it, even now.  It’s just not a case of doing it for the money either, you’ve got to want to do it as well.

Dave: You’d have to be good as well, we’ve got a reputation to keep up.

Nod: In a position like ours you’ve got to be great. There’s no half-measures with us.  Other bands go out and do a half-arsed show, but not us.  We’ve got to be great because we’ve got pride.

I think most fans would admire you for that, although there are a lot of frustrated fans who wouldn’t.

What do you do on Sunday or how do you relax when you’re not working?

Dave: Get up, have a cup of coffee and scone.  Life for us is different as we’re not 9 to 5 people.  We all come from families that had Sunday dinners so that’s what we do now, it’s full circle really plus the fact we toured the world for years and had hotel food day in and day out so a Sunday lunch with the family is great.  Nod again has a different life style than I do, he probably does set things on certain days of the week.  Not so much with me.  I go to Witness meetings, write songs and have a curry on Fridays, but generally speaking I fit things in around the family and lead a quieter life than Nod.

Nod: That’s about the same for me really.

Do you NOT do things because you’re afraid you may get pestered by people who might recognise you?

Nod: A lot of the time yes. I get offered the chance to go to a lot of functions but I don’t want to get back on the treadmill that everywhere I go I’ve got to be signing autographs for half an hour.  I don’t mind it now and then but I’m not going to do it everyday.

Do you have a clear division of your working and non-working time?

Nod: Definitely.  I keep my private life totally private now and have done for a long time.  I don’t see that my home life is anyone's business now.  We lived in the public eye for so long and it took a long time to get back any kind of privacy, not total privacy but as much as possible.  If you’re a known face it’s very difficult, you’d have to disappear off the face of the earth to get it.  If you go into a pub or restaurant there will always be some watching you drinking and eating, there’s no getting away from it.  The last thing I want to do is go out for a drink or meal and finish up talking Slade for a couple of hours.  We’ve lived Slade for 20 odd years, it’s the last thing we talk about if we all get together, there’s nothing else to say after that amount of time.

Dave: The press can ask very personal questions that could upset you.  It’s like Cliff Richard, they always want to know if he’s ever slept with a woman.

Nod: It’s the same with us.  Cliff always gets that style of question and with us it’s Merry Xmas or Don’s accident.  They ask how he is as though it only happened a couple of years back, or they ask how Jim Powell is getting on after the crash.

Going back to a comment you made earlier Dave, have you written any more songs since Wild Nights?

Dave: Oh yes.  Nod and I have done quite a few things, some fairly recently, but we’ve got to see what happens with the record deal for the band before I can think about my solo stuff.  There is a lot of material though.

Nod: There’s a lot of stuff in the can, maybe 5 or 6 tracks with me on.  The songs are written by Dave and Bill Hunt but the approach Dave has toward recording is different to how we record for Slade.  They’re Dave’s songs and he knows how he wants them done.

Dave: Yes, that’s right, and Nod also puts a few ideas into the recording as we go along.

Nod: It’s the same when we do Slade material.  Dave and Don play the songs how me and Jim intend them to be.

Would it be true to say that you and Jim do most of the work on your songs in the studio first and then bring Don and Dave in as required?

Nod: In the latter years me and Jim have gone into the studio and done demos of the songs first which is really how we wanted the songs to be, but when you get producers in arse farting about with it you lose the spontaneity of the recording which is what we managed to capture in the early years.  With H he has the arrangement sorted out first with Bill and when we get to the studio we just get on and record and maintain that spontaneous feel of the early Slade records.

Dave: We went to John Punter and did My Oh My and Run Run Away and that was a new experience for us, not being sure what he was going to do.  In fact Jim put the question to him at RCA and asked what he was going to do for us.  It really involved a new process of recording from the way we’d been used to.  We were a little uneasy at first, but the sessions did bear some fruit in the end, in fact we jammed My Oh My to start with, didn’t we Nod?

Nod: With My Oh My, me and Jim put down a demo on piano and voice first. John Punter had to start from scratch with that track.  He put it down in layers.  He started with a good drum track and then did three tracks on piano, three on guitar, three on vocals and three of everything else and then took the best of each and put them together.  We’d never worked like that before but it worked.  It was the same with Run Run Away and it worked fine.  Then we went onto the Rogues Gallery album and John Punter didn’t want to work the same way on that one.  It became a bit of a saga.  It took a lot of time and eventually turned out to be a great album although I feel there was something missing.  Something that is the Slade trademark was missing, but then the next album, Crackers, was totally the opposite way.  It was back to out and out Slade and that turned out to be our biggest seller of the ‘80s.  Then came You Boyz  which again was complicated because we had three producers, Jim, John Punter and Roy Thomas Baker.  That’s what we initially wanted, a mixed bag of producers with different ideas, but Roy Thomas Baker just went on endlessly.  That was not the way to get the best out of us.  Although it turned out to be a good album you can hear the difference between the three producers.

Dave, do you ever fancy producing any tracks for the band now that you’ve had some experience with producing your own stuff?

Dave: I’ve not really had the opportunity and I never pushed myself forward.  I just sat back and let Jim take the lead in that area, although Jim didn’t produce the early hits, it was Chas.  On We’ll Bring the House Down, it could be arguable who produced it because we all had a hand in that one, although Jim is the one who can sit at the control table for hours on end whilst me, Nod and Don wander off and then come back and help mix which is good because it’s really a band mix.  I was quite happy to let that situation carry on.  We were very much together as a band, we’d just done Reading and we had good feelings about We’ll Bring the House Down, with the live feeling the record had.  It was later on, when things changed, when we started bringing in producers.

Nod: It gets down to technicality in the end.  Technicality takes over from performing so we brought in Roy Thomas Baker to try and capture Slade’s old sound from the early ‘70s with late ‘80s technology which is what we wanted, a producer to take our old enthusiasm and put it into an ‘80s mould, but it ended up spending three days on the drum tracks and the rest of us sitting around doing fuck all, hours and hours on technicalities.  That’s OK for a technical band but not us.  To me it’s a total waste of money and looking back on You Boyz, the tracks he did do not sound any better even though his tracks took twice as much time to produce. The end product is no better.  

Nod: I’m not knocking him as a producer but everything took so long, he spent 20 days in the studio with us doing two songs, yet he went on to produce a complete album with T’Pau in a month, so he was working in a way with them that he should have been doing with us.  The best way with us is to get it down quickly and capture the spontaneity that always captures us at our best.  It’s what you leave out on a record that makes it simple and uncluttered.  If you take too long and add track on top of track you’re not a band, you might as well make solo records with guest musicians.  That’s not us, we are all part of the jigsaw that is Slade.

Are you still going to be a self-managed band now that the time looks right for some band activity, assuming that the deal in the pipeline comes to fruition, or would you be thinking of bringing in a manager?

Nod: I don’t think anyone could manage us in the sense of The Manager like Chas did.  Colin looks after our business affairs and legal side of things, but no-one could be an artistic manager, especially after all the years we’ve been together.  No-one could start telling us what to do after 25 years because they just wouldn’t know the background of the band, and no matter what we told a manager, there are only four people who know the whole background story.  Someone may have theories about what we should be doing and what we should have done, but they will never know us as we know ourselves.  No-one would have a clue how to handle us.

Dave: I wouldn’t say a manager wouldn’t be useful in some ways but he couldn’t manage the artistic side.  Phil Collins has got a manager but no-one tells him how to write his songs or how to record them, but just advises on the financial side of things.  No-one is going to tell Phil Collins what to do and no-one can really tell us what to do after all this time.

Nod: We know ourselves where we are going wrong and what we are doing right.  It just happens that the four of us don’t always agree what’s wrong and what’s right, but you will always get that situation in a democratic band situation.

All the fans are expecting something to happen soon now that the back catalogue deal has been signed with Polydor, any comments on that?

Nod: Well, it’s not guaranteed that the Hits album will be out for the 25th Anniversary.  That’s all down to Polydor to decide on what they think is the right time.  It maybe that they think Christmas would be the time to release it, we’ve not been told about any release date, but you can be sure they’ll release it when they are certain of getting most sales and it seems to me that Christmas would be the right time.  If we did a couple of singles and they were hits they would want to release something on the tail of them, and that could be a Hits album or a Studio album, but they’d certainly want to capitalise on the success of a single with some sort of album because that’s where the money is made.

It would have been nice to have announced that something new was about to be released. Maybe next time.

Dave: It must be difficult to keep the interest going but there definitely is light at the end of the tunnel.

Have you got anything ready in case you get the call to go into the studio and do a single?

Nod: We’ve got songs written but it’s just a case of getting them recorded and listening to them and deciding if it’s good enough to be a single.  There’s no set pattern for song writing, some songs come in ten minutes and some take days, you just have to take it as it comes.  The majority of the melodies come from Jim and most of the lyrics come from me, but there is no signed, sealed method of song writing.  We’re changing the songs around all the time, right up until we get into the studio.

Well, on that note of hope, we will leave the interview with Dave and Nod, and, of course, if anything more positive comes up you’ll be told about it double quick.

NODDY INTERVIEW

From Jan/ Feb/March 1992 issue of PERCY, the Slade International Fan Club Newsletter.

It’s been a long time since I interviewed a member of the band, simply because there wasn’t much that was new and interesting to talk about.  Most of the old issues have been covered, regularly, so it’s been a deliberate policy to let things go for a while.  I’m glad to say that the last three months have put an end to that argument good and proper, so, Mr Noddy Holder, first question;

Malc : Now that RWOS and Universe have run their course, in this country at least, what are the general feelings of the band?

NOD : I think that everybody did a good job, we did a lot of TV, radio and press work around that period but it didn’t translate into high sales of the two records.  We had loads of radio play for RWOS so we can’t really complain about the exposure with that one, Universe was not so good but you can only put it down to not enough people buying it.

Malc : Do you know of any sales figures for RWOS?

NOD : No, not a clue, we won’t know that for at least six months. It wouldn’t have needed that many sales to have reached that position, not a vast amount.  The initial shipping out to the shops was around 30,000 copies, I think, which is a good pre-order figure, good enough to go Top 40 first week out.  The problem was sustaining the momentum after using up all the available Tv’s there was nowhere else to go.  We couldn’t get on Wogan, which would have helped, so really that was all the TV possible.  We did more press than ever before, in recent times at least, but there just aren’t that many rock records making the charts these days unless they happen to come from a film soundtrack.  The charts have been very dance orientated of late and I can’t really think of any big rock records of 1991.  If you look at the rock album charts from last year there are not that many that were really outstanding and had any long chart success.

Malc : Out of RWOS and Universe, which one was your personal favourite?

NOD: Universe without a doubt.  I knew RWOS was more commercial, a good instant rock track, but I liked Universe even though I knew it was not such an instant song and it would take people time to latch on to it.  I saw Universe as the stronger song and maybe if we had held it back for a while it may have been more successful but unfortunately it got lost in the Christmas market and there is just nothing you can do about it now.

Malc : Who’s decision was it to release Universe so soon after RWOS, the band or Polydor?

NOD : It was the record company’s decision, the plan was always to do RWOS then the Wall of Hits album followed Universe to help carry the album along in the Christmas market, but we didn’t realise how late Universe was coming out, it was actually two weeks later than planned.  I don’t know why, but by then we were into the Christmas mania season and not being such an instant track it lost out to the more popular records.

Malc : I only heard it played three times on Radio 1 and each time it was raved about.

NOD : I never actually heard it but it will be interesting to see how it does in Europe after RWOS and because of the release after Christmas.  We’ll definitely be doing promotional work with it out there.

Malc : Could Polydor re-release Universe if they wanted to?

NOD : I feel sure they could, especially if it’s written into the contract.  A lot of material that gets into the charts has been release more than once.  I even think that Bryan Adams big hit was launched a second time.

Malc : Do you know if Polydor have any plans to release the two singles in America?

NOD : We haven’t done a deal for America yet, our contract was for worldwide distribution/release excluding America but there is always a chance that we could get something released out there.

Malc : There are some rumours circulating that you have been offered some large and prestigious gigs for later this year, ie Donnington.

NOD : We haven’t actually been offered it but Maurice Jones has always said that if we felt like it he would be glad to see us there especially as we know him as old friends, but we have not yet been offered it and without product to promote it would be a bit of a waste.  There is always a catchment of shows that we could fit into at any time.

Malc : So what happens now in the light of the probability that you will not be doing an album for Polydor?

NOD : We always knew that it was only an option for an album, it was never cut and dried.  All records companies work the option idea now, even some of the biggest acts in the business have to wait on the results of their single successes.  The record companies have been caught out so many times by signing album/single deals together that they are very warey now with all but the biggest of people or bands.

Malc : It’s quite apparent that all the material on Wall of Hits was not the definitive collection, was that a deliberate ploy to be able to use some of the excluded material on another Hits album?

NOD : Something had to go to enable the inclusion of the two new tracks and the two RCA tracks which made it a good overall package, although we are not likely to get a volume two deal if the first volume doesn’t do that well.

Malc : Were the two singles expensive to make?

NOD : No, they weren’t, not by today’s standards.  Recording in the Midlands is much cheaper than in London and we’ve learnt by experience not to waste time in studios because of the costs that can be incurred.  A lot of new bands make successful albums but at the end of the day they don’t make any money.

Malc : I there enough material ready to fill an album should the right set of circumstances arise?

NOD : There is some material ready in various stages, either demoed or nearly finished.  We would have to go through it until we sorted out ten songs that we thought good enough for an album.

Malc : Are they new songs or stuff that has been around for ages just waiting to be used up?

NOD : There are some new ones and others that we could dig out and re-record, but yes, if we had the opportunity there is plenty of material for an album around in one form or another.

Malc : Anything that you consider good enough for another single?

NOD : It’s difficult to say, you can’t really put your finger on it.  I’ve heard some of H’s songs that I think would make great singles and with a bit of fine tuning could turn out to be single material.

DAVE HILL INTERVIEW with Malcolm Skellington from 'Percy' April 1992.

I always find it a pleasure when it comes around to interviewing Dave Hill, as he always comes up with something new to tell us, and this time proved to be no exception and even more of a pleasure to talk to Dave over a good lunch.

First of all Dave, can we give the sceptics out there in Fan land a straight answer about Slade? Are the band still together, and are all these rumours about a split nonsense?

"We are still together. Slade will always be Slade. If there is a record to make and promote, we'll get on and do it. There will always be a band of the four blokes that you all know, Slade."

I hope that put paid to the rumours and puts a lot of people at ease about the band situation, but is there anything new in the pipeline for the immediate future?

"Jim's mixed a couple of tracks that I've played guitar on recently, but I've not heard the finished product, so I won't make any comment at the moment, but at least there is something available if we get a single option from anyone. I would have liked us to make an album of new material together, but that didn't come off."

I suppose the rumours of a split might have arisen from people who have heard that you are putting a band together of your own. Can you fill us in on that one, Dave?

"Yes. I'm trying to form a band. It doesn't have any specific name at the moment and I haven't got all the members sorted out yet, but yes, I want to form a band because I need to work live, which is what I really miss doing. I started thinking about doing it a little while ago and was speaking to our old manager Chas Chandler and happened to mention it to him and asked if he knew of any good singers. He suggested a name for me to contact and the bloke sent me a video of himself singing with his old band and I liked what I saw and heard, so asked him to come down to Wolverhampton for a rehearsal / audition. He sounds a bit like Paul Rogers of Free and Bad Company fame. And when I tried him on some of my songs, i.e. 'Red hot', 'Lay your love on the line' and one or two new songs, his voice fitted in perfectly, even though I had not written those songs with him in mind."

Is there anyone else in the band that we know?

"Well, when I say rehearsed, it was just myself, this new singer and Bill Hunt, who you all know as my song-writing partner on the last two Slade b-sides. Nothing is definite yet, but Don Powell is very keen to come out on the road with me and I would feel very comfortable with Don around. It may have Bill Hunt on keyboards, but he has got a day job, so he's not sure just yet and I'm in the process of rehearsing with other guitarists and vocalists to try and finalise the line-up."

"A lot of people know that I do a fair amount of charity gigs and I really enjoy myself, so I want a band who can do a tour. And I can entertain some Slade fans who come to the gigs and give some of my own material a chance to be performed. I've no intention of calling the band 'Blessings in disguise', I'm still fiddling with the idea of a title and at the moment I think it will be an all-male band."

It's good to hear that Don is keen to be out there with you.

"We've been together a long time. Originals, so to speak. But Don really does want to be with me. I did rehearse another drummer at one time, but when Don did agree to be with me, I was delighted."

Will you be performing Slade material in your set?

"We thought we might look at some of the material, such as album tracks that were never performed live by Slade, and the singer we've got writes his own material, and of course I've got my own material as well. I hope the fans don't think I'm trying to replace Nod. That would be impossible, but I really want to perform live again. I do miss it."

What sort of time scales are you looking at to get prepared and on the road?

"We could be ready for October or November and we may start abroad, but we'll all be getting used to each other and finding out if it works. I think it would be a mistake to start in the UK until all of the hiccups and little problems are sorted out. Really it's no different to Phil Collins and Genesis. I just want to explore my own possibilities and see how it works out."

I hear that there is a possibility of you getting together with a writer and putting a book together. Is this true?

"I approached John Ogden of the Wolverhampton Express and Star, who has been a keen follower and regular reporter on Slade's career over the last 20-odd years, with a view to putting down some of my experiences and stories, to see if a book could be produced that would be entertaining and amusing. I've done an initial chapter for John to work on and we'll see what becomes of it, but it's going to take quite a while to finish, so don't expect anything to be in the shops this side of Christmas."

Anything else happened to you lately?

"Well actually there was a couple of weeks back. I went to see Kiss in concert at the NEC. It was good to see Gene and the band again, and as many fans will know, Kiss do admit to being influenced by the music of Slade. The joke of the night was that Kiss had sent out for the 'Wall of hits' album to play in the dressing room to get revved up before they went onstage! Gene said to me that he just wanted to check and see if he had nicked all the riffs correctly!  It was good to have a chat and they gave a good show, lots of pyrotechnics and tons of noize, but yes, really nice to meet up with them again."