Flame

Glam rock band, Slade caught the zeitgeist in the early-'70s although by 1975 their flaming fire of success had declined in the UK. ''Slade in Flame''- aired in cinemas in 1975 shows Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don involved in the British film world with this gritty tale about the rock industry, using the last burning embers from their success. Slade showed adventure when during that exciting flower-power year of 1968 they performed gigs in the Bahamas and ''Slade Alive'' recorded in London in October 1971 is a classic. 1975 was the year of Leeds vs Bayern Munich and West Ham vs Fulham, The Ramones debut album, ''Brut'' aftershave and the early stirrings of the punk movement. The film shows the seedy side of the music industry featuring pubs, clubs and bingo halls plus the corporate world of London in the pre-Thatcher era. Stout, bald, bespectacled London actor, Johnny Shannon is excellent as the thuggish agent, Mr Harding: he was in ''Performance'' (1968-1970) with James Fox and Mick Jagger. NME's Barney Hoskyns saw value in Slade in a 1983 article featuring nihilistic LA punk band The Angry Samoans, noting Slade's influence on the LA hard-core punk scene alongside The Stooges and Black Sabbath, while US hard-rock band Quiet Riot took ''Mama Weer All Crazee Now'' to Number 2 (?) in the American Billboard charts in 1983 (?) and Slade actually had American chart success in the early-'80s via newer songs. There are some sharp telling scenes: Don Powell up to no good in a bingo hall and first-class train carriage; the ''I'm not a fish-finger'' phrase from Jim Lea and a vicious scene involving the Jack Daniels figure (Alan Lake). The album, though only features one exciting song ''Those Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing''. The well-known ballads, ''How Does It Feel'' and ''Far Far Away'' are too slow.

When Wolverhampton rockers Slade were at the top of their tree in the early Seventies, it seemed only natural that they would branch out and make a movie. The original idea was to make a sci-fi spoof called The Quite A Mess Experiment, scuppered by the fact that Dave Hill was eaten by a monster in the first half an hour.

Into their collective laps fell a script by Andrew Birkin about a band called Flame. It seemed like a perfect vehicle, although for the band, much of the script didn't ring true. So Birkin and director Richard Loncraine went on tour with the lads.

The revised script came back and was much more on the ball. The result is a rarely seen music drama, one of the bleakest and most intriguing in history which is a fascinating alternative to the Beatles offerings and the David Essex movies of the period.

I watched this film for the first time in around 30 years last night and was amazed at how well it stands up today.It is gritty,funny and has a good storyline.The direction by Richard Loncraine is crisp and the acting is pretty good throughout.

As the band Flame,Noddy,Jimmy,Dave and Don do a fair job as actors.Not Oscar winners but not bad at all.Tom Conti does well in his first major role as the oily manager and Johnny Shannon is convincing as their gangster like first manager.The best performance comes from Alan Lake as Jack.He is very good in every scene he is in and should have received more recognition for this role.

The film moves along at a good pace,never drags and will surprise many people with it's edginess and at times grim reality.I have seen quite a few music based films and this is most definitely right up there with the very best.It is now quite respected and this is deserved.It really should reach a much wider audience as it is a very good attempt at showing that it is not all a bed of roses when you achieve success.The soundtrack is great and there are also a couple of scenes that without a doubt influenced the makers of 'Spinal Tap',see if you can spot them.Well done Slade.They took a big risk by making a movie like this and although their career went downhill afterwards,this is a film they can be very proud of.

The backdrop to this film was so bleak and gritty that one would not have been surprised to have spotted Jack Carter (in his black raincoat) passing by in the background.

With Alan Lake, Tom Conti and Johnny Shannon there to do the real acting, despite the serious nature of the film, Slade's thespian talents were little more important than the Beatles's were in Hard Days Night or the Monkees in Head. Despite that, Noddy Holder and Jimmy Lea (who were the brains behind Slade anyway i.e. they wrote all the songs) both aquit themselves extremely well; successfully creating credible, interesting and well rounded characters. Dave Hill simply played himself (not that that was a problem, as he was, to all intents and purposes, cast as himself anyway). I defy anyone to decipher a complete sentence mumbled by drummer Don Powell, but that oddly adds to his character's charm.

This successful hybrid between Get Carter and Stardust is truly a lost gem, that, despite it's rediscovery and favourable reassessment in the 90's, has still not received the popular recognition it deserves.

Who knows, if this had been a major success (as opposed to a major flop) on it's initial release, would it have been that long before we saw The Sweet doing a bullion job in The Sweeny?

This is a real slice of 70's. (Slade in) Flame tells the story of a semi mythical band that crawls out of the midlands of England and makes it into the myth of Rock and Roll. I found the album back in my salad days, and finally found the movie on DVD in my washed up years. There are pluses and minuses, as with any real slice of life film. On the plus side, the story of a band that makes it and self destructs really summarizes the mythos of the era, and realistically and sympathetically portrays the pressures and glories of fame. On the negative side, the accents are so thick you really wish there were subtitles. Notionally in English, it's in REAL English, and as an American, it might as well be Swahili.

The flick is full of authentic and believable characters. The small time manager, the pirate DJ, and the hippy dippy groupies all make the film seem as real as your own life. If you've seen Spinal Tap, you'll see more than a handful of scenes - a singer trapped in a coffin, high class and moneyed fops dealing with the low class entertainers, and the horrors of ridiculous costumes and friends knifing friends. If you like Uriah Heep, UFO, or any band who played a festival at Wolverhampton, this id worth the accents. If you think rock and roll is too loud, pass. But this is rock at its most basic. Loud, dirty, and important for the most unimportant reasons possible.