Slade in Flame (2004)

The early 1970s were very good to glam rockers Slade. In their native Britain, they invaded the charts with 17 Top 20 hits, including six at #1. Devoted fans couldn’t play Slade’s anthem-rock loud enough, and the band played to packed clubs and concert halls all across the country. Like The Beatles and The Who, Slade too was seduced by the call of celluloid. In 1975, the band answered that call, starring in the critically lauded Slade in Flame. A darker kind of Spinal Tap, the film features the band starring as a fictitious version of themselves, while taking a gritty, realistic look at the underbelly of the music industry, where hustlers, sharks and managers prey upon hot new bands.

• First U.S. release of this cult DVD! • This film was made in 1974, following the success of the Beatles’ A Hard Days Night and The Monkees Head scripted rock films. • Features Slade hits "How Does It Feel?" and "Far, Far Away." • Includes an enlightening 50-minute interview with Slade’s lead singer/guitarist and British rock icon Noddy Holder.

Them Monkeys Can Swing!

This DVD is strictly a Slade fan collectible. The DVD itself has some problems ie. sound, picture grainy at points. BUT - for the true Slade fan look past this! The story of two bands competing with each other and then becoming what is Slade is truly entertaining (the premise is that the story while fiction is loosely based on fact). The Noddy interview is worth the price of the DVD alone. SLADE ROCKS - FOREVER!!!!!! May 13, 2005

Hmmmm

I've only watched this film once and I don't have any Slade in my collection but based on the "Hard Days Night" reference in the original review I expected a higher quality film. The pacing in this film is pretty bad. The video is dark in many spots and the audio is horrible. It's interesting to watch but I think you had to be there the first time to understand the "greatness" of this film. February 5, 2005

"8 Mile" is "Flame's" Love Child.

Having only heard Slade's standards "Cum On Feel the Noize," and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," someone had taken a real gamble giving "Flame" to me as a Solstice gift. But she knew about my taste for, in her words: "A load of ugly f*ckers from the seventies who play good, loud music." I gave it a viewing once, then twice, then three times...

My verdict: "Flame" is good, raunchy fun. I got a good laugh watching the prologue featuring the group as a middling wedding band. I became entranced with the opening track, the wistful "How Does it Feel?" By the time the wedding band got in a row with rival band The Undertakers, I was sold.

I'm not at all surprised that "Flame" and Eminem's "8 Mile" follow the same "fortune, glory and ill-gotten gains" formula. What surprises me is that two films dealing with two disparate genres, two different neighborhoods, and two different subcultures took said formula and became gritty, offbeat masterpieces. Noddy's "Stoker" and Em's "B. Rabbit" are both rough, gritty and driven characters with endearing character quirks. Jim Lea, the Mehki Pfieffer of this earlier film is the perfect foil for Noddy as the partner in crime who occasionally butts heads with his mate. And the shootout at the Thames Estuary pirate radio station is every bit as surprising and hilarious as when "Cheddar Bob" shot himself in the bollocks in the Eminem vehicle.
Enough comparisons, on with the story. After the wedding band ditches their slobby frontman Jack Daniels (Alan Lake) in favor of ex-Undertaker Stoker, and in turn get ditched by their shifty Gangland manager Ron Harding (Johnny Shannon), they are quickly snapped up by two stuffy corporate opportunists played with cold deviousness by British All-Star Tom Conti and Kenneth Colley (known to Star Wars fans far and wide as Admiral Piett!) Conti and Piett-- erm, Colley repackage the quartet as "Flame", who spends their 15 minutes of fame conquering the UK. Just as they plan to invade the States, Gangster Ron and Jack Daniels (paging Wink from 8 Mile!) conspire to wrangle their share of the profits, and the phenomenon. What ensues is a duel of words and muscle between Blue Collar Gangsters and White Collar Suits as "Flame" crash, burn, and prepare to fizzle out.
The members of Slade hold their own alongside Conti and Admiral-- ah, Colley, most especially Noddy and Jim. Don Powell's charming performance as the shy, down-to-earth drummer is made all the more poignant due to the fact that he suffered from memory retention lapses in real life. Dave Hill is the resident comic relief as he looks up women's skirts and bolts Noddy/Stoker into his casket during the Undertaker gig. For all the world Dave Hill looks like a bucktoothed Davy Jones.
It's astonishing to see how many of the performers - along with the writer and director - saw their careers take flight after this obscure, yet surprisingly well executed film.
A minor greivance: Good as I am with picking up British accents (A damn sight better than most Yanks,) it would have helped to have some caption option on the DVD to keep up with the North England accents.
As for extras, the DVD boasts a lovely 50 minute interview with "sing-guh" Noddy Holder, circa 2002. With his wild grey curls, the aged Noddy looks like a cross between "Doctor Who's" Tom Baker and Gareth Thomas from "Blake's 7!" ;-)
I proudly place this music gem in my DVD library next to "24 Hour Party People," "Hedwig," and "Pink Floyd - The Wall." December 29, 2004

Flame are gonna be big stars.......

Slade. A group that was HUGE in England in the 70's and all we really heard of them here in the states were the covers by Quiet Riot and "Keep Your Hands Off of My Power Supply" LP years later. Imports were way too costly then and I was just a teenager. So they remained a mystery to me like all the other U.K. glam rockers who failed to raise any interest or hits over here (T. Rex, Quatro, Mud, Wizzard, etc..). When I heard this movie was seeing the light of day in the U.S. thanks to some words by Classic Rock magazine (another Import), I had to check it out. As others have pointed out, this is not "A Hard Day's Night" or anything happy or silly that The Beatles have put out at the time. This story is of the other side of the Rock 'n' Roll business, the "dark" side. It does make one want to give up on the "R 'n' R dream" though. It is not a movie that you will watch again and again but is worthy of a once through. The music is good. Trademark Slade sound. One of the extras on the dvd is an interview with the lead singer/guitarist of Slade, Nodddy Holder in which he discusses all to do with the bands popularity and the reason for the choice of story for this film. Interesting to listen to him, definitely a bonus to the disc. The movie is average, watching musicians try to be actors and it does show. The 4 stars are for the courage to go against the grain and make this type of movie instead of acting like a bunch of clowns. The movie represents more a solid 3 though.... November 11, 2004

So Far, So Good!

Finally available in the US in DVD format! Boy, does this one bring back memories! Admittedly, at the time of its release, Slade In Flame wasn't exactly what I was expecting from Slade. The sudden departure from the hallmark sound that had made them a fixture at the top of the UK charts was surprising, to say the least. The stomp and shout backgrounds were replaced by a horn section and a piano, and while Noddy's raw vocals are still quite prominent, it was clear that the group was making a conscious effort to put some creative distance between the new album and those that came before it.

But like all of Slade's material, it took no time for Slade In Flame to grow on me, and I found myself wishing that I could get my hands on the film. I had to wait almost 30 years, but it was worth it! The boys do a fine job of portraying an average backcountry band that makes it big only to self destruct upon attaining the success they once desired. Seedy managers, band rivalries, internal strife between band members, as well as conflict with their girlfriends, all comes across quite convincingly, especially when you consider that none of the members of the group were trained actors at the time. The heavy Midlands accents in the film may be a little difficult for us Yanks who are more accustomed to the slower, less idiomatic London accent, but in my opinion, it doesn't take too long to get used to it.

The highlight of this DVD release is the lengthy interview with Noddy Holder, which was done in 2002. You can tell that Noddy loves to talk about those days, and he does it with candor, humor and wisdom. Definitely my DVD find of the month. Possibly the year! September 7, 2004

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