Scott of Thunder, have you ordered yet?

[westen44]

I just ordered it.  But you and Mark provided me with a wealth of info.  Some of these other albums also look tempting.  I may order a few more.  Thanks, once again. 

[uwe]

Another convert.

My work is done here.

[westen44]

Another convert.

My work is done here.

There are a lot of bands with great studio albums, but in general I prefer listening to their live music the most.  Slade proved themselves with that 5 CD box set as far as I'm concerned.  That's some great music.  Whoever decided to put that out definitely made the right choice.  It was enough to convince me I needed to be listening to Slade.  It's actually a shame that most Americans are more familiar with Quiet Riot than Slade.  I just never got into Quiet Riot.  On the other hand, Kevin DuBrow from Quiet Riot has said that he was never into a band like Slade.  He despised Cum On Feel the Noize and didn't even want to record it.  Not ever having been a Quiet Riot fan, I don't know the details. 

[uwe]

I kinda like Quiet Riot because they were dumb in a good way. And Rudy Sarzo was a sight live. But certainly no Slade.

Quiet Riot were a reasonably convincing live act, but their song-writing was only so-so.

[westen44]

I think one of Kevin DuBrow's problems is that he was a little resentful Quiet Riot were getting attention for doing a song like Cum On Feel the Noize which they didn't even write.  When he said he despised the song, I suspect that was one of the main reasons.  I'm just going by the info I've incidentally come across through the years. 

[uwe]

I had no issues with them covering it, their version was fine if not spectacularly different to the original version. It wasn't Quiet Riot's fault that Slade failed to crack the American market a few years before. And both Jim Lea and Noddy Holder as the writers of Cum On Feel the Noize earned more via Quiet Riot's success with their song than when it was released by Slade first time round - let's face it, throughout the 70ies Slade couldn't get arrested in the US. Their reliance on singles fell flat on its arse in the US.

Re Quiet Riot's cover, Jim and Noddy were not complaining, just baffled that Quiet Riot would see success with a version that so little deviated from their original. As Keith Richard once mumbled when asked if it bothered him that "Jumping Jack Flash" was on Frampton's Comes Alive: "Hey, it bought me a nice house, no complaints!"

By the way: AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long chorus owes more than a bit to Cum On Feel The Noize too. One man's "we'll get wild, wild, wild" is another man's "aall niiight looong". 

[westen44]

I read an article several years ago which mostly focused on Noddy Holder.  I can't remember the details, but it was clear he was fine with receiving the royalties from Quiet Riot's recordings of their music.  Any sane person would be happy with that.  But I guess the question is how did all of this happen?  One music critic asked how a crap band like Quiet Riot got a hit with a Slade song.  In other articles I read (in the past and recently) it was pointed out that Slade had a hard time getting enough radio play in the U.S. for some reason.  On a personal note I might add that MTV in the 80s had Quiet Riot on, but not Slade.  I haven't heard anybody mention this, but it had to have been a factor in keeping Slade from being more popular in the U.S.  Their main popularity seems to have been with American audiences who got to see them in person. 

[uwe]

There was always a certain jaunti- and lightheartedness in Slade's presentation (in contrast to Jim Lea battling with his depressions, but then depressive jesters are nothing new) that didn't sit well with people who liked 'serious' heavy music. That "Hey, we're entertainers!"-approach. It had people usually underestimate their musical clout. You had to see them live to realize that they weren't just a pop hits delivering machine. And that Reading 1980 experience where they somehow end up on a festival bill in the last minute where no one expects much from them and they then steal the show wasn't a first time for them. A similar thing had happened in the early 70ies when they played on a UK festival otherwise populated by more PROG image 'serious' bands and took the largely non-teenage audience by storm, baffling everyone by how well and energetic they could play. (They had the energy of the J. Geils Band on a good night.)

But Chas Chandler wanted to see the single hits flowing for a young teenage audience rather than establish his proteges as 'serious artists'. What he forgot was that biologically speaking bands that focus only on the young teenage market generally only have a shelf life of three years or so before their audience develops either breasts or beards and moves on to other music. And those three years (where they ruled the UK charts) is basically what Slade had. It type-cast them forever and they could never really leave the image behind.

That "good fun"-aspect in their music did them no favors in America I think. And of course their vids in the rising MTV era were made on the go and failed to project anything to win an MTV audience over. For a band that had widely received acclaim for their performance in the semi-documentary Flame movie (about a fictitious up and coming band named "Flame" consisting of the four Slade members, the film was even lauded by critics who had otherwise been dismissive of Slade's musical output), Slade were really hapless/naive in creating a new video image of themselves.

And finally, I think they would have needed to be put in the hands of an experienced and professional American management organisation with some clout in the mid-80ies. But by then Noddy Holder was fed up with life on the road and didn't want to commit to extensive touring anymore. He's never returned to it and prefers being a family man and a - light-hearted - TV and radio personality.

[westen44]

There are, of course, other examples of artists who seemed to be popular everywhere but America.  But especially after listening to the new CD box set, Slade seems to be one of the most extreme examples of a band being underrated and misunderstood that I've seen.  It's all about perception, not necessarily reality. 

[lowend1]

I think one of Kevin DuBrow's problems is that he was a little resentful Quiet Riot were getting attention for doing a song like Cum On Feel the Noize which they didn't even write.  When he said he despised the song, I suspect that was one of the main reasons.  I'm just going by the info I've incidentally come across through the years.

"One" of his problems, lol. As I recall, and his feelings about Slade aside, QR's producer, Spencer Proffer, pushed for them to record the song despite the band's opposition. It got put to tape almost as an afterthought (Frankie Banali's suggestion) because they had to show Proffer that they had made an effort. Dubrow was initially incensed that it sounded as good as it did and had been recorded to boot. And the rest is history.

[uwe]

Status Quo never got to crack America either - with some bands it just doesn't happen. At the same time, a band like Foghat that could comfortably fill arenas in the US meant little to nothing in Europe. That doesn't say anything about their music and performance (or Status Quo's) being bad. Generally, there tends to be some alignment between the great Western music markets over time, but it's not always the case.

[uwe]

"One" of his problems, lol. As I recall, and his feelings about Slade aside, QR's producer, Spencer Proffer, pushed for them to record the song despite the band's opposition. It got put to tape almost as an afterthought (Frankie Banali's suggestion) because they had to show Proffer that they had made an effort. Dubrow was initially incensed that it sounded as good as it did and had been recorded to boot. And the rest is history.

I've heard the Proffer story as well - DuBrow's voice reminded him of Noddy Holder's. Which DuBrow (who rather wanted to be Steve Marriott) seemed to take as an insult. But I've also read here from other people that the original Quiet Riot (still with Rhandy Rhoads) already covered Slade tunes in the late 70ies, long before their resurgence with Metal Health in 1983.

That said, Slade had their American fans ...







And I always thought that this was an especially heartfelt hommage to them, Kiss never made any bones about their love for Slade:



Watching an early Kiss gig from the side of the stage, Dave Hill is supposed to have commented to the likewise watching, albeit slightly bemused Noddy Holder: "But these are our children, Nod ...".

[TBird1958]

There's this then..............

[lowend1]

I've heard the Proffer story as well - DuBrow's voice reminded him of Noddy Holder's. Which DuBrow (who rather wanted to be Steve Marriott) seemed to take as an insult.

While DuBrow may have wanted to be Steve Marriot, he simply didn't have anywhere near the amount of charisma and raw talent that Steve Marriot had. He was no Noddy Holder, either.
And in an attempt to provide a tenuous but de rigueur Rainbow/Purple connection... when watching the "Hear n Aid" sessions video, the DuBrow segment is most uncomfortable. Likewise the Don Dokken portion, but that's for another day...

[slinkp]

On a personal note I might add that MTV in the 80s had Quiet Riot on, but not Slade.

Certainly Slade never got a tenth of the MTV time here in the states that Quiet Riot got. But, after "Cum On Feel the Noize" was a hit for QR, they did make a bit of an appearance with these two videos that I recall. Seemed like the waters were tested and not much came of it, maybe MTV just didn't give them much of a push? These were the only Slade performances I'd ever heard until I came upon this forum decades later!