Slade - The Very Best of Slade Video

The Very Best Slade
On Cd And Dvd

Universal Music TV will honour the iconic status of Slade, one of the UK's most popular and successful groups in the history of rock music, with the release of THE VERY BEST OF SLADE on CD and DVD on 21st November 2005.

Click here to watch 4 original full length Slade performance videos. All tracks feature on 'the Very Best of Slade DVD' - Out Monday 28th November. You can also listen to 5 tracks, all featured on the album.


Slade's extraordinary career, which spanned 25 years and included a total of 38 UK hit singles, amongst which were 6 Number 1's, is now celebrated with THE VERY BEST OF SLADE album which includes a limited edition bonus CD, presenting all their hits together for the first time ever. THE VERY BEST OF SLADE DVD features performance video highlights, live television performances and rare interview footage, all of which are a must for the discerning Slade and rock music fan.

With a string of pop anthems to their credit, these four boys from the Black Country – Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Dave Hill and Don Powell dominated the UK charts between October 1971 and May 1975, making them the biggest selling UK singles band of the 70s. Three of Slade's singles - 'Cum On Feel The Noize', 'Skweeze Me Pleeze Me' and 'Merry Xmas Everybody' entered the charts at No 1 - the first artists to achieve this.

SLADE were NOT just a hit singles band - during the same period in the early 70's they had three Number 1 albums, and a fourth that got to Number Two. They were once described as the missing link between the Beatles and Oasis, the latter paying their own tribute by recording a version of 'Cum On Feel The Noize'.

Disc One of THE VERY BEST OF SLADE focuses on the Seventies and includes all their glam-rocking, foot-stomping anthems of the era, starting with 'Get Down And Get With It'. The song titles, with their unique "phonetic" spellings, pre-dated the current text-message spelling revolution by 30 years, incurring the wrath of eminent academics and linguists as a result – in fact Radio 4 included Slade in a 6 week series on the subject! But Slade had the last laugh. 'Coz I Luv You' (1971), 'Look Wot You Dun' (1972), 'Take Me Bak 'Ome' (1972), 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now' (1972), 'Gudbuy T' Jane' (1972), 'Cum On Feel The Noize' (1973) and 'Skweeze Me Pleeze Me' (1973) are now part of the 21st Century's rock and roll lexicon.

Even though it has made no fewer than eight separate chart entries over the years, the million-selling seminal Christmas tune 'Merry Xmas Everybody' makes just one appearance on THE VERY BEST OF SLADE! Even the band has been astonished by the song's annual resurgence, making it as much a part of the Yuletide festivities as roast turkey and the Queen's speech. When the song was originally released in 1973 it shot straight to Number 1 and stayed there for five weeks – two of them after Christmas! "Who was buying it after Christmas?" wonders singer Noddy Holder. "I have no idea. I do know that it sent our profile through the roof. For that month we really were the biggest thing in Britain."

The first disc also restores the rest of Slade's Seventies hits into the collection such as 'Thanks For The Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)' (1975), 'Let's Call It Quits' (1976) 'Gypsy Roadhog' (1977) and 'My Baby Left Me – That's All Right' (1977). It also includes three of their biggest hits in the Eighties - 'We'll Bring The House Down' from 1981, 'My Oh My' which got to Number 2 in 1983 and 'Run Runaway' from 1984.

The 'limited edition', bonus CD completes Slade's collection of UK hits through the Seventies and Eighties including 'Lock Up Your Daughters' (1981) and 'All Join Hands' (1984) through to their last hit, 'Radio Wall Of Sound (1991) and the last song they recorded together in 1991, 'Universe'. The bonus CD concludes with Slade's "come-back" 'Alive At Reading' EP – previously unavailable on CD - from their triumphant Reading Festival appearance in 1980, the year that brought them a whole new generation of fans.

Noddy Holder and bass player Jim Lea are responsible for Slade's remarkable run of hits, making them one of the most successful song writing partnerships in the history of British popular music. Jim is as shy and retiring as Noddy is outgoing, but the combination of Jim's melodies with Noddy's lyrics – sung in his unmistakeable rock 'n' roll voice - has produced memorably catchy songs that transcend any era or fashion. Part of the secret is that they were written and recorded quickly and instinctively, catching the essence of what a pop song should be, together with big sounding guitars and Don Powell's powerful drumming.

But Slade were not just about great songs; they were also about great entertainment. They toured constantly, boisterously and loudly, selling out venues across the world, as Noddy Holder exhorted rowdy crowds to "Stomp your hands and clap your feet". They left behind a trail of trashed seats and scenes of fan mania that leave the antics of today's boy bands looking laughable. And they made countless TV appearances – indeed they became almost a resident band on Top Of The Pops at one point.

Slade have been hailed as glam-rock heroes but in fact it was glam-rock that ripped off the Slade sound. They certainly knew how to dress up, from their colourful platform boots upwards. Guitarist Dave "Superyob" Hill's flamboyant outfits became more outlandish by the week - the fans loved it, and who can forget Noddy Holder's top hat festooned with mirrors that provided it's own lightshow?

THE VERY BEST OF DVD adds the full visual dimension to Slade's musical legend. The Wall Of Hits features 14 TV appearances, promos and videos from across the band's illustrious career which are available on DVD for the first time ever. There's also a colourful commentary to The Wall Of Hits by the band that can be accessed separately. There's also a six-song set from a 1971 Granada TV show that catches the band early their career, showcasing the exuberance and energy of their live performances.

The hits keep coming on the bonus features with previously unreleased Top Of The Pops and Supersonic appearances as well as a clip of 'Them Kind Of Monkeys Can't Swing' from the band's 1974 movie Slade In Flame which has since been hailed as one of the best rock and roll films ever made. There are also more band interviews.

In the USA artists as diverse as Kiss and Kurt Cobain have credited Slade as a big musical influence, with metal band Quiet Riot taking 'Cum On Feel The Noize' to the top of the American charts in 1983.

Although Slade have not recorded or performed together since 1991, guitarist Dave Hill and drummer Don Powell still perform live, Jim Lea has kept a low profile while studying for a degree in psychology and Noddy Holder has enjoyed a varied career post-Slade, becoming the teacher he originally wanted to be on ITV's The Grimleys and becoming a presenter on many UK radio stations. He's made a variety of TV appearances ranging from team captain on


BBC's Question of Pop, "Banger" in Bob the Builder and a cameo role on the 40th anniversary special live edition of Coronation Street. Several TV commercial campaigns later he's currently appearing in adverts for Nobby's Crisps and NUTS!!! He also found time to write his autobiography, Who's Crazee Now?, has won the Top Tie Wearer of the year award and in 2000 he received an MBE from the Queen.


THE VERY BEST OF SLADE – listen to it, watch it, get down and get with it!