SLADE: From Total Collapse To National Treasures In Just 1 Gig

Slade first reached national success in the early 1970s, but by 1980 they had lost it all. The band was falling apart, and on the brink of collapse, when one unexpected gig turned everything around in the most dramatic way possible.

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[getinthevantim]

I was there. That crowd was a vicious, monstrous beast, quite capable of turning on anybody or anything that earned their displeasure, the band Girl having been literally pelted offstage earlier simply for "looking a little bit poofy'. Slade could so easily have suffered a similar fate. We'd paid for Ozzy and the organisers were trying to palm us off with a bunch of old has-beens like Slade? I've seen some killer sets in my life but nothing has or will ever come close to the magic that I witnessed over the following 45 minutes. Slade were utterly, utterly magnificent and in the finest traditions of the performing arts they stole the show.

[Wintermute]

This festival was something else. Four of us attended. Many rock giants took to the stage, but Slade, well that was something else. Everyone wore the obligatory patched, sleeveless Levi jackets. Nobody had a Slade patch. The crowd was sweaty, pissed and the vibe was grumpy. When Slade opened fire, it changed. I've never experienced anything like it. It makes the hairs on my neck stand up to this day. We were deaf, hoarse and knackered by the end. No other act came close. Fantastic!

[BillLawrence-om]

Hats off to David Graham, the ultimate Slade fan and archivist, who was responsible for much of the content in this documentary. David sadly passed away in 2024.

[alexhamilton]

I was never a Slade fan in the 1970s, it just wasn’t my type of music. I forget what year it was but sometime in the early 1980s I went to Donnington monsters of rock and Slade were on the bill. I thought oh no! Everyone was sitting down drinking from 2 litre plastic bottles of beer and lager. Then the time came, Slade were announced and I thought oh god! They came onto the stage and within 30 seconds of the first song, everyone was up and leaping about. Then seconds later all the empty beer bottles started to be thrown up in the air, not at the stage. It was like a swarm of bees and they never stopped flying until the band went off. Biggest cheer of the day for Slade and I was grinning from ear to ear. What an absolutely stunning live band they are. Now I will hear no wrong about Slade. They were awesome. 👍🏻😃

[stuartmenziesfarrant]

The fact that Slade could really play, had great songs and were a talented band shone through!

[davidchave]

I was there. I've seen around 2500 bands over the past 46 years. SLADE are still the best live band I ever saw and that Reading Gig is the best live set I've ever seen. I was one of the couple of hundred who were down the front when they started, as I was a SLADE fan anyway. The VLOG is a wonderfully accurate description of what happened that day. I'd gone to Reading festival with a mate and my brother. When SLADE were due on, I left them to go down the front. When I got back to them after the set, they were open-mouthed, not quite sure what they'd just witnessed. It was magical! Listening to the Vlog has brought a tear to my eye, remembering how proud I was that my favourite band showed 80, 000 odd metalheads that they were the greatest live band they'd ever see. I felt sorry for Def Leppard. Follow that!!
Keep on Rockin'

[johnny]

When Noddy let's loose, there's noone quite like him, his voice is beyond epic.

[michaelchallen]

when my daughter was at primary school in the late 1990's, all her friends knew all the members of Westlife, Take That and whatever boy bands were out there. MY daughter could name all four members of Slade from the cover of Slayed. Attagirl.

[markbleay]

I was there, up the front, couldn't believe my luck that Slade were on. My favourite band.
Dave was tuning up (again). I shouted "It's close enough!". Noddy repeated that on the mic. to him.

That moment made it onto the "Six of the Best" live at Reading EP. My moment of fame.😂

[robertparker]

Thank you for making this! As an American I discovered Slade in 1984 just before my 12th birthday with "Run Runaway".
At 52 now I would love to have a time machine to see that amazing show in 1980.

[stevenmoran]

I was there and it was better than you described.
We refused to let Slade leave the stage and Reading always were dead strict with bands not leaving on time. The normal response would have been turning the power off and lights but, the organisers knew there would probably have been a riot if the did that so the band were allowed to leave when they and us in the crowd were ready.
I used to go the Reading every year but after that I knew it would never be the same again. So I never went back.

[tonyrapa-tonyrapa]

Well done Slade... always had a soft spot for them.

[DigitalRackGear]

What an outstanding presentation and story. Great work James. Wonderfully presented.

[wamgoc]

Happy to say that I was there! One of the few who stayed when they were announced, as the others disappeared! I was there with me mates to see Leopard, but I ended up seeing the greatest gig I’d ever been too!
I grew up with them in the 70s, and here they were, brilliant!!!
Thanks for sharing this with your supporters James! Long live Slade!🤟

[JackBarrie-vz]

As the shows producer, also manager at that time of Marquee club, I had already experienced the talents of Slade having taken a chance with them playing the Marquee so I had no hesitation in booking them as a replacement act when we lost the services of ozzie Osborne that year. Chas Chandler, being a friend from his days with the Animals, & at this time their manager didn't have too hard a job of pleading me for the gig. We all won that day! 😉😉

[simonm]

I wasn’t there but heavy metal friends of mine were and told me the following week that it was an incredible moment. As told here, they were part of the crowd who were walking away and on hearing Slade stopped and rushed back to the stage. A feel good moment listening to this. Slade were part of my early teen years and every time I hear a Slade track it transports me back. Thank you.

[Crusadersbritainunite]

I WORKED THIS FESTIVAL BACKSTAGE, IT WAS BLOODY AMAZING.

[harrypalmer]

One of the UKs finest bands. Thank you for putting this video together, a great tribute for a great band.

[JohnnieAshton]

This was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 live. I had just bought my first home, hence no more partying, it was Sunday evening, I didn't have the spare cash, so I did my ironing, to the radio.
I had prioritised buying a telephone, over having a TV, so the Wireless was my source of entertainment.

Tommy Vance was his usual assured self, and the bands were "average to boring", they all were so serious, and then came a breath of fresh air, Slade, and they were BRILLIANT.
They were so vibrant compared to anyone who had played earlier, and finished it off in style, in the middle of August ~So here it is Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun"

And it was clear they were, having fun.

[ubtmikee]

I too was there! I was part of a group of 15 or so people who drove down from North Wales in a Sherpa van with no back seats! When we arrived security told us that Slade were replaceing Ozzy - I was not disappointed but most of the rest of the group were! "Slade? They're crap" was one of the nicer phrases! I wasn't having that - I was a secret fan and even then still had the "Slade in Flame - it's only a film" T-Shirt. On the afternoon Paul and I went down to near the front and we had the time of our lives. I remember Noddy shouting something like ' we done them all - what do you wanna hear?.... Merry Christmas? But it's the bloody middle of Summer - at least tha's what I think he said - but play it they did. Brilliant! I don't remember any other band that weekend - it was over 40 years ago and things did get hazy for us teenagers for various reasons!