Slade News Issue 6

UK November 22nd, 1979




Slade News Issue 6 November/December 1979
Produced and Set by Dave Kemp
24 Ingham Road, West Hampstead, London NW6 1DE

Honorary readers:
Nod, Dave, Jim and Don
Mr. & Mrs. W. Powell
Mr. Jack Hill
Frank Lea
Graham Swinnerton
J.J. and Will (roadies)
John Blake (Evening News)
Alf Martin (Record Mirror)

"You are the eyes of the reader I am the hand of the writer Together we can fill a page."

Hello, welcome to issue 6. So much has been happening over the last few weeks I'm wondering if I'll be able to fit it all into this newsletter! Anyway here goes......

First, and most importantly, next year I have decided to close Slade News as it now stands, and open THE SLADE FAN CLUB! Several reasons have prompted this; namely everyone seems to refer to us as the "Fan Club", so why not call ourselves that?! And also I feel it would be better for everyone concerned if we became "official" and had subscription membership, as you wouldn't have to keep on applying for each newsletter, and paying the ludicrous charge of 8p for a 25p Postal Order (which most people seem to use as payment) every 2 months! Now you will only have to buy one which lasts for a whole year!

Membership will be £2.20 for a year, PLUS you must send 6 stamped addressed envelopes, sized at least 8" by 6" when applying, or membership is totally invalid. (Fans overseas just send a £2.75 Money Order, not SAEs needed).

Members will receive a membership card, a bumper "Slade News" issue every 2 months, plus several odds and ends throughout the year. NO profit will be made on the fan club - so you will get your money's worth, I promise you that!

Barn have given us approximately 100 Slade Biography books - we will send these out free to the first 100 applicants.

Slade News is (C) D. Kemp 1979



Memberships will be accepted from Jan 1st onwards, and the first newsletter will be distributed during February.

Frank Lea contacted me recently concerning the version of "When The Lights Are Out" that he and Jim have recorded. The record is being released on December 1st, and the "band" have called themselves "The Dummys". The consist of: Jim Lea (Vocals and Bass), Frank Lea (Drums) and Paul Faulkner (Lead Guitar).

The B Side is one of Frank's compositions, "She's The Only Woman". It is released on the Lea's own label, Cheapskate Records, catalogue number SWL 001, distributed by pinnacle. I have heard the Demo of it, and all I can say is that it's great - even better than the original Slade recording dare I say it! Frank has told me that you should be able to order it from your record shop but if not I have 300 copies of the single, which I am selling at the price of £1.05 plus 25p P. & P. So if you'd like a copy simply send me a Cheque/P.O. for £1.30 and I'll rush you one.

I advise you all to get a copy, because not only is it a bloody good single, but it is undoubtedly going to become a "rarity!" Frank told me that they recorded it as a joke at first but they soon became serious about it, thus it has been released.

Good news for Ossie Slade Fans, Richard, Lem, Paul and Rob, 4 Australian Sladists are setting up an "Australian Slade News" service, in which they will be using info from our first 6 issues, and hopefully this will lead them on to opening an Australian Fan Club!

Steffen Decker (German Slade Fan) has a father who writes a yearly English teaching book for the German Education Board. In the next book Steff's Dad is going to have a section on Slade! The several pages will be entitled "Wonderin' Y" and you will delve into all aspects of Slade's career. This book will be used in thousands of German schools, but I'll try to get hold of some copies to sell to English fans!




In the New Year Gill Thompson and I will be getting together to write a biography booklet on Slade in their early days, when they were known as The In Betweens. Noddy and Jim gave me some basic details about these formative years at Sheffield on the last tour - along with some fascinating stories! All this, plus further info, will be featured in the book, which will be sold from the Fan Club hopefully from April 1st (Slade's 14th birthday) next year.

Lots of people have been writing, asking me to help them with problems about records, tour dates, etc.I like to help as far as I possibly can but only can do so if you enclose a S.A.E.

I met some fantastic people on the last Slade tour. At Nottingham I bumped into Johnny Ellis from Kirkby (who seems to get everywhere), he was telling me that his wife has just given birth to their son, who they have Christened "James Lea Ellis". I wonder how they decided on that strange combination of names!

"Return to Base" may be the title to the new Slade album but it also describes the band's recent actions. Jim and Dave used to live in Wolves, whilst Don and Nod had homes in London. Now both Don and Nod have moved back to Wolverhampton so you could say that they have "returned to base!"

Anyway, I must express my sincere thanks to everyone for their support in 1979 keep it up in 1980!

"So here it is, Merry Xmas, everybody's having fun, look to the future now - its only just begun".

Yours, Dave.





new SLADE FAN CLUB
: opens january 1st 1980
: price £2.20 + six sae's
: you receive : member's card
    bi~monthly news mags
: first 100 applicants received
  will be sent Slade blog book


SLADE FAN CLUB,
24 Ingham Rd,
London, NW6 1DE,
England.




THE DUMMYS (FRANK & JIM LEA with Paul Faulkner)


"WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE OUT" single


in your record shops on
Cheapskate SWL 001


or It can be obtained from us
price £1.05 plus 25p P&P
address as Fan Club's
cheques or POs payable to D.Kemp
allow 14 days for delivery


GET IT NOW!



NEW SINGLE ! NEW ALBUM ! TOUR !

Yes, it's all happening! Firstly, the new single. It's been out for some weeks now, - and it's entitled "Sign Of The Times" (B/W "Not Tonight Jospehine"). As most record shops do not stock Slade singles in advance now, you'll more than likely have to get them to order it for you. Thus please quote the catalogue number, BARN 010, and state that it is distributed by Pinnacle (and NOT Polydor as some shops still think!) Many people have been writing saying they have been waiting for ages for their order of the single to arrive in their record shop there's nothing that can be done expect for you to keep waiting I'm afraid. Your orders should arrive eventually, People ask if I can buy the single for them. Sorry but I can't as at the time of writing the copies of the single I have ordered haven't even arrived in my record shop!

The new album should be out at the end of November.. It's entitled "Return To Base" and having heard the rough copy of it, all I can say is that it's amazing, totally different to anything Slade have done before, you'll love it.

The track listings are as follows: (Side One) "The Wheels Aint' Coming Down", "Hold Onto Your Hats", "Chakeeta", "Dont' Waste Your Time (Back Seat Star)", "Sign Of The Times". (Side Two) "I'm A Rocker", "Nuts, Bolts and Screws", "My Baby's Got It". "I'm Mad", "Lemme Love Into Ya" (Let Me Give You Love - as we know it!), "Ginny Ginny".

The album is released on Barn Records, catalogue number NARB 003 (distributed by Pinnacle) - if you need to order from your record dealer.

The cover to "Return to Base" is different to what Dave Hill describes it in his interview, it is stunningly "basic" bright (and I mean BRIGHT) red, with "RETURN TO BASE SLADE" typed at the top!

Also, it looks like Slade will be back on the road in December for some Xmas dates (at last they might play "Merry Xmas Everybody" eh?!). So watch the papers for full details or send a S.A.E. to me, and I'll quote them, when confirmed"



QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

Q. In the old Slade Fan Club they once started to serialise a book written by Don Powell called "Bibble Brick" - did Don Actually write this (as I think that it might of been a hoax), and if so was it ever printed? (Mike O'Sullivan, Dewsbury)

A. Yes, Don assures me that he did actually write this book - although he admits he must have been drunk when he did it! He gave the manuscript to Chas Chandler, who decided to print it in the Fan Club - it was never issued in "book" form.

Q. Do you have any addresses of places where I can obtain: posters, T-shirts, badges, press cuttings or pictures of Slade. Also how do I best go about getting the "Beginnings" album. (Mary Janowska, Highgate)


A. Afraid that no recent firms have designed Slade T-Shirts or Posters, and all the places that sold the old merchandise are no longer in existence. Slade badges can be bought from Nomis (86 Bentley Lane, Meanwood, Leeds - send S.A.E. for details). But as you live in London you should pop along to The Vintage Magazine Shop (2-4 Earlham Street, Cambridge Circus, W.2.), as they have a music basement in which they sell all the music papers from the 1950's onwards - and they will have all the press cuttings you will ever need. Also they sometimes stock new Slade badges, and occasionally get Slade photos in (they recently had stills from "Flame" for sale). The best way to get hold of "Beginnings" is to put a "Records Wanted" ad in one of the music papers - as this usually works.

Q. Whatever happened to Geordie (the Slade copyists of the early 1970's) ? (D. Moore, Glasgow)

A. They did split up - but last year I was told they had reformed - without their Noddy-type vocalist Brian Johnson though - and that they were playing the Tyneside Club circuit.



WOLVERHAMPTON FEVER!

Slade played the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on October 4th, their eigth ever headlining concert there. In front of the "Home" crowd, the group went down a storm! Not all of the audience were Wolverhampton inhabitants though, for even I had heard of fans travelling from placed such as leeds, Nottingham, Gloucester, Dundee and even West Germany, to see the show! Thus it served the purpose of being the greatest fan gathering of 1979!

Even before Slade came on an extatic atmosphere was created by the crowd bellowing "You'll Never Walk Alone".

When they walked on stage the place erupted.

The show opened, as usual, with "Hear Me Calling", followed by other regular standards "My Baby Left Me" and "Take Me Back Ome"

Tracks from the new album "Return To Base" were then played, these being "Let Me Give You Love" and "The Wheels Aint't Coming Down" - possibly the highlight of the show with it's un flappable lighting effects. Most new numbers in any band's act, if not known by the audience, usually are only meagrely received - but this went down as well as all the old favourites, proving it to be a great song.

"Gudbuy T'Jane", "Dizzy Mama", "Cum On Feel The Noize" and all the other Slade "regulars" were then added. The biggest surprise of the evening came when Slade played an amazing new version of "Look Wot You Dun" though. So different was it that at first



I thought it was another song from the new album!

All through the show scores of fans clambered onstage to kiss Noddy Holder, which became all a bit tedious as poor ol' Nod couldn't even get to sing into his microphone half the time!

But when he sang the line "I've had a Redlight off the wrist, without me even getting kissed...." (Far Far Away) and a fan jumped up and gave Nod a smacker on the side of the face, it seemed to sum things up perfectly. Wolverhampton Fever (as Jim Lea once described it to me) lives on, and forever will do as long as Slare are around.

The magic 'of Slade is still there....
By John Ogden.

Eighteen months is a long time in the 1ife of a rock group. In fact it's sometimes longer than the life of some of them.
Yet that's how long it's been since Wolverhampton's most famous rockers Slade played in their home town.
Did it make any difference? Not the slightest. It seemed as though those heady days when they were never out of the charts was just yesterday, for the band have lost none of their magic or attraction.
If they've been out of the charts for a time they have not been idle. Slade are still an "on the road" band. and playing live is what they do best.
Audience
As usual the audience is an integral part of a Slade show. In all the many concerts I have seen I have never come across' audiences so merry and good natured as those who attend Slade gigs.
Though a lot of their act is tried and tested they did include some new songs and some old rock and roll ones - last night.
On this showing it needs only one hit record to put them right back on top of the heap again.



1979 SLADE NEWS' READERS POLL

Due to the success of the "Your Top Ten" feature in S.N.5., results to be printed in our next issue, I have decided to conduct a poll to find out what YOU think about Slade. It is important for everyone to vote, so please do so if you can. All votes must be in by January lOth, so that they can be printed in S.N.7.

To enter simply write on a peice of paper your name and address, with the following category numbers and choice, e.g. (1) Slade Alive, (2) Hear He Calling, etc.

The categories are as follows:-

(1) Best Slade album. (2) Best album track. (3) Best album cover. (4) Best picture sleeve single. (5) Best single B-side. (6) Best live Slade song. (7) Song you'd most like to hear live that isn't in the current stage act.
(8) Best ever concert, e.g. Earl's Court 1973, wembley 1978, etc. (9) Best 1979 concert. (10) Best Slade actor in "Flame". (11) Best sequence from "Flame". e.g. Noddy in coffin, Don's riverbank scene. (12) Best early Slade single (You Better Run - Know Who You Are) (13) Favourite Import album. (14) Most Interesting Slade member to talk to. (15) Best Slade promo film, e.g. "Give Us A Goal" film (Saturday Scene), "My Baby Left Me" film (Tiswas). (16) Best Slade photo.

FLINDERS' FOTOS
Send a sae to Steve at 5 Main St, Stanton - By - Dale, Ilkeston, Derby., for new photos for sale details.



SLADE IMPORTS Part Two

Title: "The Story of Slade" (Double Album)
Country: West Germany
Label: Barn 2689 001
Date: 1977
Cover: picture of Slade live at Wembley - the inside of the gatefold sleeve contains a short summary of Slade's career up till 1977.

Tracks: (1) Coz I Luv You, Gudbuy T'Jane, Keep On Rocking, Good Time Gals, Nobody's Fools, Look Wot You Dun.
(2) Mama Weer All Crazee Now, When The Lights Are Out, Miles Out To Sea, The Bangin' Man, My Town, Lay It Down.
(3) Cum On Feel The Noize, Far Far Away, Everyday, Skweeze Me Pleeze He, Don't Blame Me, Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)
(4) Get Down And Get with It, In For A Penny, Just Want A Little Bit, I'm Mee, I'm Now An' That's Orl, Get On Up, How Does It Feel.



Single: "Coz I Luv You" b/w "Know Who You Are".
Country:Spain
Label Polydor 2058 186 1971
Date 1971 (Picture cover with Slade as Skinheads, 1971) .

Single: "Let The Goodtimes Roll" blw "I Don't Mind".
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Polydor PD 15080
Date: 1972


Title: "Coz I Luv You"
Country: West Germany (THE original C.I.L.Y. LP)
Label: Polydor 2383 100
Date: 1971
Cover: Early promotional photo.
Tracks: (1) Coz I Luv You, Dapple Rose, Sweet Box, Gospel According to Rasputin, My Life Is Natural, The Shape of 'I'hings To Come.
(2) Get Down And Get With It, One Way Hotel, Raven, Do You Want Me, See Us Here, Know Who You Are.



HOW MUCH?

Lots of people have written to us regarding the pricing of old Slade singles, wanting to know approximately how much they should pay for the rarities. Thus as a guideeline I have compiled the price list below:-

YOU BETTER RUN £35
GENESIS £25
WILD WINDS ARE BLOWING £15
SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME £10
KNOW WHO YOU ARE £10
GET DOWN & GET WITH IT £3
BEGINNINGS (Fontana) £30
BEGINNINGS (Contour) £5
BALLZY (Import) £20
1972 Music Scene Flexi £1
1973 Melanie Flexi 50p
1974 19 F1exi 50p
1975 Double-backed Flexi £1
1975 Smiths Crisps Flexi £1
BURNING IN THE HEAT £2.50
ALL IMPORT ALBUHS £6
ALL IMPORT SINGLES £2.50
AMERICAN SINGLES £3

All Polydor singles, apart from GET DOWN AND GET WITH IT, are not worth more than the original face-value, due to the thousands of them sold. BURNING IN THE HEAT OF LOVE, although only released 2 years ago, is worth £2.50 due to it being deleted (like all the Barn singles), and the fact that so many fans didn't even know it had been released until it was too late for them to order it.

BALLZY (the American import version of BEGINNINGS) is worth less than the British version, due to the high number of copies of it being imported in the early 1970's being greater than the British pressing.

The Flexi-discs listed are not worth much to collectors at the moment, but due to them being so delicate, they wear out easily, they will increase in value in the future due to the imminence of their declining in number.

As I said though, my prices are only a guideline - rarities are worth only what you are prepared to pay.



SLADE ACTION .... 

SLADE PETITION Mike and Lihda McKillop are getting up a petition for mor~ Slade airplay on Radio One. Anybody wanting td include their name on the list should drop a line to Mike at: 58 Ashgrove Caravan Site, Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland.

TAPE SWAPS Jan Van de Dever of Van Galenstraat

21, 1971 Dz Ymuiden, Holland, wants tapes of English Slade concerts, for which he will swap his tapes of Dutch Slade gigs.

RECORD SWAPS Glasgow Slade fan Steve Tennie is offering to swap his singles "Let The Good Times Roll" and "Gypsy Roadhog" for a copy of the "Give Us A Goal" import with picture sleeve. His address: 46/75 Kirkton Ave, Glasgow, Gl3 3EG, Scotland.



"SLADE CIRCLE" Slade fans everywhere that are interested getting together with fans abroad to swap records, and to help each other to get hold of various material available, and thus form a circle of friends, should write to Steve Bray, 13 Bradlesmere Close, Ashford, kent, and enclose a S.A.E.

SLADE PHOTOS Trev West of 59 Skipton Circus, Sneinton

Dale, Nottingham, NG3 7DR, has a set of 10 excellent Slade pies for sale, taken at the Coventry City Centre Club earlier this year. They're 5" x 3l.:!" colour pies, price £3.00

.... FOR YOUR REACTION 





PEN FAN Stu Rutter would like a Pen Friend. He wrote in his letter to us: "I am 18, and studying for A levels so I can't follow the Slade Tours around like a lot of the Slade freaks are doing these days, but when I get a job in about another year they'll be no stopping me!".

If you would like to write to Stu, address your letter to: 62 Grimshaw St., Great Harwood, Blackburn, Lancs.. BB6 7AP.

ANY OFFERS? - Andy from Sheffield can get hold of Slade's American LP "Stomp Your Hands And Clap Your Feet" (the price will be approx. £4 - £5), but he needs to ensure a minimum order of 25 copies. If you'd like a copy, write now to Andy pledging that you will buy one if over 25 fans are interested Andy will order them and write back telling you the exact price per copy. So send a S.A.E. now to: Andy, 20 Ringinglow Rd., Ecclesall, Sheffield, S11 7PP.

SWAPS - Serge Vechoeven, Scheihagestraat 27, B-2550 Kontich, Belgium, will swap Dutch/BeJgian posters of Slade for live tapes of Slade's gigs.


"SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD" (Holder/lea 1975) 
Theme to Radio One's Insight Slade Special 
We're gonna race up the motorway
And Rock n Roll the night away
In every town
You'd better lock up your daughters
Because they'll do what they oughta
When we hit the town.

If you want to feel the noize
From your head to your feet
Mama mama weer all crazee now
So get off your seats
The ceiling's gonna fall
When we start to shake the walls
And watch us bring them down

Six days on the road
six days on the road
We're getting Fish n Chips for dinner
Every day we're getting thinner
On the road

Six days on the road
Six days on the road
Can you fell it getting to ya
Is the music going through ya
On the road

You've gotta really feel the noize
And all the girls can grab the boys
On the road

We're a Rock n Rollin' band
And we're the best band in the land
On the road. 

(Original version of "when the Chips are Down", B side of Let's Call It Quits) 

THE UNRELEASED SONGWORDS PAGE 




SLADE ALMANAC (Nov / Dee) 

Nov     1970   "Play It Loud" album released 
Nov  6 1972   Wolverhampton Civic Hall Concert
Nov 12 1973  (to Nov 20) West German Tour 
Nov 17 1972  "Gudbuy T'Jane" released
Nov 18 1972  Dave Hill breaks ankle at Liverpool Stadium Concert. 
Nov 22 1974  "Slade In Flame" album released 
Dec   1 1972  "Slayed" album released 
Dec   7 1973  "Merry Xmas Everybody" released 
Dec 11 1973  "Merry Xmas Everybody" No. I in charts 
Dec 14 1978  Bonny born to Jimmy and Louise Lea 
Dec 24 1971  London Marquee Xmas Party Concert 

PHOTO FANS 
Beata Btedowska (left) and her friend Irena (right) from Poland would like to write to people in England. They are great Slade fans - seeing three of the bands gigs on the Polish tour, and also going to Warsaw Airport to meet the Group. The address to write to them at is: W. Mickiewicza 21/6, 98-200 Sierdz, Poland.

"ROCKIN' OKEY COKEY" 

I have just heard from the offices that Slade have another new single ready for release on Barn on December 3rd. It's a "party type song" - which is very fitting, seeing that Christmas is right on the doorstep Ðand is entitled "Rockin' Okey Cokey". It is a track that is not on the new album "Return to Base". I suggest you order your copy now! 

Also don't forget that "Merry Xmas Everybody" is released once more again on Polydor 2058 422 this December. Plans were afoot last year to release a "Xmas EP" of Slade's greatest hits, including "Merry Xmas Everybody", but they were dropped. The plans have been shelved this year too.



DAVE HILL INTERVIEW

We talked to Dave before Slade's concert at the Top Rank Suite in Sheffield - the last date of their last tour.

S.N.: Dave, you say that the new album "Return To Base" will be out soon, do you have any definate release date?

Dave: Not yet, it should be out before Christmas though. We thought that we would release the single first though and see what happens with that.

S.N.: How long in all did it take to get the album recorded?

Dave (Consulting Nod) It must have taken about six weeks, on and off.


S.N.: Did anyone member (io the bulk of the work on the proc1uction side.

Dave : No, we each took it in turn to produce certain parts ourselves - which makes it the first album we have solely produced ourselves.

S.N.: The title "Return To Base" - how did this come about?

Dave: Well, we had a whole list of suggestions for the title, and "Return To Base" is the one we eventually decided upon. "Return To Base" is from one of the lines of "'Sign Of The Times".

S.N.: On to the cover - has it been designed yet?

Dave : It's still being done, but I understand that it is going to have a photo of a ticker-tape message on the front saying "Return To Base" in computer-like lettering. But it should 



be a very basic cover - so that it ties in with the "basic" reference in the title.

Dave: Yes, I'm verY satisfied with it. It's got a mixture of different types of songs on it, all of which adds up to it being a good album!

S.N.: What's your own favourite track on the record then?

Dave : Mv favourites are the Rock n Roll one (I'm A Rocker) and the instrumental one (Let Me Love Into Ya) - probably because of the way that they come over on stage more than anything else.

S.N.: On to the new stage-act, how did the new version of "Look Wot You Dun" get back into the act - as you haven't played it live since I973!

Dave : What happened was that we were doing a session and we just suddenly started jamming it, and we took the song from there. We changed it from the original because we thought that it would have sounded a bit weak - so we made it a bit more heavy for the current show.

We are planning to get some more tracks from the next albUm into the show, but we want to have the record released first - so at least the audience have an inkling as to what the songs are before we start playing all these new numbers onstage!

S.N.: Will you be adding some more old ones, like "Look Wot You Dun" to the set?

Dave: We've all agreed that there are no more oldies that we can re-do. We've got to go forward, not backnard. For

example we've been doing a new "The Wheels Ain't Coming Down" - and that's been getting a fantastic reaction, and nobody's heard it before! We've got to get new numbers like that into the show.'

S.N.: Why haven't you been doing "Sign Of The Times" live?



Dave : The reason for that is that at the moment we feel the act is. just about right. We have added two numbers that have worked very well, and. we are now hoping to get "Sign Of The Times" in on the next stretch of dates. Also at the moment we've got one slow ballad in the act, and on this tour we didn't want to have two. 

S.N.: I've seen the new stage outfits of yours, are they your own creations? (For those of YOu who didn't get to see Slade on the tour, they consist of a red silky Chinese style long-sleeve shirt, that alternates with a red and white bomber jacket, along with red PVC trousers and white boots) 

Dave: In a wray I designed them myself. I came alone with the ideas, and I took them to a lady called Jean Seal, he made the clothes for me. 
I've decided to return to wearing colourful stage outfits once again, rather than maintaining the Black and White look. 
Watching the music scene at the moment, what with the flashiness of the Punks, and also taking the theory that the whole music business revolves in a circle, I see it as inevitable that the Glitter scene will come back again, and when it does I'll be top of the pile! 

S.N.: You've always liked wearing flash clothes though, haven't you? 

Dave: I like to get reactions by my clothes, I suppose it's a means of expressing myself. In many ways I felt like a punk in our early days dressing weirdly just for the hell of making people look! Even as a kid I can remember wearing a cap and long cape and walking through Woolworth's, so as to make everyone stop and stare! 

S.N.: Will you be taking a treck abroad before the year's out? 

Dave: We call always go abroad, but while we've got the single out over here, and while we are 



trying to break back into the market again, we'd rather stay "at home". We might do the occassional stint on the Continent - but not at the moment.

S.N.: This is the last night of the tour - how do you feel that it has gone, well or badly? 

Dave : It's gone well, even you have seen that, Look at the Music Machine gig - there was a far bigger croud there this year compared to last year's Gig. It was packed out. " 

S.N.: One question that I've alwlays wanted to ask you; what's the favourite record you have ever recorded?

Dave : My favonrite of all-time? We haven't recorded it yet .... 

XMAS COMPETITION 

The first person to drop me a line stating the B-side of Merry Xmas Everybody" wins a copy of that very single - on which DON POWELL has written his Christmas message to the winner!




divider
Many thanks to Stu Rutter for the hard copy! A full size scan of the complete mag will be available here: 
It can be viewed on Dave Kemp's www.sladefanclub.com .

Hand-written on the envelope rear (by Dave Kemp) 


LATEST SLADE NEWS:
Slade's new single will be called just OKEY COKEY on December 8th. It's out on BARN 011


Tour Dates (so far):
Dec  7th London, Barts Hospital
Dec  8th London, Goldsmith College
Dec 13th London, Music Machine






The Portland Studio Master Tapes

Portland Place, London 1979


Much has been said in Slade circles (off the record) about the so-called 'Portland Tapes' which have been said to exist for the last couple of decades. I heard the story a few years back and was told that they had been transferred to tape but nobody seemed to have a copy. I dismissed it at the time as an 'urban myth' until recently when I received a cassette tape. Asking questions about the recordings put me in touch with the present owner of 'The Portland Tapes' who was kind enough to supply photos and documentation that prove the authenticity of the tapes.

Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London, sandwiched between the Langham Hotel and BBC Broadcasting House. The major record companies all had their own recording studios but opposite the BBC in Great Portland Street there was a small independent studio that played its own part in music history.


This was the INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING CORPORATION at 35 Portland Place, London, W1N 3AG.

IBC Studios were the leading independent studio in London and the British Isles after WWII. During the 1960's IBC was responsible for many of the UK's best musical moments and many of the UK's best musicians during the 60's & 70's will have recorded there at some time.




When IBC decided to sell their studio in 1976, Chas Chandler was interested. He had been using IBC for some of the acts he produced including Slade and within weeks he became the new owner. The stereo room was still in good working order and he made it even better by employing the legendary George 'Porky Primecut' Peckham, which insured that the place was full of laughter. He also retained cutting engineer Brian Carroll who had worked there since 1965.


Now it became Portland Recording Studio incorporating Barn Records, which meant that Slade now had their own studio. It was unfortunately the time of their decline in popularity and when Polydor Records dropped them in 1977 they began to release records on the Barn label.






A few streets away there was another studio. Advision was set up in the 1960's, initially to record voice-overs for TV and cinema commercials. London at that time was the centre of the European Film business and was the culture capital of the world.

During the seventies, the industry changed and Advision had to find a new niche - they became one of the leading rock industry facilities.

In the late 70's, Geoff Oliver started a company called RadioTracks in partnership with Chas Chandler. He later formed The Sound Company and took over the ex-Advision building.


"I was based at IBC as part of Broadcast Marketing Services who shared a common director. BMS block-booked Studio B and built another small studio in the mews part of the building, opposite The Dover Castle in Weymouth Mews - where the wonderful barmaids would attend to our every need. When Chas Chandler bought IBC & imaginatively renamed it Portland Recording Studios, Chas & myself formed RadioTracks specialising in radio commercials and the then Post Office "Dial a Disc" service. Later, when Chas sold out to Don Arden, I eventually raised enough to buy myself out and relocated RadioTracks to Great Titchfield St.

I believe a number of bands would record at both studios depending on availability, and due to their close proximity there would have been some staff social interaction in the pubs - though they were great rivals."

Geoff Oliver - The Sound Company
Chas Chandler later sold the studio to Jet Records which was owned by Don Arden. Three large reels of 1/4 inch tape and three boxes of smaller reels were found, that had apparently been left behind in the building. The recordings, commissioned by Barn and produced by Chas Chandler, were performed by Slade in 1978/9.


Jeanie, later re-named Ginny Ginny, was engineered by Paul Hardiman in February 1979, probably in Studio A. There are two versions and the second is marked as the groups preferred version. Ginny, Ginny was officially released three months later on 18th May 1979



Don't Waste Your Time was engineered by Andy & Dave (Andy 'Pugwash' Miller) in Studio A, on the 13th March 1979. The recording is marked Dolby A, +3db, with an EQ Curve of N-A-B and there seems to be T2 and a copyright symbol after the title (see pic below). If anybody would like to explain that studio gibberish, I'd be happy to read it. It was officially released, for the first time, on the album, Return To Base, on 1st October 1979.



Rock 'n' Roll Bolero bears no date or engineer but there are four versions offered.



Two are on a 10" reel and the other two are on a 5" reel. There are three of the smaller reels but two of them are empty spools.


The 10" tape has notes stating 'Same as 5" reel' but the 5" reel is recorded at 7.5 inches per second (and labelled "For Chas") instead of the usual 15 IPS. There is a 'No Dolby' option marked on the empty spool boxes.


As I did not perform the transfer the original master tapes I am unsure which version is which. In the chrome tape transfer, Take 1 & 2 have very similar wave forms as do Take 3 & 4. I think it's fair to say there were only two studio recordings made by the group.

It would be interesting to know which two came from the tape marked "For Chas". Rock 'N' Roll Bolero was officially released 6th October 1978.


The original 'finder of the tapes' worked at Portland Studios and said they had been left behind when the building was cleared out. The tracks are all original studio master recordings and, as you would expect, they all sound very similar to the officially released recordings but with varying degrees of EQ in the mix-down.


  • Don't Waste Your Time
  • Jeanie (Version 1)
  • Jeanie (Version 2)
  • Rock n Roll Bolero (Take 1)
  • Rock n Roll Bolero (Take 2)
  • Rock n Roll Bolero (Take 3)
  • Rock n Roll Bolero (Take 4)



"I have got them, they are the master tapes with full studio notes in all the original boxes and in good condition. I bought them in good faith from someone over 10 years ago and had them transferred to digital audio tape.

They were first seen in public at the Slade Exhibition in Walsall. I don't know how they got into the display. There was a lot of filler in the display cases but I remember the tapes caught my eye because they were the only items I hadn't seen before.
A few years later I received a phone call from this guy saying he had some master tapes that he thought I might want to buy them. I was told by the seller that he knew someone in the studios. They were discovered and passed on to him when Portland closed down."
The Current Owner 2009
Around 1995 the original owner took them into a studio in Edinburgh and had them transferred to CD prior to selling them to somebody overseas. This was probably the recording that found its way into my collection.

Since these tapes were found during the closure of Portland Studios, I would say there's a fair chance that these are the master tapes that the officially released versions of the songs were taken from.

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: The Portland Tapes.rar Filesize: 55.26 MB

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The historical info on this page has been borrowed from two great sites, one put together by Brian Carroll who worked at IBC and the Advision info is from The Sound Company site which is full of interesting trivia. My thanks to Mark Lion who pointed me in the right direction and a big thank you to the current owner of the tapes for providing the media.


Return To Base

UK, 1st October, 1979
Barn Records - NARB 003

Return To Base was the band's eighth Studio Album and their third and last to be released on their own "Barn" label in the UK.  Unfortunately, this, too, did not enter any national album charts, although when it was repackaged, retitled and re-issued two years later, it would be a completely different outcome!











Another Win

Written by Bernard Frost & Andrew Miller, both of whom were heavily involved with Status Quo. Bernie Frost is a singer and guitarist who has worked with Status Quo since 1972, when he co-wrote 'A Year' on the Piledriver album, and has recorded with Francis Rossi. Andy 'Pugwash' Miller was the sound engineer on Status Quo's 1974 Quo album. He also co-wrote with Quo but engineered on Slade's Return To Base, We'll Bring The House Down and Till Deaf Do Us Part albums in the early 80's.Frost co-wrote Marguerita Time which bassist, Alan Lancaster, disliked and when Quo appeared on BBC's Top of the Pops to mime to the single, his place was taken by Jim Lea of Slade.
This may or may not be relevant but suggests that Slade and Quo were socialising, possibly collaborating, during this period? 


Another Win was recorded by both Slade and Status Quo around 1979 neither of which were released.
Slade Supporters Club Newsletter
May - June 1981
"Did you know that:- Slade have another piece of unreleased material in their catalogue. It was a 'different' type of number that was written by Slade's engineer Andy Miller. He persuaded the band to record it at Portland while they were laying down tracks for 'Return To Base' album. Although the song turned out fine it has never appeared on vinyl - not even as a B-side,"
The Slade track has remained unheard until now, originally in bits made available in an effort to procure a sale when the master tape was offered for purchase to various people around 2009. 
"...I still have the original Slade 1/4" master of 'Another Win". I've been dealing with Slade's management but they don't want to buy it from me. I co-wrote the song which has never been released...."
Later, in late summer 2011, Harry Neames made the full song available via Eamon Jurdzis who passed it to Dave Graham on the Slade In England site and it finally got heard by the groups loyal following. It's a shame they never bought it as it would have made a good bonus track for the recent Salvo remastered catalogue. It's reminiscent of 'Nutbush City Limits' and it works well. It was probably the inspiration for 'Funk, Punk & Junk'.


To Download the audio, with the speed corrected, click on here.

I look forward to, hopefully, one day hearing the groups 1991 unreleased recording of Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' and another unknown track called 'Love Is..'?


A massive thank you to Dave Graham at Slade In England for getting this full copy out here for the great unwashed to wrap our ears around. Nice to hear Noddy Holder singing a new Slade song. Major respect to Harry NeamesEamon Jurdzis and The Historian. Thanks to AJ for the lyrics.




Another Win
(Bernie Frost & Andy Miller)


Yeah, yeah

So go on and tell me what you think
It’s so hard for you to see
I get out the house just once a week
When I do its you and me

Lying on the floor of a rented room
Staying up and staying in
Holding on longer than another man
Cause I’m looking for another win

Hey, hey, yeah

I was washed up to my full extent
Couldn’t move cause I’d been used
I was loving her on shaky legs
And I felt like I was bruised

Lying on the floor of a rented room
Staying up and staying in
Holding on longer than another man
Cause I’m looking for another win

Had a lot of loving
More than I can take
A lot of loving
More than I can give
A lot of loving
Good good loving

Had a lot of loving
More than I can take
A lot of loving
More than I can give
A lot of loving
Good good loving

Good good loving
Good loving

Now come on and help me to my feet
I can go anywhere with you
Cause I’m up and about and I’m on the street
And you know where leading to

Lying on the floor of a rented room
Staying up and staying in
Holding on longer than another man
Cause I’m looking for another

Lying on the floor of a rented room
Staying up and staying in
Holding on longer than another man
Cause I’m looking for another win
For another win, yeah I’m looking out