SLADE FAN CLUB
I became a member of the Slade Fan Club in 1973.
I was proud to be a member and awaited my bi-monthly newsletters with anticipation. I thought that only the band's top fans would join the Fan Club - and I considered that I was in that elite group.....
The Fan Club was run from Chas Chandler's various office locations:-
67 Brook St, W1 (which I never visted), 13 South Molton Street W1, 49 Upper Montagu St W1 and 35 Portland Place W1.
I was proud to be a member and awaited my bi-monthly newsletters with anticipation. I thought that only the band's top fans would join the Fan Club - and I considered that I was in that elite group.....
The Fan Club was run from Chas Chandler's various office locations:-
67 Brook St, W1 (which I never visted), 13 South Molton Street W1, 49 Upper Montagu St W1 and 35 Portland Place W1.
13 South Molton Street
Nod in South Molton Street - 1974
I sent off my subscription and became a member of the Slade Fan Club in the spring of 1973. I received my first 4 page newsletter with the distinctive red banner heading with photos of Slade - and was over the moon.
The membership pack, including a great folder and the latest edition of the newsletter has been sent by the Fan Club Secretary, "Diana". I read every word in the newsletter over and over and was a keen member of this organisation.
The fan club address (when I joined) was originally listed as "13 South Molton Street" - but the Fan Club soon became big business and the membership grew to over 20,000 fans from around the world.
The address was changed to a PO Box (full address PO Box 4SF, London, W1A 4SF - I remember it well) - to stop personal visitors. However, the Fan Club, and Chas's office, were still run out of the leased office at 13 South Molton Street.
The membership pack, including a great folder and the latest edition of the newsletter has been sent by the Fan Club Secretary, "Diana". I read every word in the newsletter over and over and was a keen member of this organisation.
The fan club address (when I joined) was originally listed as "13 South Molton Street" - but the Fan Club soon became big business and the membership grew to over 20,000 fans from around the world.
The address was changed to a PO Box (full address PO Box 4SF, London, W1A 4SF - I remember it well) - to stop personal visitors. However, the Fan Club, and Chas's office, were still run out of the leased office at 13 South Molton Street.
13 South Molton Street - 2009
As I went to secondary school in Central London, I was soon making trips at lunchtime (as pupils were amazingly allowed out of the school during breaks) to South Molton Street - which was near Bond Street tube - a ten minute journey.
I would hang around the office door waiting to see if Slade were in town. South Molton Street was in an ideal location at the time - as it was just opposite Stratford Place, where Polydor Records were based. (You might remember the famous photo shoot that was taken in the days leading up to the Earls Court gig - where Slade were sitting on Don's white Bentley - opening bottles of champagne for the Polydor staff as "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" had just gone straight to No1. These photos were taken in Stratford Place).
I would hang around the office door waiting to see if Slade were in town. South Molton Street was in an ideal location at the time - as it was just opposite Stratford Place, where Polydor Records were based. (You might remember the famous photo shoot that was taken in the days leading up to the Earls Court gig - where Slade were sitting on Don's white Bentley - opening bottles of champagne for the Polydor staff as "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" had just gone straight to No1. These photos were taken in Stratford Place).
Slade in Stratford Place (close to South Molton St) 1973
The varnished wooden door at South Molton Street was soon engraved by fans with slogans such as "Nod is God" and "Slade Rool". They were chisled out by door keys and pen-knives by fans who were bored hanging around.
It was at this time that I became slightly disillusioned. I would ask constantly if I could meet the Fan Club Secretary, Diana. I eventually found out that Diana was a pseudonym for John Bright - an impish guy with unkempt hair and wispy ginger beard. It was he who actually ran the fan club. Not quite what I imagined!
It was at this time that I became slightly disillusioned. I would ask constantly if I could meet the Fan Club Secretary, Diana. I eventually found out that Diana was a pseudonym for John Bright - an impish guy with unkempt hair and wispy ginger beard. It was he who actually ran the fan club. Not quite what I imagined!
49 Upper Montagu Street
49 Upper Montagu Street office
In late 1974 I was upset when I visited South Molton Street. I found out that Chas's office had moved a few weeks earlier. The girl who answered the buzzer told me that the new address for Chas and his team was in Upper Montagu Street, W1. But where on earth was this?
I dashed to the nearest Oxford Street bookshop to look at a London A-Z.
Would you believe it? Upper Montagu Street was in Marylebone, next to the library and virtually opposite Marylebone Grammar School. My school!
How bizarre and what a co-incidence. Now, because the band's office was so near to me, whenever Slade were in the UK, I'd be there every day asking for news.
Chas's secretary was an smart lady, of oriental parentage, Susie Ching. She did not suffer fools lightly. Her desk was in the reception area of Upper Montagu Street - and she would see me all the time. Initially she was quite short and curt with me - but I think she grew to like me.
I was keen to meet the band as often as possible. Slade were often flying to and from the USA and in late 1975 that had spent a week back in the UK promoting "In For A Penny" on Top Of The Pops and Supersonic. I knew they were due to fly back to the States soon and Susie gave me details of their flight. However, when I called at the office on 23 November Suzie advised me that the flight had been changed. It was sooner than had been expected. They were flying that afternoon from Heathrow.
I dashed to the nearest Oxford Street bookshop to look at a London A-Z.
Would you believe it? Upper Montagu Street was in Marylebone, next to the library and virtually opposite Marylebone Grammar School. My school!
How bizarre and what a co-incidence. Now, because the band's office was so near to me, whenever Slade were in the UK, I'd be there every day asking for news.
Chas's secretary was an smart lady, of oriental parentage, Susie Ching. She did not suffer fools lightly. Her desk was in the reception area of Upper Montagu Street - and she would see me all the time. Initially she was quite short and curt with me - but I think she grew to like me.
I was keen to meet the band as often as possible. Slade were often flying to and from the USA and in late 1975 that had spent a week back in the UK promoting "In For A Penny" on Top Of The Pops and Supersonic. I knew they were due to fly back to the States soon and Susie gave me details of their flight. However, when I called at the office on 23 November Suzie advised me that the flight had been changed. It was sooner than had been expected. They were flying that afternoon from Heathrow.
When I met the boys at Heathrow - Oct '75
Me and my mate Raj Advani (a fellow school mate and Slade fan - unusual because Slade didn't have any other Asian fans that I knew of) bunked off school for the rest of the day - and headed to Heathrow.
After searching the airport's bars we eventually found the band in W H Smiths. We chatted for ages and got all their autographs on the "Slade Alive" album that I had on me. I remember Dave Hill asked if I'd just gone out and bought the album. After talking for a bit, he realised we weren't just "jump onboard" fans. It was so great to track the band down and have ten minutes with them . Me and Raj rattled off loads of questions that we'd been dying to ask.
After searching the airport's bars we eventually found the band in W H Smiths. We chatted for ages and got all their autographs on the "Slade Alive" album that I had on me. I remember Dave Hill asked if I'd just gone out and bought the album. After talking for a bit, he realised we weren't just "jump onboard" fans. It was so great to track the band down and have ten minutes with them . Me and Raj rattled off loads of questions that we'd been dying to ask.
Lesley snuggling into Dave at Heathrow - 29 June 1975
When Slade had earlier in the year "emigrated" to The States (on 29 June 1975) there were scores of fans at the airport to "see them off" (albeit some of them were David Cassidy fans who were waiting for him to arrive into the UK the same day that Slade were leaving). I remember that a big fan, Lesley, from West Hampstead was there. She told me all about the farewell the band were given - after the event had happened! Now, a few months later, at the same airport, the only fans who had found out the details of the departure were me and Raj...
At the start of 1976, Slade recorded the video for the Nobody's Fool single at the St John's Wood studio - near to where I lived. My friend Lorraine Cummings Dad worked at the studio and got me in. I took some great photos of the band filming. I showed them to Susie Ching, who was really impressed. So got me to show them to John Bright - telling him he should use them in the Fan Club mag. However, he decided not to. I think he was pissed off with the back that a 16 year old fan had got better pictures of the band than him!
For the next few years Susie, and her young assistant in the office, Tina, provided me full details of Slade's flights enabling me to meet Slade at London airports as they were flying to and from the States, Poland and Jersey. I remember meeting them after they returned from a long stay in Poland in September 1978. Nod was keen to find out if The Commodores "Three Times A Lady" was still No.1 as he loved that song.
John Bright's Slade Fan Club eventually closed in 1977. Membership numbers had dwindled and interest in the band had diminished. The club was not cost efficient - so Chas decided to close the club.
At the start of 1976, Slade recorded the video for the Nobody's Fool single at the St John's Wood studio - near to where I lived. My friend Lorraine Cummings Dad worked at the studio and got me in. I took some great photos of the band filming. I showed them to Susie Ching, who was really impressed. So got me to show them to John Bright - telling him he should use them in the Fan Club mag. However, he decided not to. I think he was pissed off with the back that a 16 year old fan had got better pictures of the band than him!
For the next few years Susie, and her young assistant in the office, Tina, provided me full details of Slade's flights enabling me to meet Slade at London airports as they were flying to and from the States, Poland and Jersey. I remember meeting them after they returned from a long stay in Poland in September 1978. Nod was keen to find out if The Commodores "Three Times A Lady" was still No.1 as he loved that song.
John Bright's Slade Fan Club eventually closed in 1977. Membership numbers had dwindled and interest in the band had diminished. The club was not cost efficient - so Chas decided to close the club.
My autographed Slade Alive album - from Heathrow Airport, November 1975
35 Portland Place
35 Portland Place - offices and recording studio
By 1978 I had left school and started my first job (in a Bank - located at the Warren Street station end of Tottenham Court Road).
At the same time Chas's lease on the office in Upper Montagu Street had expired - and he had decided to proceed with a new venture - the purchase of the IBC Recording Studios and offices at 35 Portland Place. The studios were a relic from the 1960's and had previously been owned by the Bee Gees. They were based just up the road from the BBC's Broadcasting House (and home of Radio One).
I know that there was some unease about this venture as Chas used Slade money to complete the purchase......but I will say no more.
(FYI - Chas eventually sold the Studios to Don Arden - Sharon Osbourne's Dad).
Slade were touring heavily in 1978. They toured to promote "Give Us A Goal" in the Spring and then to promote "Rock n Roll Bolero" in the autumn. I went to loads of the gigs and would always meet the band after the shows. I constantly mentioned that it was difficult to obtain info on the tour dates as the music press were hardly mentioning the band.
I kept on at Dave Hill and Jim Lea as to how they should re-open the Fan Club - so that the fans could get updated info. Jim said to me "Well you're in the know, and you're at all the gigs - why don't you do it ?" He suggested that I speak to Chas - and I hooked up with him at one of the gigs. He was agreeable to me running the Fan Club. He gave me complete control - and said that he doubted if I would be able to make it cost efficient, but that any money I made from it - I could keep. He gave his Secretary, Susie, the go ahead to provide me all updates on what the band were doing so that I could print details in the Fan Club.
At the same time Chas's lease on the office in Upper Montagu Street had expired - and he had decided to proceed with a new venture - the purchase of the IBC Recording Studios and offices at 35 Portland Place. The studios were a relic from the 1960's and had previously been owned by the Bee Gees. They were based just up the road from the BBC's Broadcasting House (and home of Radio One).
I know that there was some unease about this venture as Chas used Slade money to complete the purchase......but I will say no more.
(FYI - Chas eventually sold the Studios to Don Arden - Sharon Osbourne's Dad).
Slade were touring heavily in 1978. They toured to promote "Give Us A Goal" in the Spring and then to promote "Rock n Roll Bolero" in the autumn. I went to loads of the gigs and would always meet the band after the shows. I constantly mentioned that it was difficult to obtain info on the tour dates as the music press were hardly mentioning the band.
I kept on at Dave Hill and Jim Lea as to how they should re-open the Fan Club - so that the fans could get updated info. Jim said to me "Well you're in the know, and you're at all the gigs - why don't you do it ?" He suggested that I speak to Chas - and I hooked up with him at one of the gigs. He was agreeable to me running the Fan Club. He gave me complete control - and said that he doubted if I would be able to make it cost efficient, but that any money I made from it - I could keep. He gave his Secretary, Susie, the go ahead to provide me all updates on what the band were doing so that I could print details in the Fan Club.
Record Mirror advert - 1981
So I set up a new club. (It started initially as a fanzine called Slade News - and after a few months I turned it into an actual club called Slade Supporters Club). However, I didn't make any money. Any profit that was generated was ploughed back into the club. I did it for the love of Slade (ahhh!).
I ran the club from my parent's house (24 Ingham Rd, West Hampstead). However, a bit like the official club earlier, I had many personal callers - particularly numerous German fans and a very confident young lady (Kim Nubley) from Woolongong in Australia, who used to visit every year. The fans were not a problem to me - but they upset my parents as they would call at all hours! I made the decision to change the mailing address to Chas's office in Portland Place. When the mail arrived Susie would put in to one side - and I would collect it on my way home from my job in Tottenham Court Road every couple of days. This way poor Susie would have to deal with any personal callers, and not me!
During my time running the club, the most successful campaign I ever mounted was to get the "Slade Alive At Reading EP", released in October 1980, played on Radio One. In my Fan Club magazine I printed a rota of DJs and weekly dates. I asked all fans to write to each DJ at least once in their given week and request they play the single. If they could, I sugested that fans write more than once. My Fan Club now had about 1,500 members. And the rota worked. The first DJ on the list was Mike Read. He received several hundred letters! He was followed in susequent weeks by Tommy Vance, Simon Bates and co.
Radio One therefore saw a marked increase volume in requests for Slade songs. Before my campaign, they were getting no requests. When my campaign was running they received several hundred per week!
I came home from work one day and my Dad gave me a message that Chas Chandler had called me. I was amazed - Chas had never called me before - I didn't think he had my number. He asked if I could stop the campaign. Radio One were inundated with Slade requests. The radio producers thought that something fishy was going on. I explained that it was too late - it would take me too long to write to all the fans asking them to stop, so the campaign would have to continue. The good thing was the fans actions had succeeded. The "Slade Alive At Reading EP" was played more than any previous Slade single had been on Radio One for years. It was a minor hit - and paved the way for "We'll Bring The House Down" becoming a mainstream chart hit the following year!
I ran the club from my parent's house (24 Ingham Rd, West Hampstead). However, a bit like the official club earlier, I had many personal callers - particularly numerous German fans and a very confident young lady (Kim Nubley) from Woolongong in Australia, who used to visit every year. The fans were not a problem to me - but they upset my parents as they would call at all hours! I made the decision to change the mailing address to Chas's office in Portland Place. When the mail arrived Susie would put in to one side - and I would collect it on my way home from my job in Tottenham Court Road every couple of days. This way poor Susie would have to deal with any personal callers, and not me!
During my time running the club, the most successful campaign I ever mounted was to get the "Slade Alive At Reading EP", released in October 1980, played on Radio One. In my Fan Club magazine I printed a rota of DJs and weekly dates. I asked all fans to write to each DJ at least once in their given week and request they play the single. If they could, I sugested that fans write more than once. My Fan Club now had about 1,500 members. And the rota worked. The first DJ on the list was Mike Read. He received several hundred letters! He was followed in susequent weeks by Tommy Vance, Simon Bates and co.
Radio One therefore saw a marked increase volume in requests for Slade songs. Before my campaign, they were getting no requests. When my campaign was running they received several hundred per week!
I came home from work one day and my Dad gave me a message that Chas Chandler had called me. I was amazed - Chas had never called me before - I didn't think he had my number. He asked if I could stop the campaign. Radio One were inundated with Slade requests. The radio producers thought that something fishy was going on. I explained that it was too late - it would take me too long to write to all the fans asking them to stop, so the campaign would have to continue. The good thing was the fans actions had succeeded. The "Slade Alive At Reading EP" was played more than any previous Slade single had been on Radio One for years. It was a minor hit - and paved the way for "We'll Bring The House Down" becoming a mainstream chart hit the following year!
Slade Fan Club badge - designed by Nomis
In my late teens I was typically quite shy. I never used to have my photo published in the Fan Club newsletters so that I could be incognito at the gigs. Jim Lea seemed to understand this. At one stage my friend Taff Lewis designed some Slade Fan Club T-Shirts that incorpoated my name and Fan Club address on the front. I used to go backstage after the gigs and chat to the band. Typically I would perch myself next to Jim. On several occasions groups of fans would eventually be shown into the dressing room - many wearing these T-Shirts (which had sold by the bucket load). I would hear them ask Jim if I was at the gig that day. Jim would smile my way - with an enquiring look as to whether I wanted to "come out" or not. I would normally indicate that I wanted to stay in the background. So Jim would lie for me - and say I wasn't there that night!
A few fans caught me out at the Ipswich Gaumont gig in Spring 1981. I wanted to attend because Slade were filming the "We'll Bring The HouseDown" video onstage before the show and also filmed live footage from the actual concert for the finished edit. I decided to use the gig as promotion for the club - and left fan club flyers on every seat (all 2,000 of them). Fans therefore knew that I was at the gig - and the roadies kept pointing out who I was - and I was swamped by people wanting to say hello after the gig.
I ran the Fan Club for about 3 years or so. It took up all my efforts. I had little time for girls - except the network of Slade girls that I knew from all over the country - who I would meet up with on the Slade tours (Alison from Wigan, Andrea from Solihull, Sue from Oxford, Mary from Birmingham, Ruth from Edinburgh etc). Even my bedroom was packed to the rafters of Slade stuff. Every time that someone joined the Fan Club, I asked that they send me 6 SAEs - so that I could post them the newsletters. I ended up with a bedroom full of paper (what a fire risk!). My wardrobes had no clothes in - just stacks of envelopes!
I eventually decided that I needed to get on with my life. I was working 9-5. I would then visit Slade's offices in Portland Place collect my mail and go home. I would eat my dinner while working on Fan Club bits and then carry on working til about midnight. It was doing me in! I told Jim I was closing the club. He understood - and said that he had seen it coming.
A few fans caught me out at the Ipswich Gaumont gig in Spring 1981. I wanted to attend because Slade were filming the "We'll Bring The HouseDown" video onstage before the show and also filmed live footage from the actual concert for the finished edit. I decided to use the gig as promotion for the club - and left fan club flyers on every seat (all 2,000 of them). Fans therefore knew that I was at the gig - and the roadies kept pointing out who I was - and I was swamped by people wanting to say hello after the gig.
I ran the Fan Club for about 3 years or so. It took up all my efforts. I had little time for girls - except the network of Slade girls that I knew from all over the country - who I would meet up with on the Slade tours (Alison from Wigan, Andrea from Solihull, Sue from Oxford, Mary from Birmingham, Ruth from Edinburgh etc). Even my bedroom was packed to the rafters of Slade stuff. Every time that someone joined the Fan Club, I asked that they send me 6 SAEs - so that I could post them the newsletters. I ended up with a bedroom full of paper (what a fire risk!). My wardrobes had no clothes in - just stacks of envelopes!
I eventually decided that I needed to get on with my life. I was working 9-5. I would then visit Slade's offices in Portland Place collect my mail and go home. I would eat my dinner while working on Fan Club bits and then carry on working til about midnight. It was doing me in! I told Jim I was closing the club. He understood - and said that he had seen it coming.
After "retiring" - the Fan Club mantle was picked up by Trevor Slaughter and then Paul Lythe. They asked me to assist them with writing occasional articles and helping out with the conventions they organised. I was pleased to do this - it was a good compromise.
Eventually, the final Fan Club was taken over by businessman, Malcolm Skellington. He arranged the fantastic 25th Anniversary Party for the band at Walsall Town Hall in 1991. But apart from this he seemed to run the club purely as a money-making venture. I had met him as the boyfriend of Fran Tucker in 1986 at the Fan Club convention is Islington. He wasn't a fan then - but became one to run the club!
Sadly, there are no Fan Clubs running in the UK nowadays. I suppose that the internet has taken over the fans needs for a paper newsletter...
Regrets? I have two regrets when I ran the Fan Club.
The first was when I ran a Fan Club competition in about 1981. Dave Hill had given me his long studded demin coat - that he used during the promo filming for "Let's Call It Quits" - to give away in a competition. (The coat had been a labour of love for Dave as he'd spent hours fixing rhinestones and studs to coat himself using a K-Tel Stud-O-Matic machine - as advertised on the telly).
However, I ran the competition by the book - and the girl who's name was "pulled out of the hat" was a new member to the Fan Club from Wembley in London. She turned up at my house to collect the garment - I was given no word of thanks, and she was gone. She later didn't re-new her membership - and obviously hadn't been a big fan. I should have arranged it that this exclusive prize went to a more deserving fan....
The second regret I had was not passing an important message to the band.
Shortly after starting the club I got a letter about a fan from Leeds - who I'd seen travelling around the country at lots of the Northern gigs. The letter said that he'd been hurt in a motor bike crash and was in a coma. The writer was asking if Slade could record a personal message to him - so it could be played to him in hospital to try and bring him out of his sleep.
I'd received some crank letters - and I thought that this was another one. I didn't pass the message to the band. I later found out the message was genuine - and the guy had died after a few days. I deeply regret not passing the details on - so that the band could have tried to assist.
Below:-
I found these original master pages I created for the Fan Club newsletter. They are two collages of fans photos. I can't remember many fan's names - except - in the first collage, first row, L-R, Photo 1: Rob Vise, Enfield, Photo 3: Dave Jewell, Oxford. Photo 4: Nomis, Leeds. Second row, Photo 2: Julie Forster,Wigan. In the second collage, forth row, L-R, Photo 1: Laurent Lessage, France, Photo 3: Kim Nubley, Woolongong, Australia, Photo 4: Gerard Goyer, Paris.
Eventually, the final Fan Club was taken over by businessman, Malcolm Skellington. He arranged the fantastic 25th Anniversary Party for the band at Walsall Town Hall in 1991. But apart from this he seemed to run the club purely as a money-making venture. I had met him as the boyfriend of Fran Tucker in 1986 at the Fan Club convention is Islington. He wasn't a fan then - but became one to run the club!
Sadly, there are no Fan Clubs running in the UK nowadays. I suppose that the internet has taken over the fans needs for a paper newsletter...
Regrets? I have two regrets when I ran the Fan Club.
The first was when I ran a Fan Club competition in about 1981. Dave Hill had given me his long studded demin coat - that he used during the promo filming for "Let's Call It Quits" - to give away in a competition. (The coat had been a labour of love for Dave as he'd spent hours fixing rhinestones and studs to coat himself using a K-Tel Stud-O-Matic machine - as advertised on the telly).
However, I ran the competition by the book - and the girl who's name was "pulled out of the hat" was a new member to the Fan Club from Wembley in London. She turned up at my house to collect the garment - I was given no word of thanks, and she was gone. She later didn't re-new her membership - and obviously hadn't been a big fan. I should have arranged it that this exclusive prize went to a more deserving fan....
The second regret I had was not passing an important message to the band.
Shortly after starting the club I got a letter about a fan from Leeds - who I'd seen travelling around the country at lots of the Northern gigs. The letter said that he'd been hurt in a motor bike crash and was in a coma. The writer was asking if Slade could record a personal message to him - so it could be played to him in hospital to try and bring him out of his sleep.
I'd received some crank letters - and I thought that this was another one. I didn't pass the message to the band. I later found out the message was genuine - and the guy had died after a few days. I deeply regret not passing the details on - so that the band could have tried to assist.
Below:-
I found these original master pages I created for the Fan Club newsletter. They are two collages of fans photos. I can't remember many fan's names - except - in the first collage, first row, L-R, Photo 1: Rob Vise, Enfield, Photo 3: Dave Jewell, Oxford. Photo 4: Nomis, Leeds. Second row, Photo 2: Julie Forster,Wigan. In the second collage, forth row, L-R, Photo 1: Laurent Lessage, France, Photo 3: Kim Nubley, Woolongong, Australia, Photo 4: Gerard Goyer, Paris.
Fan Club Bits and Bobs..
Don's Wedding Reception at the Portland Studios
Don Powell held his wedding reception in the Portland Studios...
On 2 November 1985 Don married Joan Komlosy at Marylebone Registry Office. As they lived on the Marylebone Road in Central London - and decided to hold their reception at the Portland Studios (on 13 November). The studios were 10 minutes walk from their home (and were possibly free to use)....
Don told me that the reception was actually held in the recording studios (and not the offices). Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne attended. Apparently Ozzy was slightly worse for wear and stumbled into Joan's mother. The Mum was upset at being bumped and went on to have an altercation with him..... Until a young nephew stepped in and said "Nan, don't mess with him. He bites heads off bats!".
Also, Don told me that an uninvited guest gate-crashed the party and simply stood at the bar. Who was it? None other than George Harrison.
Don's marriage only lasted a few years. He has since re-married and lives happily with Hanne in Silkeborg, Denmark.
On 2 November 1985 Don married Joan Komlosy at Marylebone Registry Office. As they lived on the Marylebone Road in Central London - and decided to hold their reception at the Portland Studios (on 13 November). The studios were 10 minutes walk from their home (and were possibly free to use)....
Don told me that the reception was actually held in the recording studios (and not the offices). Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne attended. Apparently Ozzy was slightly worse for wear and stumbled into Joan's mother. The Mum was upset at being bumped and went on to have an altercation with him..... Until a young nephew stepped in and said "Nan, don't mess with him. He bites heads off bats!".
Also, Don told me that an uninvited guest gate-crashed the party and simply stood at the bar. Who was it? None other than George Harrison.
Don's marriage only lasted a few years. He has since re-married and lives happily with Hanne in Silkeborg, Denmark.
Don and Joan - Marylebone Registry Office wedding - 1987
The Dover Castle
The Dover Castle - in Weymouth Mews, W1
Slade's big watering hole when they were recording in the Portland Studios was the Dover Castle. (The pub is even given a namecheck on the sleeve to The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome - for providing "Bodily Sustenance").
You could get to the Dover Castle by using the backstairs from the studio - which came out in Weymouth Mews, and just opposite was the Dover Castle.
The band would be in there all the time, during lunch breaks from recording and after recording sessions had finished. The landlord and staff of the pub all knew the band. On hot summer days the band would send out for "takeaway" pints from the pub - that were taken directly into the studios. As the pub was also just a few hundred yards away from the BBC Radio One HQ - also the regular visitors were several of the Radio One DJ's.
I visited the pub when Chas sold Portland Studios to Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's Dad) in July 1985. I had been to the office / studios one last time to see Susie Ching. She had asked me to call in to collect some mail that had been addressed to me and say goodbye. Everything was boxed up. There was a pile of stuff that was in the lobby for the bin-men. A pile of Slade In Flame posters, and loads of contact prints of the band by Gered Mankowitz, and other bits and bobs. Susie said I could take what I wanted. I carried as much as I could - and went for a drink in the Dover Castle before struggling home on the tube.
I still use the Dover Castle to this day. I have a mate from my West Hampstead days who works at the BBC radio in Portland Place. We meet up a couple of times a year - and it's always at the Dover Castle. I still look and check whether Nod's in the "snug" where he used to drink.
You could get to the Dover Castle by using the backstairs from the studio - which came out in Weymouth Mews, and just opposite was the Dover Castle.
The band would be in there all the time, during lunch breaks from recording and after recording sessions had finished. The landlord and staff of the pub all knew the band. On hot summer days the band would send out for "takeaway" pints from the pub - that were taken directly into the studios. As the pub was also just a few hundred yards away from the BBC Radio One HQ - also the regular visitors were several of the Radio One DJ's.
I visited the pub when Chas sold Portland Studios to Don Arden (Sharon Osbourne's Dad) in July 1985. I had been to the office / studios one last time to see Susie Ching. She had asked me to call in to collect some mail that had been addressed to me and say goodbye. Everything was boxed up. There was a pile of stuff that was in the lobby for the bin-men. A pile of Slade In Flame posters, and loads of contact prints of the band by Gered Mankowitz, and other bits and bobs. Susie said I could take what I wanted. I carried as much as I could - and went for a drink in the Dover Castle before struggling home on the tube.
I still use the Dover Castle to this day. I have a mate from my West Hampstead days who works at the BBC radio in Portland Place. We meet up a couple of times a year - and it's always at the Dover Castle. I still look and check whether Nod's in the "snug" where he used to drink.
