So Here It Is
How the Boy from Wolverhampton Rocked the World with Slade
Ratings1
Average rating5
15
How the Boy from Wolverhampton Rocked the World with Slade
Ratings1
Average rating5
'No Slade = No Oasis. It's as devastating and as simple as that' Noel Gallagher Slade's music and style dominated and defined the 1970s. With six consecutive number one singles they were the UK's number one group and sold millions of records all over the world. At their peak, Slade enjoyed success and adulation not seen since The Beatles. Now, for the first time, the man whose outlandish costumes, glittering make-up and unmistakable hairstyle made Slade the definitive act of Glam Rock tells his story. Growing up in a council house in 1950s Wolverhampton, Dave always knew he wanted to be a musician and in the mid-sixties, with Don Powell, founded the band that in 1970 would settle on the name Slade. Their powerful guitar-driven anthems formed the soundtrack for a whole generation, and their Top of the Popsperformances, led by their flamboyant, ever-smiling lead guitarist, became legendary. But So Here It Isreveals that there's much more to Dave's life than Top of the Popsand good times. Packed with previously unseen personal photos, the book uncovers surprising family secrets, tells the inside story of the original band's painful break-up, explores Dave's battles with depression, his decision to reform Slade and go back on the road and his recovery from the stroke that threatened to cut short his career. Told with great heart and humour, So Here It Is is the story of the irresistible rise of Dave Hill, Superyob; the definitive account of his journey from working-class lad to global rock star.
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Having known a bit more about Slade than the average American prior to “Run Runaway,” I was interested to read this autobiography by co-founder and guitarist Dave Hill. I read a lot of these “rock star” autobiographies and, while most tend to be a bit narcissistic or perhaps an attempt at some sort of justification, “So Here It Is” is neither. Hill's story is as refreshing as the manner in which he tells it. He lets the reader know right off the bat, by relating that he was living at home with his parents at the same time that his band had the number one song in the UK, that there is very little in the way of pretense here. Hill fills the story of Slade with anecdotes that one can tell are written exactly as he's told them dozens of times in the pub with his mates. Rather than putting on airs, Hill's narrative instead lays it on the line: here's what happened, and these are all the things we accomplished, these are the failures we endured, these are the things we did right, these are the mistakes we made, these are the things I'm proud of and these are the regrets I've had. Through it all, Hill's gregarious, humorous and down-to-earth manner makes for a pleasant, as well as informative, read. I quite enjoyed this book and found myself laughing along with Hill as he related incidents that obviously still crack him up or still fill him with wonder after all these years. It's nice to see someone who's gone through so much come out at the other end with a sense that they are content, and I think Hill's genuine humility has a lot to do with that.
