slade TILL DEAF DO US PART

The West End, on a Sunday, is just like a "ghost Town". Scary, almost. But just at the back of the BBC studios near Oxford Street, there are signs of some violent, thunderous activities going on. Slade are recording a new album, aptly titled "Till Death Do Us Part ". Well, this screaming Wolverhampton lot were never keen on Sunday roasts anyway.

Noddy and Jimmy are by the mixing desk doing some knob twiddling on a song called "A Night To Remember". It's as rough and raunchy as Slade could ever be. "This album's going to be a killer" I heard someone say. There's some truth in that. Evidence of it already lies in their current top 30 hit "Lock Up Your Daughters".

"This album is a thumper and we want it loud," said Dave Hill while he and drummer Don Powell found a comfortable seat in the office upstairs.

"That's the direction we are heading for ,like having a live show in the studios almost. It's got guts and melody. That is us really."

After a 4/5 year lull Slade has had a very promising return to the charts, with a vengeance almost. One will recall that it all started happening again after their near legendary gig at the Reading festival last year.

They were able to show what they were made of, it was like the good ol' days again, and no looking back. "The thing is we were still gigging at that time," said Don, "we did 100 gigs in one year and yet nobody knew it. Well hardly no one." Dave Hill takes over.

"People were saying 'You went to America and that was your big fault in your career. Shoulda stayed at home boys'. We don't see it that way. I mean as far as Slade were concerned we probably would have gone down the nick any way because with ongoing fashions and the public changing it was bound to happen. What was as big as we were in the 70's has got to slip. The bigger you are the harder you fall."

As Dave was to continue saying, insult was also added to injury. In all Slade had 24 hits including eight number ones, numerous gold albums to boast and a vast repertoire of good solid rocking tunes.

Yet no record company wanted to sign them up. Only manager/producer Chas Chandler stood by their side, although since then they have parted company.

"It was really hard, because they were saying, "That sounds like your old stuff, boring and it wont make it.'

They were viewing it with distorted eyes or ears. But the funny thing is those same people came back to us after we had a hit again with "We'll bring the house down". They wanted to talk to us. Daft innit?, I tell you so many people had the answer for Slade. They were all wrong because all we ended up doing was sound like we always did, but with a better playing

approach, we play better now because we worked hard during those bad years to make it back that it was bound to make us really good. Past nostalgia was no way going to get us through. I mean we still play some old stuff but with a different feel. There is more urgency in what we are doing now."

"Perseverance is what got us through," replied Don. There is times when you feel you are getting nowhere but you know you're good."

As they were to discover, not only did they gain a new young audience that could relate to their special brand of rock n roll, but also an audience so young they couldn't possibly remember Slade the first time round. Without hesitation Dave replies. "The kids these days are great because they are fresh on the scene and they are judging us on what they are seeing. They know that at the end of the day they're gonna see something good on stage, which we've always had.....which is what kept us together as a band. If we were going out doing a parody of ourselves by lust playing hits, like something from 1970, and looking the same as we did then, we woulda been a joke and embarrassed for our fans too. So we strived forward and during those bad years we decided to stick together, hit the road and wire in with the public, and I think it worked."

The Slade audience is still very mixed these days, partly due to the different individual influences on the band. However by and large it is the denim brigade that are there in large numbers.

"That's true," said Don." For us it's like we are back to the old crowd again, because when we first started it was the denim crowd that came to see us, it was only when we started having hit records that the audience changed."

"We never wanted to be a pop band as such, playing those sleazy pop tunes," insisted Dave veering off on a different angle to the subject. "We wish to avoid that, guts and melody is what we're looking for, for the future. We don't want to be put in a bracket either because that will get you nowhere. So for us we'll always have a wide appeal."

How did they feel about coming back to a scene where they were mostly surrounded by new faces, new bands?

"Actually most of them had been fans of ours. They tell us that many times. They've all been influenced by us. But for us it's not like we are the dad's of the scene. We just feel very experienced and the more competition you give us the better it is. We like the challenge and we like to be in with a heavy situation. We are not blasé' to say "we can out do anybody. We feel very confident about our performances. WE really got something and it's not a problem for us but it doesn't stop us from wanting to be better."

The fans will get a chance to see and hear all that in December, when Slade hit the road one more time. Watch out. One reason perhaps why Slade always do so well and relate to their audience is because most of them have got the same background as the kids in the street down the road.

"Right!" said Dave jumping off his seat. "We somehow always felt part of the British scene, very British, you know it's like the bloke down the pub knows Slade and that is the way it will always be. I mean the bloke down the pub can drink with Slade. We're not untouchable. We're really just yobs from the north. I'm afraid we're just not very good at being megastars. You see us walking down the road with a bag of chips, that's Slade. Don travels on a bus, I go on the tube, I don't tart around in limo's. We never liked that bullshit, and posing. I mean people thought we were millionaires. We have never been. We always felt more comfortable in a working class environment. That's why we still live in the Midlands, for instance. I still go to the same pubs, same mates and we are married to the same chicks we met at school. I mean I feel more comfortable with a bacon sandwich than having to go out somewhere wearing a jacket. We feel really uncomfortable in those posh places because everything is false like. We avoid big productions, extravagant things. That's why we can also perform under daylight. We're not arty farty."

As a final question I point out to Don about the recent press he had been getting. It was basically to do with that hypnosis programme on TV where Don was featured.

"I had amnesia problems after that car accident eight years ago but I don't know why those people were interested in it now after eight years like. It's much better but I mean I still have to have a song list in front of me when we play live because I might forget the running order. In the studio it might take a little longer than what it should do because I have to absorb the numbers in such a quick time. I live by my diary really, it doesn't bother me now like it used to."

What has he done with eight years of diaries?

"Oh I kept them, I could blackmail a few people with the things I've got on them," he laughed. "Make a fortune."

"It was like an in joke with the band," answered Dave.

"Like we could borrow money from Don and he wouldn't know what he lent."

"Oh Yeah," responded Don.

"What about that two quid from this morning then."