This week in 1973
1 Skweeze Me Pleeze Me Slade
2 Welcome Home Peters and Lee
3 Life On Mars David Bowie
4 Snoopy Versus The Red Baron Hotshots
5 Born To Be With You Dave Edmunds
6 Rubber Bullets 10CC
7 Take Me To The Mardi Gras Paul Simon 8 Albatross Fleetwood Mac
9 Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting Elton John 10 Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) George
Harrison Hated by English teachers for their luv of krazee spelling, Slade’s chart dominance in the seventies is impressive: 17 consecutive top 20 hits, including six number ones in the UK charts. ‘Skweeze Me Pleeze Me’ was the fifth UK chart topper for the much loved Wolverhampton band. It also topped the charts in Ireland but did not even reach the Hot 100 in the US where Slade’s success was limited. At the time of the release of ‘Skweeze Me Pleeze Me’ Slade drummer Don Powell was badly injured in a car crash in which his fiancee Angela Morris died. As a result, there was no official promotional video, and no appearance by the band on Top Of The Pops, as the show’s producers would not allow Slade to appear as a three-piece.