British DJs have been getting a lousy press of late for one reason or the other (cue inane, nightmarish yodelling….) but Mark Radcliffe’s BBC 6 Music show is always worth a listen - even when I’m not on it! I don’t know how he gets away with choosing his own playlist though - there’s usually pushy record company bods to placate and hits to be created by endless repetition of some appalling song or other - until the public are beaten into submission… crying out “for God’s sake stop - I’ll buy the sodding thing if you’ll only give it a bloody rest!” So what a delight it was to hear Mark play ‘How Does It Feel’ the other day… a fabulous track from the tail end of Slades reign as the kings of glam, and one which showed what mature songwriters they were rapidly becoming - hinting at future musical delights to come. Which would have been the case had not (for some strange reason that I could never work out) the hits stopped coming… with the song in question here only getting to No15 - a comparative failure after a long run of chart toppers. I know I’m guilty of overusing the word but is not How Does It Feel’ epic in every sense of the word? It’s Slade’s Bohemian Rhapsody if you like…. with the the Hammond organ making its entrance halfway through.. then being joined by flutes, brass section, heavenly choir - Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. Give it a spin playmates - see what YOU think: youtu.be/H5uY5OTl790 And the following clip shows what a great band Slade were live too…. as the band make an excellent job of recreating all the dynamics of the singles extensive arrangement with not an additional musician in sight. Or even a safety net... youtu.be/qetyceuytf4 The song features in Slade In Flame… the band’s big screen expose of the sleazier side of 70s rock n roll, some of which I can vouch for as being fairly authentic. But as for the disappointing chart placing - I can only say that if I had been in the band at the time, with a song of this quality falling by the wayside as it did I’d have been as perplexed and pissed off as I’m guessing they were at the time. youtu.be/f8NDcUB2bi0 Oh, and here’s movie buff Mark Kermode’s take on the film: youtu.be/Qmxa_sYd2b0 Cheers me dears!
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 01:25:05 +0000