Flame

Just obtained this on dvd, with an informative behind the scenes attachment - what a bargain @ £7.99.

The movie may well be regarded by many as old and therefore irrelevant. That would be a harsh judgement as it does, on a critical re-viewing, stand the test of time. To put it in perspective, Slade were Kings of their day, although this film was made toward the end of their useful life, at the fag end of glam (forget the Reading gig comeback - it was never as good as the first time around in true 70's style). In a nutshell, it is the story of a band "Flame" played by the members of Slade and it documents the transition from irreverent songsters to chart toppers, assisted along by a parasitic agent (aren't they all?) who latches on to them, promotes them as a cash cow and then dispenses with the problem by caving in to a former manager from their amateur days (played brilliantly by Johnny Shannon).

The songs from the film are not bad either: "Far Far Away" is still memorable, but all of them are totally eclipsed by the single release "How Does It Feel" - their first in this fame period not to make the top ten. That still stuns me as it is by far the best thing they ever did, and they had plenty of quality to underpin it (Buy "Sladest" or "Old New Borrowed & Blue" - all on CD). Slade in Flame uses the Black Country's darkness (pardon the pun) to its full effect and the story of individual personalities does unfold and develop with credibility - particularly Stoker & Paul. I also agree with Chris Murray re Don Powell - he had a scene down by the canal with an old mate from the foundry, inviting him to a swish recording industry party - that was a good scene and Don Powell did well as he was still recovering from a near death car crash at the time - he had to learn everything moments before it was filmed as he had no memory retention (gladly he fully recovered). Overall, the acting is good, the direction is tight and although the sound is poor (they had to subtitle it in English for the USA release as the accents were so broad) there is a charm to the film. Its a good tale well told.

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?

Forming in Wolverhampton, England, in the late sixties and coming from working class background's they originally called themselves The Vendors, after a while changing to Ambrose Slade, and finally to Slade.

The four-piece line up was to be Noddy Holder - Singer, Jim Lea - Bass, Dave Hill - Lead Guitarist and Don Powell - Drums.

Being managed and produced at the height of their career during the early 1970's by Chas Chandler, bass player to the Animals, and founder of Jimi Hendrix. After having several number one hits in England, their next phase in their career were to be the Movies.

For greater realism and to better their research, the band took the writer Andrew Birkin and the films director Richard Loncraine on tour with them to America. During Messer's Loncraine and Birkins tour of duty, they had gathered enough material to help them with their story. In fact, the vast majority of this movie is based on actual incidents that have happened to other Rock 'n Roll band's in their careers.

Released in the English Cinema's in January 1975, this is a dark and truthful translation of the Rock 'n Roll lifestyle. Deliberately shown this way to dispel the myth of the hype and glamour that the Business would want us to believe. Reselling the image as dishonest, disloyal, dirty and dangerous. Flame does a very good job here of testing your own loyalties, to be confronted with home truths that we would rather ignore, show business propaganda confronts a rude awakening.

We have it all here, a band heading from rags to riches, the double-dealing, well-heeled, and well-connected Manager, in the form of Tom Conti, his first movie. The greedy and highly psychotic back street agent, the hard tour that eats away at the bands heart and soul, which has them turning inside out and finally imploding into bitterness and resentment. Saving the best till last, we have the music, this movie has a great soundtrack that do Slade justice, having to write a completely new album to go along with Flame. It contains one of their finest songs to date: Far Far Away, reaching number two in the British charts in 1974.

There is a wonderful bit part by the late British D.J. Tommy Vance (1940 - 2005) as Ricky Storm.

Slade in Flame is not so much a parody but more of a Rock 'n Roll History lesson; it brings home the hardcore realities of the ivory-tower elite and the exploitations of what is Big Business. Showing the naivety of a Rock 'n Roll Band that want fortune and fame, but in the end pay the highest price, themselves.

When 70's Glam Rock champions Slade where asked to appear in a movie, several script options came their way. It was not until Manager Chas Chandler and John Steel came across Flame that the ball started rolling (and Rocking). Original songs where written by usual Slade Songsters Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. Slade spent the latter end of 1974 filming around Leeds and London. The Movie premiered in 1975 accompanied by the hit record "Far, Far Away". The Movie shows the rifts building within the group and the behind the scenes wrangles of Management. Snatched from obscurity, Pub and Club band 'Iron Rod' are discovered just as their relationship with seedy Manager Ron Harding is ending. They are given a make over "Im not a bloody fish-finger" moans Paul (Jim Lea). But Flamboyant Barry(Dave Hill) and reluctant singer Stoker (Noddy Holder) are keen for glory. Drummer Charlie (Don Powell) provides the on screen laughs. New Manager Robert Seymour (Tom Conti) employs ex-Singer Jack Daniels (Alan Lake) to steal the group's contract from Harding, but Daniels gets discovered by Hardings heavies and is beaten up. Harding threatens Seymour with more violence unless his contract turns up. Seymour returns the group to Harding on the same night that Paul walks out on the group. harding goes to the groups hotel room where Stoker informs him "We've all had enough Ron", and the film finishes to the strains of "How does it feel?". Great concert scenes filmed at the Marquee club in 1974 featuring members from the Slade Fan Club. An Album 'Slade in Flame' was released to tie in with the film, and an accompanying book by Andrew Birkin are available. See it just to relive the Glam days of flares and glitz of the early 1970's. Keep On Rockin'

The rating (7+ at the time of writing) on IMDB might lead you to expect an undiscovered classic. In fact, it is a modest low-budget effort which has stood the test of time pretty well.

The film concentrates on the more mundane aspects of the rock and roll lifestyle: the rehearsals, the on-stage jealousy, the back-stage bickering, having to deal with "the men in suits" who want to package the band like a packet of fish fingers. We also see lots of "it's grim oop north" staples, such as terraced houses, pigeon lofts, dirty canals and a steel foundry. Given the budget, this was a wiser move than attempting to capture Slade in all their foot-stomping grandeur at the height of their fame.

From a technical viewpoint, the sound is a bit iffy and the lighting in many scenes seems designed to conceal rather than illuminate. Tom Conti sleepwalks through his first big-screen role, but then his character (high powered marketing executive with no interest in pop music) is fairly one dimensional, anyway. Johnnie Shannon, however, as the low-life agent who dumps the band and then tries to get his hooks back into them when they make it big, is excellent as the thug with a friendly face.

Surprisingly, the members of Slade make a decent fist of the acting, and the soundtrack contain two bona fide classics among the more bog-standard 12-bar fare. Don Powell has a couple of decent slapstick moments, Noddy and Jim have some good confrontation chemistry going, and Dave Hill plays an annoying buck-toothed twot with a stupid haircut ...

Though it is probably no better than a decent episode of "Aud Wiedersehen, Pet", its saving graces are its gritty authenticity and the songs. I particularly enjoyed the machine gun assault on the pirate radio station in the Thames Estuary (Radio City) - it impressed my kids no end when I told them this actually happened in real life and it was later confirmed by Noddy Holder in the "extra features" interview.