📰 Dad's Chamois Leather - Feature: Mar. 1972

Writer: Jörg Flemming / BRAVO Magazine

Date: March 22, 1972

Length: 10–12 min read

A vivid, intimate, and often humorous five‑page BRAVO profile capturing Slade at the moment they transformed from Wolverhampton underdogs into Europe‑conquering glam‑rock heavyweights.

From skinhead obscurity to chart‑storming stardom — Slade tell the story of their hungry years.

This BRAVO feature follows Noddy Holder and Don Powell into their modest London flat, where unpacked boxes and old photos spark a retelling of Slade’s early struggles, their reinvention under Chas Chandler, and the unlikely talisman that Noddy still swears brings him luck: his father’s old chamois leather. The article blends humour, candour, and nostalgia as the band reflects on the years before “Coz I Luv You” changed everything.

📰 Key Highlights

• Noddy Holder reveals his personal good‑luck charm

• Slade’s early “skinhead” era and lack of gigs

• Chas Chandler discovers the band and sends them to the Bahamas

• The group’s stylistic transformation after seeing Canned Heat and The Doors

• “Coz I Luv You” becomes their breakthrough European hit

📰 Overview

In early 1972, Slade were riding the success of “Coz I Luv You,” but BRAVO’s five‑page feature looks back at the years before fame — the cramped flats, the meagre earnings, and the identity crisis that nearly derailed them. The article opens inside Noddy and Don’s shared London apartment, still half‑furnished due to the band’s relentless schedule of gigs, studio sessions, and press commitments.

The piece then rewinds to their Wolverhampton days, when the band — then calling themselves “skinheads” — struggled to book shows outside their hometown. Their shaved‑head look, intended as a rebellion against long‑haired rock clichés, instead made club owners wary. Everything changed when former Animals bassist and Hendrix manager Chas Chandler discovered them in 1970, signed them, and sent them to the Bahamas to rethink their image and sound.

There, Slade encountered American heavy‑rock bands for the first time, inspiring them to adopt a louder, harder, more theatrical approach. The result was a complete reinvention — and their first major hit.

📰 Source Details

Publication / Venue: BRAVO Magazine

Date: March 22, 1972

Format: Feature (5 pages)

Provenance Notes:

• Based on a five‑page BRAVO feature with photographs by W. Heilemans.

• Summary only — no copyrighted text reproduced.

• German‑language article translated and condensed for archival purposes.

📰 The Story

The article begins with a knock on the door of Noddy Holder and Don Powell’s London flat. Noddy, dressed in a canary‑yellow cord jacket and white velvet trousers, ushers the writer inside with a grin and a warning about the mess. Don sits on a velvet sofa reading Melody Maker, insisting they’re not untidy — just too busy to finish moving in.

On the wall hangs a framed photo of Slade from two years earlier: brush‑cut hair, leather jackets, and stacked heels. Next to it hangs a ragged piece of chamois leather. Noddy explains that during their “skinhead” period, they could barely get gigs outside Wolverhampton. Club owners assumed they were violent troublemakers because of their haircuts, confusing them with local biker gangs.

Their fortunes changed when Chas Chandler discovered them during test recordings at Fontana Studios. He signed them, sent them to the Bahamas for a break, and told them bluntly: “Grow your hair out, boys. With shaved heads, you won’t get anywhere.”

In the Bahamas, Slade saw Canned Heat and The Doors perform with massive amplifier rigs — a revelation that reshaped their musical ambitions. They returned to England determined to play heavy rock “that would blow people’s brains out.”

Their first hard‑rock single, “Coz I Luv You,” validated that decision, climbing charts across Europe.

Finally, Noddy points to the chamois leather hanging on the wall. It belonged to his father, a window cleaner. “Dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps,” he says. “Now it hangs here as a talisman to bring us luck.”

📰 Visual Archive

• Full‑page colour spread of Slade posing with trash bins, labelled with each member’s name

• Individual character portraits:

– Noddy Holder in a donkey costume

– Don Powell in a pinstripe suit with a toy machine gun

– Jimmy Lea with violin and bowler hat

– Dave Hill with newspapers and a London newsstand

• Vintage group photo from their “skinhead” era

• Apartment interior shots featuring Noddy, Don, and the chamois leather talisman

Slade in BRAVO, March 1972 — playful, theatrical, and reflecting on the hard years that shaped them.

📰 Related Material

• “Coz I Luv You” (1971)

• Slade’s early Wolverhampton years

• Chas Chandler’s management and production work

📰 Closing Notes

This BRAVO feature captures Slade at a pivotal moment — newly successful but still close enough to their lean years to speak about them with humour and honesty. It documents the transformation that made them one of Britain’s most distinctive glam‑rock acts.

#Slade #BravoMagazine #GlamRockArchive #1972Press

📰 Sources

• BRAVO Magazine (visual reference only)

• Contemporary Slade interviews and discography context

• Secondary sources on Slade’s early career

📝 Copyright Notice

All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.

Continued from page 5

Slade boss Noddy Holder swears by an unusual talisman:

Dad's chamois leather brings me luck!

H older Powell™ is written on the large brass plaque on the apartment door on the second floor. Noddy Holder, the guitarist, and Don Powell, the drummer of Slade, have lived here for a year. Their apartment is on Crawford Street, a few hundred meters from London's famous King's Road.

I ring the bell. A boy in a canary-yellow corduroy jacket and white velvet trousers opens the door. It's Noddy.

Come in. Man!" he says, grinning, and after a meaningful look adds: Don't mind the mess. We're still not properly settled in.

Over suitcases, rolls of carpet, and boxes, we both make our way into the living room, where Don Powell is currently enthroned on a large velvet sofa, studying "The Melody Maker," the well-known English music magazine

Don't think for a second we're messy!' says Don, laughing. But ever since we broke into the big leagues with our first hit, 'Get Down and Get With It,' our peace and quiet has been a thing of the past: gigs, studio sessions, interviews—we can only furnish our apartment bit by bit.

On the wall behind the sofa, I spot a large picture frame. The photo inside shows the four Slades as they looked two years ago: with brush-style hair, leather jackets, and high-heeled boots. And next to the picture hangs an object that looks like an old window rag

"Well, that dates back to our lean years," Noddy says, pointing to the photo. "Back then, we called ourselves skinheads and almost exclusively played at the St. George Club in our hometown of Wolverhampton because we could hardly get any gigs in other cities. Because of our hair, all the club owners thought we were terribly rowdy and violent, like the biker gangs in Wolverhampton who had the same haircut."

"Grow your hair out, boys," Chas

"But all we wanted to do was distinguish ourselves from the countless groups with long hair! What we earned a month back then was barely enough to pay the rent here. This five-room place costs us 900 marks."

Don Powell pulls more photos out of an old biscuit tin. One shows the Boys with former Animals bassist and Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler, who in the summer

In 1970, Chas met Slade during test recordings at Fontana Studios in London and took them under his wing. After the contract was signed, Chas gave the four "skinheads" (bald men) tickets for a relaxing trip to the Bahamas and some good advice. "Grow your hair out, boys," Chas said. "With a shaved head, you won't get any old dog out of the woodwork."

Noddy Holder (21), Don Powell (21), Jimmy Lea (19), and Dave Hill (19) did as they were told. They flew to the Bahamas and from then on, grew their hair out

There, Slade had the experience that decisively influenced their style. They saw concerts by the American groups Canned Heat and The Doors, who had one thing in common: they were the first representatives of heavy rock the four boys from England had ever seen. Both groups played on huge amplifier systems that had been transported in on trucks. Slade realized: compared to this sonic hurricane, their music was nothing but a quiet whisper.

When we flew home four months later, we swore to ourselves: from now on, we're going to play heavy rock that'll blow people's brains out. As you can see, we were successful. "Coz I Luv You," our first hard rock single, made it into almost every chart in Europe

Noddy points to the cleaning rag next to the picture on the wall. "And do you know what this is?" he asks me, smiling. "That's my father's chamois leather; he was a window cleaner by trade. I was supposed to earn my living like him, Dad wanted. Now it hangs here as a talisman to bring us luck!"

Photos: W. Heilemans

Jörg Flemming

This is what Slade looked like two years ago when they called themselves "Skinheads": guitarist Noddy Holder, bassist Jimmy

Lea, drummer Don Powell, and lead guitarist Dave Hill