Slade Time

[godofthunder]

Not one of Dave's better looks.

[Highlander]

Didn't he play that Romulan guy in the new ST movie...?

[uwe]

Dave Hill had by far worse haircuts than this baldie look. Before and after. Generally, both his haircut- and dress-sense were unfortunate. As he once quipped to a sighing Jim Lea  who felt that Dave's sartorial appearance might be to the detriment of Slade's credibility as musicians: "You writ'em (the songs) and I sell'em!".

[Big_Stu]

Dave Hill had by far worse haircuts than this baldie look. Before and after. Generally, both his haircut- and dress-sense were unfortunate. As he once quipped to a sighing Jim Lea  who felt that Dave's sartorial appearance might be to the detriment of Slade's credibility as musicians: "You writ'em (the songs) and I sell'em!".

In a much later i'view I have, according to Jim; that conversation was actually part of an argument in the Top Of The Pops studio. The sentence immediately before that one from Dave was "F**k off Jim".
Jim had been trying to show H the intro to their next single, but H was too involved in getting his pictures taken by the press, so when Jim told him to spend a bit of time on what they actually did for a living he got that reply.

[uwe]

The truth is: It probably did hurt them. If they had just worn denims and knuckled down to it in working man's fashion a là Quo they might have had a few less Top of the Pops appearances and hence hit singles, but more appealed to the serious rock crowd and album buying public plus fetched some better opening slots on large scale tours in markets they did not yet rule with their singles output. And I think it would have benefitted their US career too, never a country to embrace glam except in that mutated larger-than-life version of Alice Cooper/Kiss. You could look unremarkable and still crack the US market as Foghat have amply proven.

[Big_Stu]

Way to ressurrect an old thread; this old footage of Slade on American Bandstand in '84 may interest some of you guys. It's just been "refound".


When they did come back to tour later that year Jim was struck down with hepatitis, they had to pull the rest of the gigs & they never toured ever again. 

[godofthunder]

Stu, thanks for posting that! Jimmy with a rented Fender ugh! I remember waiting in great anticipation for that tour and was crushed when it was canceled. Old look who's talking Dick !

[nofi]

how do know it's rented. he might have owned many fenders, like you...

[godofthunder]

how do know it's rented. he might have owned many fenders, like you...

He may have but Slade rented gear for lots of TV performances. Jim had two main basses during Slades time that I know of. First was his '65 EB3, originally cherry it was eventually painted white by John Birch and fitted with John Birch pickups and a onboard distortion circuit. The EB3 was Stolen from John Birches work shop and Birch supplied Jim with a new JB bass based on his stolen EB3. Here is a pic of Jimmy with his JB and my JD (built by John Diggens of Jaydee guitars, JD built Jim's original JB while employed at Birch in the 70's). I bet Stu can give use more detail into Jim's arsenal.

[Big_Stu]

I bet Stu can give use more detail into Jim's arsenal.

Funny you should say that Scott.  I had an i'view from the early 80's, couple of years prior to that AB film. He said he didn't like Fenders at all, one of his reasons being that the E & A are too fat in sound & the D & G were too thin, another being that the body shape was too big & too common (widespread - popular??)
He's said that he used a Gibson V bass in the studio, but live from the late 70's right thru to the last gig it was the JB/JD's like Scotts' that he used exclusively live. There are pics of a couple of gigs in the late 70's where he used a John Birch J2 bass, with the same sunburst colour-scheme, I'm guessing that was because his main bass was in for work.
THIS being a J2 bass
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOHN-BIRCH-GUITAR-/270791371883?pt=UK_Music_SheetMusic_RL&hash=item3f0c6c6c6b

(no relation to the seller whatsoever)

[uwe]

"Gibson V bass" as in "five string Clark Kent look bass with TBird pups and sound" or as in Flying V? 

[Big_Stu]

Flying V, he was in his heavy-metal phase at the time.

Another film of Jim with a rented Fender......... I used to have a poster of this session on my wall when I was a kid ................ (last week  )

[uwe]

Probably his Ibanez Flying V then, certainly a preferable tool to the Gibson "V" Bass though still hardly a great bass by Ibanez standards, bit mushy.

[lowend1]

If the interview was from the early 80s, it probably was the Gibson - that thing seems to have fooled everybody into thinking it was a good idea, myself included. It didn't take long for the awful truth to become apparent though...

[uwe]

Beauty's only fin-deep ...

Yet I heard both from Scott and at Messe Frankfurt that they want to resurrect it sometime this year. Some radical re-engineering appreciated guys!!!