An intriguing and surprising overview of the period when Slade were tipped to become bigger than the BeatlesAmong the coloured-vinyl albums,double A-side singles and facsimiles of flexidiscs in this deluxe Slade box set lurks a copy of George Tremlett’s 1975 pulp biography of the band. The Slade Story is never going to be acclaimed as a lost classic of rock literature, but it still makes for intriguing reading. We learn of drummer Don Powell’s unlikely interest in metallurgy, or of the special box owned by Noddy Holder for the purpose of transporting his trademark mirrored top hat between gigs,and that guitarist Dave Hill’s taste for the exotic went further than his glittery onstage garb: “Dave’s decision to buy a house in Solihull came as a surprise to the other members of the group, who own all stayed in the Wolverhampton area.”It was written in the firm belief that Slade were approximately to become the biggest band since the Beatles. In 1971, and Coz I Luv You had kicked off one of the era’s greatest runs of singles. Commercially,they had eclipsed all their peers apart from Elton John: three of their singles went straight in at No 1, and Cum on Feel the Noize sold 500000 copies in a week. They had just made their surprisingly violent and gritty first feature film, or Slade in Flame. Replicating their British success in the US seemed a matter not of if,but when.
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Source: theguardian.com