FEATURE:
Second Spin
IN THIS PHOTO: The classic lineup of Slade in November 1973 (left to right: Jim Lead, Don Powell, Noddy Holder and Dave Hill)
rather than put this in Vinyl Corner, I wanted to highlight Slade’s Slayed? as a Second Spin candidate. The 1972 album from the mighty Slade, I have been reminded of it following the news that their lead, Noddy Holder, was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. Produced by Chas Chandler, Slade’s third studio album ranks alongside their very best. This amazing album reached number one in the U.K. It remained on the chart for thirty-four weeks and was certified Silver in early-1973. Even though Slayed? is an amazing album, I don’t think it is known and played as much as it should be. I wanted to put it back in the spotlight for a bit. With one of their biggest songs, Mama Weer All Crazee Now, in the mix, Slayed? is an album that will connect with fans of the band - and those who might not know much about them. If you want to get Slayed? on C.D. then you can buy it here. I can’t see any making of features or anything that looks at the background of an album that came out on 1st November, 1972. I am going to come to a review of the reissue of the album in 2021. First, this is what AllMusic wrote about the stunning Slayed? It is surely near the peak when we think of the Midland band’s cannon:
“Slade might have built its everywhere-but-America fame upon a succession of gut-tearing hit singles, but the band's true rocking credentials were on display elsewhere, in the second to none stage show that had already been preserved on the epochal Slade Alive! earlier in 1972 and across the chain of storming B-sides that had accompanied the smashes so far. Slayed? may have been only the band's second studio album in four years, but it reinforced that barrage with enough mighty stompers that the band could have taken the next year off and still not run out of steam. Even if one excises past hits "Gudbuy t' Jane" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" from the equation, Slayed? is a nonstop party, from the riotously self-fulfilling prophecy of "The Whole World's Goin' Crazee" to the down-key but still eminently stompalong-able "Look at Last Nite," the latter a reminder that, even at its loudest, Slade was still capable of some fetching balladry.
Or should that be the other way around? The tomahawk riffing of "I Won't Let It 'Appen Again" is another highlight -- a similar arrangement was later borrowed, to excellent effect, for sometime support band Blue Öyster Cult's version of another Slade favorite, the rocker anthem "Born to Be Wild," while "Gudbuy Gudbuy" lurches like a battalion of tanks and matches a stirring Dave Hill guitar break to one of Noddy Holder's coolest-ever vocals. A couple of covers break the Holder/Lea songwriting domination. A bass-heavy blues boogie through Janis Joplin's "Move Over had graced a Slade BBC session earlier in the year, and provoked such a great response that they had no option but to re-record it, while the closing medley of "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Feel So Fine" was the closest you could come to the mania of a Slade live show without actually going out and buying a ticket. Of course, listeners don't have that option today. But stick on Slayed?, crank the volume well up -- and the whole world will be going crazee all over again”.
The Guardian reviewed Slayed? when it got a reissue in 2006. I was not aware of that. In their five-star review, they heralded the influence of the album. How it impacted bands like Oasis. Echoes and Dust discussed the 2021 reissue that introduced Slade’s Slayed? to a new generation. I think that more people need to investigate the album and spread its brilliance far and wide:
“BMG gave a reissue to Slade’s 1972 album, Slayed? on splatter vinyl last month. It’s yellow and black and looks like a giant squashed banana, perhaps a suitably tragi-comic coincidence.
Slayed? was the band’s third album and it went straight in at Number 1 when released that November and remained in the charts for 34 weeks. Of course at the time Slade strode across Europe like a tartan-trousered Godzilla, blasting out hit singles and albums like the giant reptile’s fiery breath after a particularly heavy night on the sake. And yet despite Slayed? being just one of three chart-topping albums, and the band being a cherished institution for any rock fan over a certain age, you’ll never see any of their studio album’s listed in Top 100 Best Of’s… so beloved of the music press. My teenage son is familiar with the works of Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, but he’d never heard of Slade and the only tune he seemed to recognise was the Christmas single. I’m sure many a keen young rock fan has been lead to Spotify to check out the ‘canon’ of albums; Led Zep IV, Exile on Main Street, Nevermind, The White Album, Back in Black etc etc. – but it’s unlikely many have been encouraged to check out Slade’s back catalogue by their peers. Why is that? Well, I suspect it’s partly that Slade made, maintained and even resurrected their reputation as a live act. Slade were the good time had by all. The original album liner notes on the back by music journo states as much…
Also main songwriter Jim Lea had a genius for penning catchy melodies to the extent that virtually every song the band put out in the early seventies could have been a Top 40 smash. As a consequence the band’s studio albums can feel like single collections or slightly cleaned up documents of what the band were playing live at the time. That’s certainly the case with Slayed? which by the end abandons any pretence of being a self-contained piece of art and barrels out with a medley of ‘Let the Good Times Roll/Feel So Fine’ which I imagine is as near as dammit to seeing the band encore in a club at that time. A studio album feels like second prize to the main event of witnessing the Black Country boys tear it up amidst a sea of sweat, denim and beer.
There are, however, some great songs on Slayed? – the boisterous, groovy opener ‘How D’You Ride’, the Motown meets psych rock of ‘I Won’t Let It ‘Appen Agen’, and the sardonic and downbeat ‘Look at Last Nite’, a song already forecasting the bands fall from the heady heights of fame. Then of course there’s the actual hit singles – ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’ and ‘Gudbuy T’Jane’. To these ears ‘Mama…’ is now rather stale and conjures grisly images of Oasis, but ‘Gudbuy…’ is still a corker, a sort of Status Quo meets The Rolling Stones in Wolverhampton Town Hall knees up, with Dave Hill providing some lovely Stonesy licks throughout.
‘Super Yob’ guitarist Dave Hill, (now the only remaining original member since the controversial dismissal of Don Powell) looms large in the legend of Slade, but what is surprising is how restrained his appearances are on this album. In fact on the opening numbers it’s Jim Lea’s bass that leads the songs and adds the heavy, thumping atmosphere to the darker, less glam numbers. Although Slade’s lyrics seldom match their knack for a tune, with the songs mostly being classic rock life on the road and woman-done-me-wrong laments, there are some subtler moments found in ‘Look at Last Nite’ and ‘Gudbuy Gudbuy’. It’s these, less familiar songs that will draw you in if you’re now immune to the big singles.
Ultimately though, these songs were written to be performed and enjoyed live and now that the classic line-up of the band’s heyday is an ever-fading memory, that’s what the purpose of Slayed? is – a chance to hear one of the UK’s greatest musical acts at the top of their game. Turn it up loud and Feel the Noize”.
If you have not heard the superb Slayed? then go and check it out! Slade were in my mind when I heard about Noddy Holder and his cancer diagnosis. I am not sure whether there is going to be any new music from Holder in some form in years to come. It is the time of year when we will hear Slade’s classic Christmas song, Merry Xmas Everybody. That song was released not long after Slayed? Written by Holder and bassist Jim Lea, it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and final number-one single in the U.K. It won them the U.K. Christmas number one slot in December 1973. It beat another Christmas-themed song, Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. If you are in the mood for a great album that is celebrated but not heard that much, go and seek out Slade’s 1972 gem, Slayed? It is an album that will definitely…
LEAVE impressions in the mind.