British bands used to have a propensity for thinking that the next logical step after dominating the charts with a string of hit songs was to make a movie. The Beatles made A Hard Day’s Night, Gerry and the Pacemakers made Ferry Cross the Mersey, Herman’s Hermits made Hold On and The Dave Clark Five gave us Having a Wild Weekend (a.k.a. Catch Us if You Can) Ten years later, Slade was also unable to resist the allure of cinematic stardom.
In January 1975, Slade appeared on the silver screen in a semi-serious “telling tale of the sixties music biz” called Flame. Of course it would take another 25 years for digital technology to catch up and provide me with the opportunity to watch the film directed by Richard Loncraine and starring the band—more or less as themselves—with a young Tom Conti in his second feature film appearance. Trust me, it’s worth a viewing for the band’s stage costumes alone let alone their award-winning “acting." |
The “soundtrack” appeared in the import bin at Record Revolution a few months before the film release, and I still regard it as one of Slade’s best albums; full of catchy rockers with a sixties vibe and wistful sing-a-longs with a timeless appeal. The Happy Medium Song of the Day actually comes from that 42 year-old piece of plastic—digitized and de-crackled to sound just as good as it did the first time I slipped it out of the sleeve and put it on a turntable. There’s plenty to choose from on this record, but my tribute to Slade continues with “Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here).”
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