Slade legend Noddy Holder has revealed the behind the scenes secrets to the film "Slade in Flame" as the iconic rock movie returns to cinemas to celebrate its 50th anniversary.Originally released in January 1975, Slade in Flame stars Noddy Holder (as Stoker), Jim Lea (Paul), Dave Hill (Barry) and Don Powell (Charlie) as the fictional band Flame.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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00:00What can you say about it? Has it lasted time?
00:05It was slayed in flame, but was it about slayed?
00:08No, it was an amalgamation of lots of bands that we knew.
00:13The director and the writer, Richard Lundquane and Andrew Birkin,
00:18they sent us the script as a script originally,
00:21and we said, oh, bands don't behave like this in real life.
00:24So we decided to take them to America on tour for a month.
00:28So they saw what it was like really behind the scenes of a rock band.
00:33And we told them stories, what we knew about other bands, plus ourselves,
00:38and they amalgamated that into the film.
00:41So every scene in the film is true.
00:43Not to say...
00:44And you haven't seen the end result?
00:45Fantastic.
00:46Mind you, when it came out in 75, the critics were great to it,
00:52but the fans didn't like it.
00:53It was too heavy duty for the fans
00:55because it wasn't a comedy film like they expected
00:59from a happy-go-lucky band like we were.
01:01But you did that on purpose, though, didn't you?
01:03We did it on purpose.
01:04We didn't want to make it.
01:05They didn't want to make it.
01:06Clark Five had done catches if you can, hard days.
01:08Oh, yeah, that was all that.
01:09Yeah, yeah.
01:10Oh, there were lots out there.
01:11We wanted to go totally the other way
01:13because nobody expected us to do that.
01:16Yeah.
01:16Of course, the fans were, whoa, what's this?
01:18But were you worried, though, at that time?
01:20Of course.
01:21Well, hold on, maybe we've made a mistake here.
01:22Of course.
01:23When it came out in America,
01:24they had to put subtitles on.
01:26Oh, really?
01:26Because they couldn't understand our accents.
01:30But 50 years on now, it's just gained momentum.
01:33Yeah.
01:34It's now become a real classic of the rock movie genre.
01:38It's Mark Kamode who gave it the title
01:40Citizen Kane of Rock Movies,
01:43which is a great accolade for us.
01:44Better man to do that.
01:45Plus, the movie is great.
01:46The movie soundtrack is great as well.
01:49It's probably one of the best albums we did
01:51for the soundtrack.
01:52And what was it like for you
01:53getting your teeth stuck into acting?
01:55Because the critics loved you.
01:56We never acted.
01:57That wasn't acting.
01:58No, we never acted before.
02:00Wow.
02:01When they saw us out on the road,
02:03when they came with us out on the road,
02:05all our characters in the film
02:06are basically our personalities.
02:09So they wrote the script
02:11so we could cope with that.
02:13So the pigeons, going to the pigeon loft?
02:15All that.
02:16I had to learn how to handle pigeons.
02:17Did you really?
02:18I had to learn how to play the spoons,
02:20because I play the spoons in one scene.
02:22Yeah.
02:23I had to learn how to balance and juggle crockery,
02:26because there's a scene on a market
02:28where I sell crockery on a baraboy on a market,
02:31and I'm juggling crockery.
02:32So I had to learn all that.
02:34But learning lines was awkward.
02:38The thing we didn't realise,
02:39as a band, we thought,
02:40oh, this will be a piece of cake.
02:42We had to get up first to six in the morning,
02:44which was alien to us,
02:46be on the set at seven,
02:48and we didn't realise you do a master shot.
02:52Yeah.
02:53But then they have to reset the lights
02:55and the cameras to do your close-ups.
02:57So you have to do it all again,
02:59but exactly as you did in the master shot,
03:02so everything can be edited together.
03:04We didn't realise any of this.
03:06Why don't they just get two cameras
03:07and then a close-up and a wide?
03:11No, it was all like that.
03:12The technical side, we didn't know.
03:14What was the story of Flame?
03:16Why was it called Flame?
03:18Well, the band became named Flame, that's why.
03:21But it was how a band grows up
03:24in a nitty-gritty council estate,
03:28becomes famous,
03:30and how fame affects that band,
03:35how the egos rise to the surface,
03:37how money rises to the surface,
03:41having a lot of money.
03:42But you are controlled by the corporates,
03:44the management.
03:46Tom Conte, it was his first major movie,
03:48you saw it in the clip there.
03:50He takes us over, his company takes us over,
03:53out of the line, we're not fish fingers,
03:56we don't want to be marketed like fish fingers.
03:58And he says, well, I know nothing about music,
04:01but I know how to sell stuff.
04:04Yeah.
04:04And I remember probably 20, 30 years ago,
04:08Simon Cowell saying that,
04:09when Simon Cowell first became a mogul on TV
04:13and the record company,
04:14he said the same thing.
04:15I'm not a big expert on music,
04:18but I know how to sell it.
04:19Did you feel like that, though?
04:20Did the band feel like that?
04:21When you were as big as you were,
04:23and we mentioned this,
04:24you know, you sold more records
04:25than any other band in the 70s.
04:27It was huge.
04:28But did you feel as if,
04:29hold on,
04:30we now feel as if we're...
04:32We were lucky.
04:33We had a manager
04:34who'd already been through the mill.
04:36Chas Chandler?
04:37Chas Chandler.
04:38He'd been in a band,
04:39The Animals,
04:39famous band all over the world.
04:41He'd discovered,
04:43managed and produced Jimi Hendrix,
04:45most famous guitarist
04:46that ever lived, really.
04:48So he'd seen it from being in a band,
04:51managing and producing an artist already.
04:53We had the benefit of that.
04:55So we were lucky.
04:56We were lucky.
04:57But of course,
04:59you always have to play the corporate system
05:01with record companies and everything,
05:03of course.
05:04And along with Slade,
05:06favourite music,
05:07Dolly Parton.
05:08I love and adore Dolly Parton.
05:09Oh, I love Dolly.
05:10Everything she does,
05:11says, speaks, writes,
05:13everything.
05:14Just amazing.
05:15Now, your wife, Susan,
05:16who's a friend of this show,
05:19she was out in Nashville
05:21and you went with her
05:23to promote her latest book on Dolly.
05:25And that was all fine.
05:27Oh, great, great, great.
05:28And then it all went horribly wrong.
05:30I mean, horribly,
05:31because Susan linked via satellite
05:33on to our programme
05:35to talk about living through tornadoes
05:38in Nashville and the area.
05:40How bad was it?
05:41It was bad.
05:42Even the locals were saying
05:44it was really bad.
05:45Normally, you'll have one
05:46or two tornadoes hit
05:48around the state,
05:50but there was 14 touchdown
05:51in all the neighbouring states.
05:55Western Nashville,
05:56Memphis, New Orleans,
05:57they were totally underwater.
05:59Selma in Alabama
06:00was totally raised to the ground
06:03by the tornadoes.
06:05Was it scary for you?
06:06It was very scary,
06:07especially when you got the sirens
06:09going off in the city.
06:10It sounded like bombers
06:11coming over in the war.
06:12You know, the whole city
06:14was around and around
06:15and all these sirens going off.
06:17So the movie to the basement
06:18of the hotel
06:19in case the wind is caving.
06:21So, and that happened
06:22quite a few times.
06:25It was worrying,
06:27but it was a new experience
06:28for all the time
06:30I've been to America
06:31dozens of times.
06:32I lived there for two,
06:33three years.
06:34And it was the first time
06:36I'd experienced this.
06:38I'd experienced bad weather.
06:40I'd been in bad plane journeys
06:42where once we had to circle
06:45New York for two hours
06:47because there were storms
06:48and we couldn't land.
06:49We had the wheels
06:50wouldn't come down
06:51on a plane in San Francisco.
06:53We went,
06:54we've had some bad experiences,
06:56you know, touring.
06:57But this was frightening
06:59because you're in the middle of it
07:00and you can't get out.
07:02There's no way out.
07:03But we had good sunny days as well.
07:06But it was different.
07:07But it didn't stop
07:08the bars in Nashville.
07:09All the bars kept going.
07:11All the music was playing
07:1324-7 with bands.
07:14It didn't stop that.
07:16They kept going.
07:17Almost as scary
07:18as about 20,000 teenagers
07:19banging on the door, right?
07:21Almost as scary as that.
07:22Well, yes, that's true.
07:23Back in 1973.
07:24Well, that used to be scary as well,
07:26getting in and out of places.
07:28I remember the cops
07:29getting us in and out of venues
07:30back in the day,
07:32particularly Glasgow once.
07:34The cops got a van
07:35up to the stage door.
07:37We had to get in this van
07:38because we couldn't get
07:39to the hotel.
07:40It was surrounded by kids.
07:42And we sat on the banks
07:43of the Clyde
07:44in the cop van
07:45with the cops
07:46eating fish and chips.
07:47Do you know that?
07:48Do you think I could
07:49clear away?
07:50And Noddy,
07:51do you still perform?
07:52Do you still sing?
07:52I don't very often now.
07:54I do perform occasionally
07:56with a 10-piece jazz
07:58boogie-woogie band.
08:01I do like a two-hour show
08:03with them.
08:03Not very often.
08:05But most of the show
08:06is telling stories.
08:07I mean, there's lots
08:08of music in it.
08:09All these lads,
08:10well, there's ladies
08:12in the band as well,
08:12which I was told off once
08:14by members of the band
08:15for saying the boys
08:16in the band,
08:17when we had got a young lady
08:18in the band also.
08:19But it's a great show
08:23and it's different for me.
08:24It's a totally different thing.
08:25But they're all under 30,
08:27these musicians.
08:28So they haven't got a clue
08:29what I'm talking about
08:30half the time
08:31some of the stories I tell.
08:32You are a great...