0:00:01 > 0:00:05# So here it is Merry Christmas
0:00:05 > 0:00:08# Everybody's having fun... #
0:00:08 > 0:00:13Slade always had that indefinable thing that made people happy.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18They were a proper geezers' band, but they dressed like the Diddymen.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22They were the original Spinal Tap with their amplifiers at 11.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27Noddy Holder's got one of the greatest voices in rock...ever.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31# ..It's CHRISTMAS...! #
0:00:31 > 0:00:35When you're top of the pops, it is the best feeling in the world.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38# ..Ah...! #
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Slade are one of the most successful pop acts of all time,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46having sold over 50 million records worldwide.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48In the '70s alone, they had six number ones,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51a feat equalled only by Abba.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54It began in the '60s when shouty bloke, Noddy Holder,
0:00:54 > 0:01:00joined the N' Betweens, formed by toothsome guitarist Dave Hill and dreamboat drummer Don Powell.
0:01:00 > 0:01:08The line-up was completed after the audition of cherubic classical violinist Jim Lea.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14Don said, "I see you play the violin. Do you play any other instruments?"
0:01:14 > 0:01:18I said, "I tried cello, but I didn't get on too well with it."
0:01:18 > 0:01:20He said, "Did the spike stick in your neck?"
0:01:20 > 0:01:26I don't know what the magic was, but there was something special.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30We formed a foursome and went to the Three Men And A Boat,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34a pub near Nod's house, to rehearse.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38The first gig was Walsall Town Hall, April 1st 1966.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41April Fool's Day, and we played the fool from then on.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Their first single, You Better Run, set the world alight...
0:01:45 > 0:01:51but only the world between Wolverhampton and Walsall.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55That came out on December 2nd 1966 on Columbia Records.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The record number was DB8080.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02I seem to remember trying to get the local store to stock 500 copies
0:02:02 > 0:02:09and trying to get people to buy it to get it in the charts. It didn't work!
0:02:09 > 0:02:16It was number one in Wolverhampton for six weeks. It kept Green Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones off!
0:02:16 > 0:02:20After three years, the N' Betweens started calling themselves Ambrose Slade,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25but the real turning point was a chance encounter with Big Chas Chandler,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28formerly of the Animals, and Jimi Hendrix's manager.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32He would mastermind their success. He began by changing the name -
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Ambrose was out. From now on, they'd be plain Slade.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41He was probably looking upon us as trying trying to change our image.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44We had long hair, looked good, in fact we all had girlfriends.
0:02:44 > 0:02:51I asked Chas, "What's news? What's causing controversy in the papers?"
0:02:51 > 0:02:53"Skinheads."
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Of course, Chas was, "Yes! Yippee!"
0:02:56 > 0:03:00He'd found something, and he was on the phone right away.
0:03:00 > 0:03:07He said, "I want you to become skinheads." I was, "No way! I've spent three years growing this!"
0:03:07 > 0:03:10He rung me up, he said, "Hey, Davie..."
0:03:10 > 0:03:14All he had to say to Dave was, "You's be a millionaire!"
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I was, "What?"
0:03:17 > 0:03:23I thought, "What have I done? They're nice guys. You can't turn them into bovver boys!"
0:03:23 > 0:03:28"Too late!" he says. "They're out getting their haircuts!"
0:03:28 > 0:03:32# I just don't understand it Why I let her get so uptight
0:03:32 > 0:03:37# I don't think I'll stick around here, I ain't looking for a fight... #
0:03:37 > 0:03:44My mum saw me off with my long hair. She brings me my tea the next day and spills it. She didn't know it was me!
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Dave hated the skinhead days with a vengeance.
0:03:47 > 0:03:55We played a lot of darts in the dressing room. We couldn't go out the front in case we got beat up.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04This new skinhead band had higher stacks than we did.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Didn't like that. And they were louder than us. We didn't like that!
0:04:09 > 0:04:13# ..But I don't wanna leave this town
0:04:13 > 0:04:18# There's a lot of people round here who don't want me around... #
0:04:18 > 0:04:21A skin audience weren't that rough.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Some of the Black Country pubs on a Saturday when people were pissed,
0:04:26 > 0:04:31Saturday was fighting night! The skin audience wasn't that daunting.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34We looked hard, though.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40They knew who you were. "Slade? You're in there." The long-haired groups were elsewhere.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44We played Bournemouth one night, full of skinheads.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47They just saw right through us.
0:04:47 > 0:04:52# ..Hold your head up, you silly girl
0:04:52 > 0:04:56# Look what you've done... #
0:04:56 > 0:05:00We weren't quite right because we'd got this violin player.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03They were into reggae, you know?
0:05:03 > 0:05:05# ..Silly girl
0:05:05 > 0:05:08# Take a good look around you
0:05:08 > 0:05:11# Take a good look... #
0:05:11 > 0:05:18We couldn't do Top Of The Pops, cos the producer's son had been beaten up by skinheads.
0:05:18 > 0:05:24The one benefit of the skinhead era was none of the promoters ever tried to ruck us for money.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26They always paid up on the spot.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Nod looked good. Jim and I were awkward.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Ta very much. That was a Lennon & McCartney composition...
0:05:34 > 0:05:41It was five years before we'd any record success. We slogged around, in the back of the van, sharing chips.
0:05:41 > 0:05:49Nod developed as a frontman, and we had this song at the end of the show, Get Down And Get With It.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Now, Get Down And Get With It with Slade!
0:05:53 > 0:05:57# Well, all right, everybody...! #
0:05:57 > 0:06:02If you think about the bovver boots developing into bigger boots,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06and if you think about our audience all stamping...
0:06:06 > 0:06:11# ..I wanna see everybody get up off your seats, clap your hands and stamp your feet...! #
0:06:11 > 0:06:12It was atmosphere.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15# ..Get down and get with it
0:06:15 > 0:06:18# It's been a long, long time... #
0:06:18 > 0:06:22I developed a hairstyle that came from the skinhead thing,
0:06:22 > 0:06:28where I'd a very short fringe and very long hair.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31# ..Watch everybody do the dance
0:06:31 > 0:06:33# Get down and get with it... #
0:06:33 > 0:06:37I was 13 and, all of a sudden, there was Get Down And Get With It.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41It was, like, "Wow, man! This is some record here!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44"This is pretty tough!"
0:06:44 > 0:06:47# ..Get down and get with it... #
0:06:47 > 0:06:50No-one's ever sounded like Noddy, or ever will.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56# ..I wanna see everybody raise both your hands in the air! Everybody, everywhere!
0:06:56 > 0:06:59# I said, clap your hands...! #
0:06:59 > 0:07:08I always thought Slade were very loud. Very LOUD!
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Louder than I liked to play!
0:07:11 > 0:07:15JIM: I remember when we first went to Top Of The Pops,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19the sets were all being held up with tape and it was all a bit tatty,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24and it wasn't that wonderful ball you see on TV.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27You could see that it had been stuck together.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Such is the arrogance of youth, I looked at it and thought,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32"We can take this!"
0:07:32 > 0:07:36Thursday night, there's this thing called Top Of The Pops.
0:07:36 > 0:07:43There's no other music on telly, black-and-white TV, no videos, no missing it and recording it,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48there was this moment when you saw these people having a ball.
0:07:48 > 0:07:54# ..Get down and get with it Everybody, do the dance... #
0:07:54 > 0:08:00Once we got our foot in the door with that first hit, Get Down And Get With It, it went ballistic.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05# ..Yeah, yeah, yeah My, my, my, my, my... #
0:08:05 > 0:08:07I got an idea for a rhythm.
0:08:07 > 0:08:14Nod and I were into Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. I took my violin over to Nod's...
0:08:14 > 0:08:20It was the first time Jim and I had sat down properly together to do a hit single.
0:08:20 > 0:08:26His mum made a cup of cocoa. I said, "I've got this idea, this rhythm...
0:08:26 > 0:08:29"And a shuffle..."
0:08:29 > 0:08:33# I won't laugh at you When you boo-hoo-hoo
0:08:33 > 0:08:36# Coz I luv you
0:08:36 > 0:08:40# I can't turn my back On the things you lack... #
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Half an hour later, cocoa was drunk, Coz I Luv You was born.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46It was number one... (CLICKS) like that!
0:08:46 > 0:08:50# ..I just like the things you do
0:08:50 > 0:08:52# Ooh
0:08:52 > 0:09:00# Don't you change the things you do... #
0:09:00 > 0:09:05What was good about it was this clapping...
0:09:05 > 0:09:09that we did in the corridor, and it came out really loud.
0:09:09 > 0:09:16The record came alive. It was a good pop song to start with, but that was the icing on the cake.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21# ..I just like the things you do... #
0:09:21 > 0:09:25I'm not a student. I never went to college or art school...
0:09:25 > 0:09:28I'm not good with words,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32but Slade speak to me through the energy of the music.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45We listened to the radio at 1.00 when the charts used to be read over the air and they played the records.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49It was all da-da-da... and Alan Freeman.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51They didn't pre-empt Top Of The Pops in those days.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53So you'd sit there watching,
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and suddenly it was Slade! "Yippee! they've done it!"
0:09:57 > 0:10:00It was one of our career highlights.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04# ..When you bite your lip You're gonna flip your flip
0:10:04 > 0:10:07# And I luv you
0:10:07 > 0:10:11# Though we're miles apart You still reach my heart
0:10:11 > 0:10:14# How I luv you... #
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Although you're number one in the charts, you're still a pop group.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21You're still not serious. You're not the Who or the Stones or the Beatles.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25You're just starting, but you've just had your first big one.
0:10:25 > 0:10:31This is a stomper, so start leaping about a bit, feet on the floor!
0:10:31 > 0:10:36The songwriting of Noddy Holder and Jim Lea would prove the foundation of Slade's success.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39They couldn't spell, mind!
0:10:41 > 0:10:47# I know just exactly where to be
0:10:47 > 0:10:52# You know what my freedom means to me
0:10:52 > 0:10:56# What it means, what it means to me
0:10:56 > 0:11:01# Just exactly what my freedom means to me
0:11:03 > 0:11:08# I say, "I know just what I want to be"
0:11:08 > 0:11:13# You say, "What's it all supposed to be...?" #
0:11:13 > 0:11:18In the Midlands, that was a phonetic way of writing at the time.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22That's where that came from. That and trying to heavy it up.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27# ..Hey, hey, hey What you doing to me?
0:11:27 > 0:11:33# Hey, hey, hey Look wot you dun... #
0:11:33 > 0:11:40I said, "Why don't we use the dialect?" It was on the toilet walls in the Black Country.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43The lyric sheet is actually written that way.
0:11:43 > 0:11:49When I jotted the lyrics down, I used to spell it phonetically in the dialect anyway.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52And that became a trademark.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55This idea on record looked good. It was a bit tricky with Merry Christmas Everybody...
0:11:58 > 0:12:03It was used in schools for a while. Radio 4 did a documentary on it.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08# ..I know what your mind is going through
0:12:08 > 0:12:13# You know my mind is going through it too
0:12:13 > 0:12:14# Through it too
0:12:15 > 0:12:19# Going through it too... #
0:12:19 > 0:12:21In 1972, Slade were practically glam royalty
0:12:21 > 0:12:27in the court of the three chart kings, Marc Bolan, Alice Cooper and Rod Stewart,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29but were they any good live -
0:12:29 > 0:12:33could they hold their own alongside, for example, the mighty Quo?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36We supported them on some tour they were doing.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38In Australia.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47I couldn't believe it. We'd been ruling the roost and, all of a sudden, they'd come along,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49and we're supporting them!
0:12:49 > 0:12:57I don't know how that happened, but the combination of the two bands on the one night at one concert
0:12:57 > 0:13:00was great for the audience. Both bands really got it on.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05They were a serious group. You had to be on the case to follow Quo.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09# ..Hear me callin' Hear me callin' loud... #
0:13:09 > 0:13:14Theywere having so many hit singles, we were saying, "It's too many!"
0:13:14 > 0:13:21We were number one, two and three in the charts in Australia - like the Beatles - when we went there,
0:13:21 > 0:13:26cos nobody ever went to Australia. It took forever to get there.
0:13:26 > 0:13:33I would also like to welcome not only Slade, but Caravan, Status Quo,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35and special guest stars Lindisfarne.
0:13:35 > 0:13:41'Chas had decided, they had a huge hit in Australia at that time, and they needed to go to Sydney.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47'Dave got out the map. He looked at it, very perplexed.'
0:13:47 > 0:13:49He said, "Explain this to me.
0:13:49 > 0:13:56"We're going to Los Angeles and then all the way back to Sydney."
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Chas looked at him.
0:13:58 > 0:14:06He gets hold of the atlas, bends it round into a circle and says, "Dave, the world is round!
0:14:06 > 0:14:09"You just go round the other way.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12"It's a globe, Dave!"
0:14:12 > 0:14:13HE LAUGHS
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Sheer Spinal Tap! Wonderful stuff!
0:14:15 > 0:14:21It's good-time, partying music. And dressing casual! Dressing casual - like I am!
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Chart success turned Slade into unlikely pin-ups.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30The more they earned, the better they looked.
0:14:30 > 0:14:36# ..Them kinda monkeys can't swing And them birdies can't sing... #
0:14:36 > 0:14:43It was our first taste of screaming girl fans. God knows why we got screamers!
0:14:43 > 0:14:47We weren't the prettiest bunch by any means!
0:14:47 > 0:14:53I gather they did the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. I dunno, I wasn't there.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54But they were fools if they didn't!
0:15:00 > 0:15:03He looked like some kind of Dickensian character,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06with his big side whiskers.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09He wasn't a handsome man, I'm sure he won't mind me saying!
0:15:09 > 0:15:11He kind of screwed up his face,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14and I think he took delight in the fact that he could look remarkably ugly.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19SUZI: None of them were heart-throbs.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Don was probably the best-looking...
0:15:22 > 0:15:30Used to spend more time putting make-up on than the photo shoot would take. We'd get there the day before!
0:15:30 > 0:15:38Jagger's not exactly your pin-up, is he, but he's never been short of the female sort of things.
0:15:38 > 0:15:44It's more than just looks. It's what's behind - the cosmic vibe!
0:15:48 > 0:15:51JIM: Chas always wanted us to move to London right from the beginning.
0:15:51 > 0:15:57Unfortunately, we didn't like these London clubs. We used to go to Tramp and didn't like it.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02We always kept our Black Country roots. Nothing ever took that out.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06They say you can take the boy out the Black Country, but not the Black Country out the boy.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11It was great seeing Jack Nicholson at one table,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Marc Bolan over there and Michael Caine over there,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18but they were just guys.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20We were still the Wolverhampton lads.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24We never pandered to trying to be hip or cool.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26We couldn't - we hadn't a clue how to be hip or cool!
0:16:26 > 0:16:28We hadn't got the first idea about it.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31We used to get in the van and drive home.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35We'd go through the night just to get home. You know, "Take Me Bak 'Ome."
0:16:35 > 0:16:38# ..So won't you take me bak 'ome
0:16:38 > 0:16:42# Take me bak 'ome
0:16:43 > 0:16:49# We can find plenty to do And that will be all right... #
0:16:49 > 0:16:52JIM: We played the Lincoln Festival. All the press were there.
0:16:52 > 0:16:59They were saying this is why drugs and youth are going together - ban festivals.
0:16:59 > 0:17:06- We went on there and we were booed on, "Get off!". - This so-called hip, cool audience
0:17:06 > 0:17:13thought, "What's this band doing on at this festival? They've had hit records!
0:17:13 > 0:17:21"Why should they be on this hip festival?" I thought, "We'll show you bastards!"
0:17:21 > 0:17:26And after the first number, they were all up on their feet.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30# ..A superman comes to meet you
0:17:30 > 0:17:35# Looks twice the size of me... #
0:17:35 > 0:17:41It gave us this credibility as a great rock live act.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46The next week, Take Me Bak 'Ome went to number one in the charts.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48# ..So won't you take me bak 'ome
0:17:48 > 0:17:51# Take me bak 'ome
0:17:53 > 0:17:58# We can find plenty to do And that will be all right
0:18:00 > 0:18:02# It will be all right...! #
0:18:02 > 0:18:05It's great to sit here in the rain,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10and we want everybody to get up really loud from the start!
0:18:10 > 0:18:11Yeah!
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Yeah!
0:18:16 > 0:18:23# I don't want to drink my whisky like you do
0:18:23 > 0:18:28# I don't need to spend my money but still do... #
0:18:28 > 0:18:33The title Mama Weer All Crazee came from the Lincoln Festival,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36because I was shouting this to them.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41We were actually singing, "My, my we're all crazy now!"
0:18:41 > 0:18:47Chas thought we said, "Mama". He said, "Play Mama again." "What?"
0:18:47 > 0:18:50# ..Mama weer all crazee now
0:18:51 > 0:18:56# I said Mama weer all crazee now... #
0:18:56 > 0:19:05From the skinhead period to sort of like the Star Wars bar was just to make it more colourful.
0:19:05 > 0:19:11# Gudbuy t'Jane, gudbuy t'Jane Painted up like a fancy young man
0:19:11 > 0:19:16# She's a queen, can't you see what I mean, she's a queen
0:19:16 > 0:19:20# See, see she's a queen
0:19:20 > 0:19:26# And I know she's all right, all right, all right, all right
0:19:26 > 0:19:31# I say you're so young You're so young... #
0:19:31 > 0:19:36I can remember Noddy and the mirrored hat and the driving force of the music.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39It really was music that made you feel great.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45I stood in the middle of the stage with huge beams of light coming from the hat.
0:19:45 > 0:19:52It looked absolutely phenomenal. I could move the hat and light all the audience up with the mirrors.
0:19:52 > 0:19:59It became a symbol of the glam rock years, really, the top hat with mirrors.
0:19:59 > 0:20:05# ..Gudbuy t'Jane, gudbuy t'Jane Get a kick from her '40s trip boots... #
0:20:05 > 0:20:10I saw this long black coat with a zip up the front.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14I thought - silver!
0:20:14 > 0:20:20Dave was on the planet Zog for this - he took to it like a duck to water.
0:20:20 > 0:20:28They looked bizarre and didn't quite have taste in their appearance, but the music was better than anyone's.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I asked them to make me it in silver. They said, "Yeah."
0:20:32 > 0:20:37But he'd never change in front of us - he used to go into the toilets to change.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42And my standard line was, "Come on, H! Reveal!"
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Out he'd come and I'd be, "Oh, God! You can't go on looking like that!"
0:20:47 > 0:20:52His standard line was, "You can laugh! You write 'em - I'll sell 'em!"
0:20:52 > 0:20:59Have you ever seen Elton John? He wore mothballs at one gig! Talk about what I wore!
0:20:59 > 0:21:01His music's serious, isn't it?
0:21:01 > 0:21:06# ..Gudbuy t'Jane Like a dark horse see how she ran
0:21:06 > 0:21:10# Gudbuy t'Jane, gudbuy t'Jane Spits on me cos she knows that she can... #
0:21:10 > 0:21:13We did a gig in Liverpool,
0:21:13 > 0:21:20and I'd had these whacking great boots made, never thinking they'd be hard to walk in.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- They were big.- He could hardly walk.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29It was the height of our career, the Liverpool audience was great, but they rushed the stage.
0:21:29 > 0:21:35The bouncers wanted to get us off the stage. I heard an enormous crack.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Rushed him off to hospital - he'd broken his leg.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44They said, "You're busted, mate!" I said, "What am I going to do?"
0:21:44 > 0:21:49So we decided to get him a wheelchair to whizz about the stage in.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54I got baking foil out the cupboard and wrapped it round the plaster.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58I used to get hold of him and whizz him round the stage,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02and take him to the edge of the stage and try and topple him out, and he used to panic.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04HE LAUGHS
0:22:04 > 0:22:08And Don bought me a parrot for my shoulder.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10# Baby, baby, baby... #
0:22:10 > 0:22:141972 - it was a very good year for Slade.
0:22:14 > 0:22:19By comparison, 1973 was bound to be a quiet one.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21# ..Yeah...! #
0:22:21 > 0:22:26We'd done a gig where the audience roaring was rattling the wall -
0:22:26 > 0:22:30amazing volume, and our volume had to be even higher!
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# ..And I don't know why
0:22:33 > 0:22:36# And I don't know why
0:22:36 > 0:22:41# So you think my singing's out of time, well it... #
0:22:41 > 0:22:46So this one night, I was shouting so hard, you could actually feel it in your chest.
0:22:46 > 0:22:53You could feel the applause going da-da-da in your body,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55which led to Cum On Feel The Noize.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58# ..Cum on feel the noize
0:22:58 > 0:23:01# Girls, grab the boys
0:23:01 > 0:23:05# We get wild, wild, wild
0:23:05 > 0:23:09# We get wild, wild, wild
0:23:09 > 0:23:12# So cum on feel the noize
0:23:12 > 0:23:15# Girls, grab the boys... #
0:23:15 > 0:23:18The first gig I ever went to was Slade at the London Palladium.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22I had never experienced anything so loud,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26or seen girls that looked so glamorous,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29and lads so excited.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35The London Palladium was everything. All the famous people had played it, there was the revolving stage...
0:23:35 > 0:23:37but not this night!
0:23:37 > 0:23:44I said, "You'll have to clear the pit out. It'll be pandemonium when we come on stage."
0:23:44 > 0:23:49And the guy says, "No! We've had them all here - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Judy Garland."
0:23:49 > 0:23:50"We've had 'em all here."
0:23:50 > 0:23:54But never a rock show!
0:23:54 > 0:24:00# So cum on feel the noize Girls, grab the boys... #
0:24:00 > 0:24:05They came on and looked the same as they did on Top Of The Pops,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and literally 20 yards in front of me!
0:24:08 > 0:24:12# ..Cum on feel the noize
0:24:12 > 0:24:14# Girls, grab the boys
0:24:14 > 0:24:16# We get wild, wild... #
0:24:16 > 0:24:24There were problems with the Palladium people cos the balcony was shaking.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26The balcony was like this.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30I remember it to this day. It just blew my head.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34The kids had come over into the orchestra pit.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Drums were up in the air, sheet music... It was total chaos.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44They wouldn't let my dad in either cos he was getting on a bit.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49And we came out, and there were girls in hot pants.
0:24:49 > 0:24:56Girls at school wore school uniform, so this was like, "Wow! What is going on?"
0:24:56 > 0:24:58# ..And I don't know why
0:24:58 > 0:25:03# And I don't know why
0:25:03 > 0:25:04# Any more... #
0:25:04 > 0:25:10We got banned from that chain of theatres after that - but we'd warned them!
0:25:10 > 0:25:13One, two. One, two.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17That summer, Slade played London's Earls Court.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20At that point, they were the biggest live act in Britain.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25# ..You know how to skweeze me... #
0:25:25 > 0:25:31DAVE: The fans told me, "You should've been in the Tube - it was glitter, Noddy's top hats..."
0:25:31 > 0:25:38We had all these number one records, we were at our height in the UK, we were cream of the crop.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Skweeze Me Pleeze Me was number one in the charts. Things were never better.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47# ..You're making it easy... Oh-oh
0:25:47 > 0:25:51# And I thought you might like to know
0:25:51 > 0:25:55# When a girl means yes, she says no You know how to skweeze me
0:25:55 > 0:25:59# Oh-oh... You know how to pleeze me
0:25:59 > 0:26:02# Oh-oh... You're learning it easy
0:26:02 > 0:26:08# Oh-oh... And I thought you might like to know... #
0:26:08 > 0:26:12We sadly came down to earth with a bump.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16You're at the peak of success and something kicks you under.
0:26:16 > 0:26:24Don's probably my best friend and we're still working together now... That was a heck of a shock.
0:26:24 > 0:26:32# Every day, when I'm away And there's been a few
0:26:32 > 0:26:36# Every land, I need a hand
0:26:36 > 0:26:40# To help me come through... #
0:26:40 > 0:26:42His girlfriend was killed...
0:26:42 > 0:26:46Angela... and he was in a very bad way.
0:26:48 > 0:26:55All that...Earls Court gig and all that tour and everything, meant bugger all, really.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00# ..And it won't even show
0:27:00 > 0:27:05# And no-one will know... #
0:27:05 > 0:27:12He looked like he'd been crucified. Smashed up and his hair cut off and a loincloth...
0:27:12 > 0:27:19At that point, I said, "He won't last the day." Looking at him, you wouldn't have thought he would.
0:27:19 > 0:27:25My life was saved by two nurses who happened to be going on duty at the hospital that night.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29They must have arrived just after the accident had happened.
0:27:29 > 0:27:36They kept me alive until an ambulance came, and I've never yet found out who those two were.
0:27:36 > 0:27:44The fact that he could have suffered brain damage and might not play again was terrible, was heartbreaking.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46I remember waking. I was shivering.
0:27:46 > 0:27:54I didn't know why. I was on a bed of ice, to keep my temperature down. I panicked, pulled the tubes out.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58I didn't know what I was doing there.
0:27:58 > 0:28:05The tenterhooks, the feeling of would Slade remain, would they be able to work again without a key member?
0:28:05 > 0:28:12We'd had a meeting at my house with Chas to decide what to do. We decided to carry on.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16The accident was tragic, terrible.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19It was extremely upsetting.
0:28:19 > 0:28:25But, as I say, life carries on... and I was at my brother's house...
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Frank was plumbing in the dishwasher and overheard the conversation.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32He said, "James, I'm your man."
0:28:32 > 0:28:34From plumber to drummer!
0:28:34 > 0:28:39DAVE: It was funny with Frank. He's a fan. He's a good lad.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42He didn't have Don's power, though. Don's an immense drummer.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44It would certainly never have been the same.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48The magic was always the four of us together. That was always the magic.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53# My friend Stan's got a funny old man, oh, yeah
0:28:53 > 0:28:56# Oh, yeah... #
0:28:56 > 0:29:01While Don was in hospital Noddy and Jim wrote songs and gurned,
0:29:01 > 0:29:07while nouveau-riche superyob Dave Hill went shopping for houses.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12I went to this house in Solihull with this estate agent.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18He says to the woman, "I've got an unusual gentleman outside who'd like to have a look at the house."
0:29:18 > 0:29:25I walk in with a big hat on. The woman's going, "I know his face!" I was all over her daughter's bedroom.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29"Oh yeah, I'll have a slice of this," and I went and bought it on the spur - as you do.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33I thought I lived next door to a huge house.
0:29:33 > 0:29:41I thought, "Sounds quite stately," until I found I was next door to 500 girls! And we were in the charts!
0:29:46 > 0:29:51This television company came down to film me moving in.
0:29:51 > 0:29:57I was coming in a gold suit and glitter to a house with no furniture!
0:29:57 > 0:30:00Hi! Thanks for inviting us over.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03It's not the sort of pad I was expecting.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Did you expect a silver one? Yes!
0:30:06 > 0:30:09GIRLS: We want Dave! We want Dave!
0:30:09 > 0:30:12I couldn't go out. I was a prisoner.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17How will you cope with that? I really didn't expect that.
0:30:17 > 0:30:25'People slept in my garden and left me notes. If you lived in a council house, you've not had carpets.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29'It was all lino that we had. It was all carpets in this house.'
0:30:29 > 0:30:35I don't know it that well, but this is what they call the lounge. It was the lounge before.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40The dustmen wore dress suits and people shampooed and set the lawns.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44You're 20 years old, you've got 500 girls next door,
0:30:44 > 0:30:49you've got girls all over the country shouting for you...
0:30:49 > 0:30:52How does it feel? It feels great.
0:30:52 > 0:30:59Anybody who says it's not good is an idiot. We like being popular. It's great.
0:30:59 > 0:31:00GIRLS: We want Dave!
0:31:00 > 0:31:01GIRLS CHEER
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Dave, please! I've not had it once yet!
0:31:05 > 0:31:07'I eventually had to move.' HE LAUGHS
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Later that summer, Don Powell seemed to have made a full recovery.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16He left hospital and prepared to tour with Slade again.
0:31:28 > 0:31:36# When you wake up in the morning You can't remember much about the night before... #
0:31:36 > 0:31:43When I first realised that I'd got amnesia, I used to fight like crazy, which was the worst thing I could do.
0:31:43 > 0:31:49The memory thing was a problem, but we just took it on board.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54I didn't realise at the time and we came to rehearse to do something.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57They said, "Let's try Cum On Feel The Noize."
0:31:57 > 0:31:59"How does it go?"
0:31:59 > 0:32:04# ..The bangin' man, he says he can
0:32:04 > 0:32:06# Time after time... #
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Nod shouts, "We'll do Merry Christmas," which was number one then,
0:32:10 > 0:32:12and I'm going, "How does it go?"
0:32:12 > 0:32:17Don grabbed me, "Jim! Jim!" "What?" "How does it go?"
0:32:17 > 0:32:18"Sing it to me!"
0:32:18 > 0:32:25While I'm talking to the audience, Jim's saying to Don, "It goes like this..."
0:32:25 > 0:32:29Once he got the start, he was away, he knew it.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33We always know when it's Christmas in England...
0:32:33 > 0:32:35# So here it is Merry Christmas... #
0:32:35 > 0:32:40# So here it is Merry Christmas
0:32:40 > 0:32:45# Everybody's having fun
0:32:45 > 0:32:48# Look to the future now
0:32:48 > 0:32:55# It's only just begu-u-un
0:32:55 > 0:33:00# Are you waiting for the family to arrive..? #
0:33:00 > 0:33:04That song had two of my best lines.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07"Does your granny always tell you that the old songs are the best?
0:33:07 > 0:33:10"Then she's up and rock'n'rolling with the rest."
0:33:10 > 0:33:15# ..Does your granny always tell you
0:33:15 > 0:33:17# That the old songs are the best?
0:33:17 > 0:33:20# Then she's up and rock'n'rolling... #
0:33:20 > 0:33:25Part of the record's success at the time was definitely what was going on around -
0:33:25 > 0:33:29three-day weeks, TV going off at 10.00pm with power cuts...
0:33:29 > 0:33:32# ..Everybody's having fun... #
0:33:32 > 0:33:39The whole structure of the country was very dismal. The Christmas record was very optimistic.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41I think it lifted people.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45And I knew that I wanted it to be very working-class lyrics,
0:33:45 > 0:33:49what normal families went through at Christmas.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52I'd had a few drinks, I was in good spirits. I was in festive spirits.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56Suddenly, these lines were coming into my head.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00# ..Are you hanging up your stocking on your wall...? #
0:34:00 > 0:34:05As soon as I got that first line, I was on a roll then.
0:34:05 > 0:34:13The basic two melodies of the chorus came from the very first song I'd written.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16The original lyrics were really hippy, acid...
0:34:16 > 0:34:21# So won't you buy me a rocking chair to watch the world go by
0:34:21 > 0:34:28# Buy me a looking glass to look me in the eye... # That was the original lyric.
0:34:28 > 0:34:33To get it finely tuned and right took me three or four hours.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36# ..Look to the future now... #
0:34:36 > 0:34:40It still sounds fresh, though now you might be sick to death of it!
0:34:40 > 0:34:44It gets rereleased every year! It must've sold 50 billion copies!
0:34:44 > 0:34:49DAVE: I was walking around a shop in Birmingham looking for something,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54and Merry Christmas was playing on the thing.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59I opened the clothes and this woman was singing it on the other side.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02And there was my face!
0:35:02 > 0:35:07- Is there a particular lyric in that song that you like?- Yeah, at the end when he says, "It's Christmas!"
0:35:07 > 0:35:12# ..It's Christmas...! Look to the future now... #
0:35:13 > 0:35:18It's brilliant, innit? It's the shouting. It's just pure...
0:35:18 > 0:35:20it's pure emotion.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25Merry Christmas Everybody had been Slade's sixth number one in less than two years.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Now their manager Chas Chandler looked to a new creative challenge for his boys.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33The result was a feature film - Flame.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40None of us had ever acted before.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44We were dipping our toes into uncharted waters.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Essex had done That'll Be The Day.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48It was the next step for us.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50D'you actually like what we do?
0:35:50 > 0:35:55The movie explored the harsh realities of life in a fictional rock and roll band,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58but would Flame backfire on Slade?
0:35:58 > 0:36:02You see, it's all a matter of packaging.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Promotion... > I'm not a bloody fish finger!
0:36:05 > 0:36:09We weren't too bad at the acting. We got away with it.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12- I'm the singer.- How do you do?
0:36:12 > 0:36:14I didn't read the whole script. I only read my part.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17I didn't even know what it was about half the time.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21We were asked at the premiere, "Have you done the right thing
0:36:21 > 0:36:26"by exposing the downside of the music business?"
0:36:26 > 0:36:28'I could see what they meant.'
0:36:28 > 0:36:35- You're a good live act - that's all. - Excuse me!- But tonight was crap!
0:36:35 > 0:36:40- You're just second-rate comics with a third-rate audience! - And a fourth-rate agent copping 10%!
0:36:42 > 0:36:46# ..Cos many years from now... #
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Flame failed to win any Oscars.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52But at least the tunes were corkers.
0:36:52 > 0:36:58People listen to Slade and they think of Cum On Feel The Noize and Mama Weer All Crazee Now,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02but How Does It Feel is easily one of the best songs ever written, ever.
0:37:02 > 0:37:09# ..Do you know, know, know what it's like to be searching in your own time?
0:37:09 > 0:37:13# All you're attempting, experimenting
0:37:13 > 0:37:15# All of the time... #
0:37:15 > 0:37:20It's brilliant. Go and buy it. It's on the Greatest Hits - track 13.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25# ..What it's like to be searching and suddenly find
0:37:25 > 0:37:29# All your illusion All your confusion
0:37:29 > 0:37:31# All left behind...? #
0:37:31 > 0:37:37JIM: Although we aren't really remembered for the gentler side of the band, that was always there.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39That sort of happy-sad vibe.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44We're remembered for being the guys who make a lot of noise,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47but we didn't always.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52# I've seen the bridges of the world and they are for real
0:37:52 > 0:37:56# I've had a red light on the wrist without me even getting kissed
0:37:56 > 0:38:01# It still seems so unreal I've seen the morning... #
0:38:01 > 0:38:07Most of the world loved Slade, but the USA remained unconquered and unconvinced.
0:38:07 > 0:38:15The band even moved there for two years, but the Americans and Black Country glam didn't mix.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20# ..And I'm far, far away... #
0:38:20 > 0:38:23DON: Concert-wise, it was great.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25We just couldn't get a record away.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27We're in America at the moment.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31I hope everybody's having a great time on the 500th birthday of Top Of The Pops.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Wish we could've been there getting drunk with everybody!
0:38:35 > 0:38:39They couldn't understand a word we said. It was impossible.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42I did have trouble understanding them. They have very thick accents.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Their accents are thick, not them!
0:38:52 > 0:38:57America was not ready for and didn't want a good-time happy band.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01CHRIS CHARLESWORTH: Slade's act was somehow uncool for America.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Flamboyant showman was not cool.
0:39:04 > 0:39:10America had had Watergate and Vietnam. It wanted to feel sorry for itself.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13It was not looking for a good time.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15They returned home in about '77,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17sort of down and out,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21slap-bang into the middle of the summer of punk in this country.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23# I'm so happy to see you
0:39:23 > 0:39:26# And you're so happy... #
0:39:26 > 0:39:34The late '70s was a bit strange for us, definitely, because we were considered boring old farts.
0:39:34 > 0:39:42It was black and black clothes and belts and studs and chains coming off their noses and bad teeth!
0:39:42 > 0:39:45- There was no light at the end of the tunnel.- It was Year Zero.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50It had a political side to it. It was almost like Pol Pot.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54"What do we do now?" We felt like rock dinosaurs.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Anybody who'd been successful before was out of it.
0:39:58 > 0:40:05Money was difficult. When records dry up, where do you go? You've got to survive, you see.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08We almost broke up around then.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12I had this idea about doing weddings, you know, rent a pop star.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15I could drive them to the wedding.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20JIM: Dave was going to start a wedding-car business.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Not one of his brightest ideas.
0:40:23 > 0:40:30DAVE: I told Chas. I thought it was a good idea. He rang me up a week later to say he'd had an offer.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32It's a funny world.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36The call came from Reading that Ozzy Osbourne had pulled out.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41He didn't feel his band, Blizzard Of Ozz, was ready.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44I told Nod and Jim I wouldn't.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Dave was having none of it. He was adamant, he refused.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Chas was on the phone again. "Are you thinking about it?"
0:40:52 > 0:40:56Something was twitching, and then he talked me into it.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58# Oh-oh-oh-oh... #
0:40:58 > 0:41:04There was a buzz about the place that it was going to be right for us somehow to play that day.
0:41:04 > 0:41:10I wanna see everybody get your boots on and raise both your hands in the air!
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Glory hallelujah!
0:41:12 > 0:41:16# Turn the megawatts way up loud
0:41:16 > 0:41:19# Come on Let's start shaking, come on... #
0:41:19 > 0:41:24JIM: We walked on stage. In 45 minutes, we went from a no-hope...
0:41:24 > 0:41:28to huge... We were back - big time.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31# ..We'll bring the house down
0:41:32 > 0:41:35# We'll bring the house down
0:41:37 > 0:41:39# We'll bring the house down... #
0:41:39 > 0:41:46JIM: The crowd were all going so crazy and someone shouted out, "Merry Christmas!"
0:41:46 > 0:41:53The middle of summer, heavy metal concert, tens of thousands of people all singing Merry Christmas. Crazy!
0:41:53 > 0:41:58That night driving home, I couldn't sleep, thinking of what we'd just done. And I was about to leave.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01They must've been shocked we could still play after all these years together.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05For some strange reason they must have thought we couldn't anymore.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13By the early 1980s, American glam metal bands like Kiss were openly copying Slade.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17Quiet Riot even topped the US charts with Cum On Feel The Noize.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22# ..Oh, no! Cum on feel the noize...! #
0:42:22 > 0:42:25We'd released it ten years before, and it never saw the light of day.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27And they take it to number one.
0:42:27 > 0:42:34Following Quiet Riot's success, Slade themselves finally broke into the American charts.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38- # ..If you're in the swing... - Oh, yeah, everything
0:42:38 > 0:42:42- # If you're in the swing... - Run, run away
0:42:42 > 0:42:45- # See chameleon... - Lying there in the sun
0:42:45 > 0:42:49- # All things to everyone... - Run, run away... #
0:42:49 > 0:42:53I suppose our time had come in America.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57To capitalise on their new success, Slade toured America
0:42:57 > 0:43:02with their old chum from Brum, the sobering influence that is Ozzy Osbourne.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07DON: We were offered this tour with Ozzy Osbourne.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12We flew to the States and did a few warm-up gigs, if you like.
0:43:12 > 0:43:18Every time they tried to do anything in America, something happened.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22They should have been as big as the Beatles.
0:43:22 > 0:43:28I began to feel ill. I didn't know what it was. The doctors didn't know what was going on.
0:43:28 > 0:43:37I was in San Francisco with them and they said they were going home. Jim had hepatitis. I said, "What?!"
0:43:37 > 0:43:41I felt as though I was dying, something weird was going on.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44We come off stage, and Jim collapsed in the dressing room.
0:43:44 > 0:43:51And it was just one of those points in history, just like the Beatles at Candlestick Park.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54We didn't know that that was it.
0:43:54 > 0:44:01# We all need someone to talk to My, oh, my
0:44:01 > 0:44:05# We all need someone to talk to... #
0:44:05 > 0:44:10But the crunch came when we were set to come home,
0:44:10 > 0:44:16and CBS had arranged this personal appearance for us in Cleveland, Ohio.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20# ..We all need someone to talk to My, oh, my... #
0:44:20 > 0:44:28There was something within us that was saying, "We've trod the boards for 20-odd years."
0:44:28 > 0:44:34We were standing there, Jim's ill, these tapes going behind us, I'm singing live...
0:44:34 > 0:44:39It was like doing a television show but in front of thousands of people.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43# ..If you ain't got nothing planned
0:44:43 > 0:44:47# We all need some loving My, oh, my... #
0:44:47 > 0:44:53It was like karaoke! I'm looking... "What the hell are we doing?"
0:44:53 > 0:44:59The end of us live was the end of the band, really.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03I got in the car and I said, "This is never going to happen to this band again."
0:45:03 > 0:45:05"Never."
0:45:05 > 0:45:10That was the last time we toured together. That was '84.
0:45:10 > 0:45:16It was fabulous for young lads, but when I'd done it that long, I didn't want to do it any more.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20It had no attraction for me any more. I was getting offered other stuff.
0:45:20 > 0:45:21And I wanted to try other stuff.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23I came to the point where I thought,
0:45:23 > 0:45:24"If I don't try to do this other stuff now,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26"I'm never going to try it."
0:45:26 > 0:45:32Slade were dead as a live act, but Vic and Bob just wouldn't let them lie.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34MUSIC: "Gudbuy T'Jane" PLAYED AT HIGH SPEED
0:45:40 > 0:45:42Vic and Bob?
0:45:42 > 0:45:43Absolutely brilliant.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46- Oh, dear!- I don't really know why they picked on us.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49Coming in now, Dave.
0:45:49 > 0:45:55He's doing my hairstyle, "Come on," in this Brummie accent.
0:45:55 > 0:46:00That's it, Mr Hill, finished. How does it look, Jimmy? Is the bend even?
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Bustin' Dave! What you laughing at, Noddy?
0:46:03 > 0:46:09In a surreal kind of way, it's pretty much what were like then.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16And in 1995, when Oasis's Noel Gallagher did a spot of radio DJing,
0:46:16 > 0:46:21a Slade fan made a novel suggestion for Noel's next record.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23# ..I don't know why... #
0:46:23 > 0:46:27They sent me and Dylan into the back room to look at the CDs.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30So Noel was looking through this CD collection,
0:46:30 > 0:46:31and I'm looking through,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34and I spot Slade Greatest Hits.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37I said, "Noel, you've gotta play some Slade!"
0:46:37 > 0:46:41If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have done it.
0:46:41 > 0:46:46# ..So you think you've got an evil mind Well, I'll tell you, honey... #
0:46:46 > 0:46:49NOEL: Liam being Liam, if you watch the Top Of The Pops footage,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52the best bit about it is, he's so blatantly miming out of time.
0:46:52 > 0:46:54It cracks me up, man.
0:46:54 > 0:47:00# ..So you think my singing's out of time, well, it makes me money... #
0:47:00 > 0:47:04"Girls, grab the boys, We'll go wild, wild, wild." It was like Oasis.
0:47:04 > 0:47:10JIM: It's uncanny when I write a song and people say it's like Oasis.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13It's putting the cart before the horse.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16OASIS: # ..So cum on feel the noize... #
0:47:16 > 0:47:21I went to see Oasis at Maine Road, and they did this as the encore.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24We found out Noddy was up in the balcony.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27I hope it was as good for him as it was for us, cos it was brilliant.
0:47:27 > 0:47:35It was great seeing 40,000 kids singing along to it, a song that was more than 20 years old,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38and the audience were singing along to it in the '90s.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42# I love that music I love that sound
0:47:42 > 0:47:45# I love this new channel I've found... #
0:47:45 > 0:47:49Since then, Dave and Don have started touring again as Slade II,
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Jim recovered fully from hepatitis and still writes songs,
0:47:53 > 0:47:57while Noddy has become a radio DJ and successful actor.
0:47:57 > 0:48:03- Thank our lucky stars we packed in them daft ideas about starting a pop group!- Cheers.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08I'm always getting asked when we're getting back together.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12I don't know why people can't accept it won't happen.
0:48:12 > 0:48:20I thought we might do something for the Millennium or something. I'm sure somebody would love us.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25# So cum on feel the noize
0:48:25 > 0:48:28# Girls, grab the boys
0:48:28 > 0:48:32# We get wild, wild, wild
0:48:32 > 0:48:36# We get wild, wild, wild
0:48:36 > 0:48:40# So cum on feel the noize
0:48:40 > 0:48:44# Girls, grab the boys
0:48:44 > 0:48:48# We get wild, wild, wild... #
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd