International superstars launch new album – in a Bilston pub
SLADE are for life, not just for Christmas – so now that the familiar strains of their perennial festive hit have faded away for ten months or so, we thought we’d bring the local legends back for New Year.
No one needs reminding just how huge the Wolverhampton band were in the 1970s – they enjoyed hit after hit, putting together an incredible streak of number ones, back in the days when topping the singles charts really meant something, not least selling hundreds of thousands of vinyl discs.
1971’s Coz I Luv You was their first number one, and subesquent singles Take Me Back ’Ome and Mama Weer All Crazee Now repeated the feat. The next release, Gudbuy
T’ Jane, was a relative disappoinment, stalling at number two. But in early 1973 they were back on form, with Cum on Feel the Noize going straight in at the top, the first record to do so since The Beatles’ Get Back, and Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me put Slade in pole position once again.
Revivial
Merry Christmas Everybody, in December 1973, was their sixth number one, and though there were several more Slade singles to make the top ten, the band’s popularity waned quickly soon after. By 1977 they couldn’t scrape into the top thirty, and it seemed as if it was all over.
But in 1980, when Ozzy Osbourne suddenly pulled out of the Reading Rock Festival, Slade stood in at the last minute,
ostensibly as a farewell performance. But they stole the show, and instead of winding up, they doubled down. They recorded a new album and had another number two single with My Oh My. By 1985 they were still riding the crest of their second wave, but true to their roots, they decided to launch their latest album, Rogues Gallery, down the pub in Bilston.
Their local was the Royal Exchange in the town centre, known to all as The Trumpet – one of the rare survivors which is still going today, serving Holden’s beer and live jazz every night of the week.
Given the ‘rogues’ theme, the lads were surprised by a visit from the police – see top right. You can probably guess what happened next, but if you’re struggling, the picture underneath explains all.