'Slade live at the BBC'

This two disc set was given a provisional release date of September 28th 2009 in the UK, almost forty years on from the dates of the earliest session recordings that are to be found on the discs. Jim Lea worked on the remastering with Tim Turan and the result is most satisfying. Jim shares memories of the time in the booklet that accompanies the two discs.

On disc one, Slade's 'Play it loud' and 'Slade Alive!' period is amply represented by a number of songs from the albums - mainly written by Jim Lea and Don Powell and a rivetting set of cover versions that never made it to an official Slade release.

Coming Home
This Delaney and Bonnie track, broadcast in January 1970, when the group were still sporting their skinhead haircuts, fairly stomps out of the speakers. If the group generally sounded like this live at that period, then they were a truly formidable bunch. A radio announcer voiceover (as on a number of the other tracks) doesn't distract, it simply adds to the period charm of the recording.

The Shape of things to come
A very subtly chorded intro and disciplined playing from the group make for an excellent performance.

See us here
Introduced as being a Jim Lea tune, See us here from Play it loud features some of Jim's most versatile and energetic bass playing. An object lesson to bassists everywhere.

Know who you are
Driven by Don and Jim, with excellent vocals, this has a gorgeous intimate 'in the room' feel to it. Dave Hill does some lovely falsetto 'scat' singing at the end.

My life is natural
A song composed solely by Noddy Holder that was featured as the flipside to Coz I luv you. The band stamp what was going to become their trademark sound all over it. Great to hear this live, because, being a b-side, it never became a regular feature at Slade's live shows, so a radio outing was possibly as far as it got. Great distorted bass from Jim and a clattering Don on the kit make this far more energetic than the released version.

Coloured Rain
Jim brought this psychedelic Traffic song to the band. Complex and very heavily arranged, yet still very melodic.
Great guitar and bass work throughout and Don works up a sweat.

Man who speeks evil
Another b-side that didn't ever get heard that much live, except for radio sessions. At the time it was up for consideration as an album track, only to have to make way later on for some songs that were considered to be more commercial and written by Holder and Lea.

Move over
A noticeably different arrangement to that which featured on Slayed? It's so interesting to hear the group finding their way to what would become the final album track. Great fruity bass tone from Jim's Gibson EB3 and vastly different lead guitar from Dave at the end.

Omaha
Inspired by seeing the Idle Race playing the Moby Grape song 'Hey Grandma', Jim nipped down to The Diskery and snapped up a copy of the single. On playing the b-side, the band went with that track instead. Good choice!

Sweet box
Another Play it loud track. Great massed vocals. This song always had a terrific energy and this performance is one fo the best you would ever have heard. Jim's bass goes into overdrive on this performance.

Nights in white satin
Exclusive to this CD and not available elsewhere, this Moody Blues song gets the Slade ballad treatment - a fairly faithful and thoughtful arrangement, but with added grit, thanks to Nod's vocals. Whether the Beeb's odd insistence on making Jim overdub his violin a staggering ten times made a huge difference, only Jim will know!

It's alright Ma, It's only witchcraft
A Fairport Convention song may seem an odd choice for Slade - 'til you hear this version get going properly. Nice and jazzy. But Slade give it their trademark thump. This would have fitted on Play it loud brilliantly, but we'll have to just imagine that!!!

Raven
A very lively, but faithful, version of the excellent Play it loud track and once again, this gives you food for thought about what wonders Slade must have had in their set before they hit the charts big time.

Gudbuy Gudbuy
A radically different arrangement of the song to that released on Slayed? later on. Piano and chiming guitars a-la Coz I luv you drive the song along. The song hasn't yet found its final bluesy yet bombastic feel and the general beat is more regular and driving. A song in transistion and a fascinating listen.

Getting better
To please the housewives out there, they pulled a song they had dropped from the set out of the hat. Again, it's fairly faithful to the Beatles original, but faster and a good bit more gritty. The band hurry through this as if there is a pint waiting for them in the pub, but it's still a joyous version, despite it having fallen out of their live show a while before.

Darling be home soon
This song needs little or no introduction. Played with a degree of tenderness, followed by a hail of thunder. You know just exactly how this goes.

Let the good times roll
This song was a stage favourite of the group. This rollicking version version is taken from a John Peel session.

Get down and get with it
The song that never grew tired, despite being played by the group several thousand times during their career. This too, is a very spirited version, recorded for the Sounds of the Seventies show in May 1971.

Wild winds are blowing
This song shows just how different and distinctive Slade really were at that time. The performance is great and the band attack this song as if their lives depended on it.

Four promo inserts for the group recorded for Radio 1 end the fist disc, two being recorded over backing tracks for Everyday and one of My friend Stan.

Disc two comprises a concert recording from the Paris Theatre, London from August 17th 1972. This will be familiar to a number of Slade fans and it's without a doubt a cracking show, featuring a few more live gems that were never officially released until now.

HEAR ME CALLING
IN LIKE A SHOT FROM MY GUN
LOOK WOT U DUN
KEEP ON ROCKIN'
MOVE OVER
MAMA WEER ALL CRAZEE NOW
LADY BE GOOD
COZ I LUV YOU
TAKE ME BAK OME
GET DOWN WITH IT
GOOD GOLLY MISS MOLLY

Not everything that Slade recorded for the BBC survives intact or in perfect condition, sadly. A number of BBC recordings they made have been lost over the years. This new collection does Slade's long-standing reputation as a thunderously powerful and highly skilled set of musicians no harm ar all. It is also a fitting testament to the skill of the ever so highly under-rated writing collaboration between Jim Lea and Don Powell, which gave the group an 'underground' credibility with a lot of hard rock fans at the time, before the glitter and stack heels got in the way.

FURTHER REVIEWS:

Classic Rock, December 2009 issue.
"Proof that the glam kings were one of the UK's best live acts. Cum on feel the power...

Having been one of the million-odd people that helped send their Cum On Feel The Noize single straight to the Number One on its first week of release - almost unheard of back in 1973 - by nicking 10 bob from my mum's purse in order to buy it, I can surely be forgiven for suggesting that back then there were good time Top Of The Pops bands, of which Slade were the undoubted masters, and then there were 'serious' artists like yer Purples and Sabbaths. A pity, because as this marvellous two-CD collection of previously unreleased tracks makes plain, Slade was not only capable of producing top-drawer album material, they were easily one of the best live bands this country - or any other - has been lucky enough to call their own.
The first CD comprises 20 tracks from Slade's pre-fame days when they relied mainly on cover versions. Not just any covers though, but tasteful - not a word usually associated with Slade but fully justified here - versions of songs by estimable artists. The best of the bunch here include impressive readings of Delaney & Bonnie(Coming Home), Moby Grape (Omaha), Janis Joplin (Move Over), Fairport Convention (It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft) and of course, Little Richard with the band's apocalyptic take on Get Down And Get With It, recorded in session here for Stuart Henry's 1971 show and one of the best balls-out rock tracks Led Zeppelin never recorded.
The second disc is a 12-track recording of their live 1972 show from the BBC's Paris Theatre in London's Lower Regent Street and includes all their hits up until then - from Coz I Luv You to Mama Weer All Crazee Now - as well as, delightfully, their instrumental cover of Gershwin's Lady Be Good, affording Jim Lea the opportunity to whip his fiddle out, if you'll pardon the unfortunate mental image. Even the specially recorded radio jingles are pretty ace - from the days when Radio 1 could still be considered a place where ''we're all having fun.''
An excellent 24-page booklet with notes from some of the band members completes this eye-opening package.
8/10 - Mick Wall"

"...a fine package...
This sparkling, newly-remastered set includes 20 recordings, alongside four customised Radio 1 jingles based on Slade hits and a blistering second CD featuring the whole of a 1972 concert recorded at the Paris Theatre for transmission on Radio 1. The concert mainly features rollicking versions of the band's hits but the sessions include some interesting choices, including a version of The Beatles' Getting Better. Extensive sleeve notes complete a fine package.
Reviewer: A. Jones
Publication: Music Week"

"Noddy's mob from '69-'72: the birth of Yob Rock
Slade's cartoonish wardrobe has overshadowed what a fantastic live act they were. This two-disc set shows them growing from a hard rock showband (sounding like a cross between Deep Purple and the Arctic Monkeys on 'It's Alright, It's Only Witchcraft') to the ferocious outfit that dominated the 1970s charts. Their rabble-rousing skills kick in on the second disc, a live set from 1972 which features the debut of 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now".
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewer: Alastair McKay
Publication: UNCUT"