The Shape Of Things To Come ~ 1970
Slade kicked off their decade of dominance back home in the Midlands as they continued to gig as often and wherever they could. behind the scenes manager Chas Chandler saw them free from their contract with Fontana following the release of their most successful single to date 'The Shape Of Things To Come' which saw the band make their long awaited appearance on Top Of The Pops, the single scraping into the lower reaches of the pop charts as a consequence of the prime time national television exposure. As far as Chandler was concerned, Slade needed a big name lable behind them and with his contacts at Polydor from his time managing Hendrix, they seemed the ideal partner to enhance the bands growing reputation.
Polydor's slick marketing of the band began to pay dividends as the band, still sporting their Skinhead look, began to make the serious music press sit up and take notice. The release of their first Polydor single 'Know Who You Are' failed to ignite the charts, the LP from which the track was taken 'Play It Loud' also failed to make any headway and was soon to be found in the 25p bargain buckets in the few record stores that actually stocked it ( Boots chemists is believed to have stocked most copies, closely followed by Woolworths!)
Slade however were still managing to find themselves with plenty of airplay as they recorded a fair few sessions for the BBC for transmission on various DJ radio shows. Music Union rules of the day meant that a certain percentage of the musical output had to be played live. Slade and many other bands of the day recorded live versions in the studio's for later transmission. Thankfully some of these rare recordings have survived the years and thanks to fans some were to be later officially released four decades later..
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
11/1 |
Aldridge Community Centre | |
12/1 |
George Hotel.Walsall | |
18/1 |
Layfayette, Wolverhampton |
|
23/1 |
Queen Mary Ballroom.Dudley | |
24/1 |
The Ship & Rainbow, Wolverhampton |
|
29/1 |
Whiting bay, Arran | Sleaze band |
31/1 |
Connaught Hotel.W'ton | |
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3/2 |
Francis Martyn Y.C.Bloxwich |
|
6/2 |
NME |
Pantiles review |
7/2 |
Bloxwich baths |
|
11/2 |
Aldridge Community Centre |
|
16/2 |
George Hotel.Walsall |
|
17/2 |
Long Acres Club.Bilston |
|
20/2 |
Farx Club, Potters Bar, London |
|
|
|
MARCH / APRIL
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
1/3 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton |
|
5/3 |
Bag Of Nails Club, London |
|
6/3 |
Single release |
Shape Of Things To Come |
8/3 |
Ship & Rainbow,Wolverhampton |
|
10/3 |
St Giles YC, Willenhall |
|
14/3 |
Wulfrun Hall.W'ton |
|
15/3 |
Aldridge Community Centre |
|
16/3 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Jimmy Young Show |
21/3 |
BBC2 TV Disco2 |
Keef Hartley - Slade |
25/3 |
BBC Studio recording session |
for Mike Harding show |
27/3 |
Marquee Club - London |
|
28/3 |
Lamlash |
Pure Greed - Slade |
28/3 |
West Calder |
|
29/3 |
Whiting bay |
Pure Greed - Slade |
30/3 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton |
|
|
||
1/4 |
Wood lane TV Studio |
Recording for TOTP |
2/4 |
TOTP First appearance |
Shape Of Things To Come |
3/4 |
Cummock |
Candy Floss ~ Slade |
4/4 |
Carloca, Bearsden |
|
5/4 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Dave Lee Travis Show |
6/4 |
George Hotel , Walsall |
|
10/4 |
Marquee Club - London |
|
13/4 |
The Punch Bowl, Lapworth |
|
17/4 |
Sodom Club, Coseley |
|
19/4 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton |
|
20/4 |
Bilston USC |
|
27/4 |
Coseley YC |
|
28/4 |
Mike Harding Show, BBC Radio |
|
|
MAY / JUNE
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
2/5 |
Fox & Goose,Kingswinford | |
3/5 |
Queen Mary Ballroom,Dudley | |
4/5 |
George Hotel,Walsall | |
8/5 |
Marquee Club - London | |
10/5 |
Connaught Hotel,Wolverhampton | |
10/5 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Gary Taylor Show |
12/5 |
St Giles YC, Willenhall | |
16/5 |
Staffordshire Volunteer, Bushbury | |
17/5 |
Community Centre, Aldridge | |
22/5 |
Bilston USC | |
29/5 |
Walsall Town Hall | |
31/5 |
Ship & Rainbow, Wolverhampton | Slade-Mushroom |
|
||
2/6 |
Francis Martyn YC,Walsall | |
5/6 |
George Hotel,Walsall |
|
5/6 |
Electric Garden |
Beings-Slade |
6/6 |
Electric Garden | Beings-Slade |
7/6 |
Electric Garden |
Beings-Slade |
12/6 |
Marquee Club - London |
Slade-Clark Hutchinson |
13/6 |
Connaught Hotel,Wolverhampton |
|
19/6 |
Fox & Goose,Kingswinford |
|
20/6 |
Park Hall Hotel,Wolverhampton |
|
22/6 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Jimmy Young Show |
29/6 |
George Hotel,Walsall |
|
|
JULY / AUGUST
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
5/7 |
Ship & Rainbow,Wolverhampton | |
10/7 |
Ballerina Ballroom,Nairn | Slade-The T Set |
15/7 |
Marquee Club - London | Slade-Gentle Giant |
17/7 |
Pavillion,Weymouth | |
18/7 |
Connaught Hotel ,Wolverhampton | |
19/7 |
Queen Mary Ballroom,Dudley | |
20/7 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Jimmy Young Show |
24/7 |
Temple Club, London | Slade-Hossanna -Bloodsun |
26/7 |
Lafayette Club, Wolverhampton |
|
31/7 |
Broddick,Isle of Arran |
Sweet and Tender Motion-Slade |
|
||
1/8 |
Whiting |
|
1/8 |
Lamlash |
|
10/8 |
Park Hall Hotel, Wolverhampton |
|
12/8 |
Marquee Club - London |
|
15/8 |
Nordseehalle, Helgoland |
Pan / Golden Earring / Gluntan / Carriage Company / Slade / Knut Kiesewetter and his Kay Kays / Made In Sweden / Right Across My Bed |
17/8 |
BBC sessions broadcast w/c |
Tony Blackburn Show |
23/8 |
Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, Kent |
|
24/8 |
Granary club, Bristol - |
Yemene |
29/8 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton |
|
|
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
6/9 |
Community Centre,Aldridge | |
7/9 |
Jimmy Young show |
In concert - Slade |
9/9 |
Factory Club, Leicester Square, London | Slade-Yemene |
12/9 |
USC ,Bilston |
|
13/9 |
Queen Mary Ballroom,Dudley |
|
18/9 |
Single release | Know Who You Are / Dapple Rose |
19/9 |
NME Review | Know who you are |
20/9 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton | |
25/9 |
Festival - Arran Scotland |
Tennis |
26/9 |
Festival - Arran Scotland | Sleaze band & Brodick |
27/9 |
Festival - Arran Scotland | Supporting Blodwyn Pig |
28/9 |
Slade sign Marquee club contract | for 50% of the gross door takings (advance) |
|
||
3/10 |
Wulfrun Hall,Wolverhampton | |
5/10 |
Sunday concert - Slade | Jimmy Young show |
8/10 |
Marquee Club, London | Slade-Griselda |
16/10 |
Trent Polytechnic | |
24/10 |
The Temple,Wardour St | Slade-Skinny Cat-White Lion |
25/10 |
Connaught Hotel,Wolverhampton | |
26/10 |
George Hotel,Walsall |
|
30/10 |
Chiswick Polytechnic,London |
Slade-Spirit of John Morgan-Bloodsun |
31/10 |
BBC2 TV Disco2 |
Slade - The Move - T2 - Clarence Carter (Know Who You Are/Sweetbox) |
|
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER
Date |
Venue |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
1/11 |
Community Centre, Aldridge | |
8/11 |
Community Centre, Aldridge | |
14/11 |
Dingwall Theatre | Slade - My Dear Watson |
20/11 |
Civic Hall,Wolverhampton | Slade-Raymond Froggatt |
22/11 |
Connaught Hotel, Wolverhampton | |
28/11 |
Queen Mary Ballroom,Dudley | |
28/11 |
Album Release | Play It Loud |
|
||
4/12 |
Great Hall,Kedleston Road,Derby | |
5/12 |
Town Hall - Walsall | |
10/12 |
Tri Corn club, Portsmouth | |
24/12 |
George Hotel, Walsall | |
26/12 |
Temple Club, Wardour Street, London | Boxing Day All Nighter' - Gnome Sweet Gnome/ Welcome |
27/12 |
Connaught Hotel,Wolverhampton |
|