Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s.
With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter at number one, and all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. Total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies.
Following an unsuccessful move to the states in 1975, the band's popularity waned but was unexpectedly revived in 1980 when they were last minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne at the Reading Rock Festival. The band later acknowledged this to have been one of the highlights of their career. The original line up split in 1992 but the band reformed the following year as Slade II. The band has continued, in various guises, to the present day.
A number of artists have cited Slade as an influence, including: Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, Poison, Def Leppard, Oasis, Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister, The Runaways and Girlschool. The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Music tells of Holder's powerful vocals, guitarist Dave Hill's equally arresting dress sense and the deliberate misspelling of their song titles for which they became well known.
Slade II was formed in 1993 by Hill with Powell and three other musicians. The suggestion to call the group Slade II came from Holder but Lea was not happy with the Slade name being used at all. The group's name was later shortened to Slade. Working solidly on the UK theatre circuit during the winter months and throughout Europe the rest of the year; the band released one studio album in 1994 entitled Keep on Rockin' which featured Steve Whalley on vocals. The album was not successful and nor were the singles "Hot Luv" and "Black and White World". The band have seen many line ups but Hill and Powell have remained constant throughout.
Slade were reunited for two events during 1996, the funeral of long time Slade manager Chas Chandler and an episode of the television show This Is Your Life which featured Holder as the subject.
During 1997, a new Slade compilation, Feel the Noize - Greatest Hits reached number 19 in the UK while the following year, a remix of "Merry Xmas Everybody", released under the name Slade Vs. Flush, made number 30. In 2000, a compilation entitled The Genesis of Slade was released which contained rare and some previously unreleased material from The Vendors, Steve Brett & The Mavericks and The 'N Betweens. 2000 also saw Holder awarded an MBE for his services to music and his voice was famously recorded for lift announcements at the Walsall New Art Gallery.
In 2002, Slade II shortened their name to Slade and re-released their album Keep on Rockin' with a handful of new tracks included, retitled Cum on Let's Party. The band also released two new singles titled "Some Exercise" and "Take Me Home". Both singles were released in Belgium through Virgin Records. An American compilation was also released titled Get Yer Boots On: The Best of Slade.
In 2005, original singer for Slade II, Steve Whalley left the band and was replaced by Mal McNulty who has sung for the band since. In November 2005, Polydor released a new Slade compilation The Very Best of Slade which featured two discs with included the majority of Slade singles for the first time on a compilation. The compilation was a moderate success, peaking at number 39. A DVD was also released for the first time featuring a collection of Slade videos and promos.
From 2006 to 2007, music label Salvo remastered and released all of Slade's catalogue including, a four disc anthology set entitled The Slade Box (Anthology 1969–1991) and a package of all live albums in one Slade Alive! - The Live Anthology. The remastered series also included the release of a new compilation called simply, B-Sides which featured all of the band's b-sides.
In late 2006, UK chart rules changed to allow downloads of old singles eligible to chart which allowed "Merry Xmas Everybody" to return annually to the chart. "Merry Xmas Everyvbody" peaked at number 20 in the UK in 2007, number 32 in 2008, number 35 in 2009 and number 51 in 2011.
In 2009, a new compilation was released, Live at the BBC. It featured songs recorded for BBC sessions between 1969 to 1972, Radio 1 jingles recorded in 1973 and 1974, and on the second disc, songs recorded live at the Paris Theatre, London, in August 1972. In November 2009, Universal Music released a new compilation entitled "Merry Xmas Everybody: Party Hits" which peaked at number 151 in the UK.
At the beginning of 2011, Classic Rock magazine gave ten predictions for the year. Number seven featured the statement "Slade get back together one last time, and do a farewell show." In 2011, Salvo released a remastered version of Sladest which included a previously unreleased studio version of the live track “Hear Me Calling”.
