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🔘Strawbs, T.Rex, Slade News- Feb. 10, 1973

  • Writer: glamslam72
    glamslam72
  • Feb 10, 1973
  • 4 min read


NME Page 3 news section, February 10, 1973.



🔘 Overview

Page 3 of the February 10, 1973 issue of New Musical Express captures a moment where music, politics, and pop culture collide. The Strawbs’ hit “Part of the Union” sparks a national debate, T. Rex announce a world tour that pointedly skips the UK, and Slade prepare to unleash another future classic. It’s a snapshot of the early‑70s landscape — volatile, ambitious, and deeply intertwined with the social tensions of the time.


🔘 Source Details

Publication: New Musical Express

Date: February 10, 1973

Issue Context: Page 3 news section

Provenance Notes: Transcribed from original newsprint; cleaned and formatted for GlamSlamChronicles.


🔘 The Story

The early 1970s were a period where pop music frequently brushed up against politics, and nowhere is that clearer than in this week’s NME. The Strawbs’ “Part of the Union” — already climbing to No. 3 — becomes the centre of a political storm when Conservative MP Harold Soref denounces it as “harmful” and “subversive.” In response, major trade unions rally behind the song, even launching a poster campaign encouraging young people to join the movement.


Elsewhere on the page, T. Rex announce a major world tour that notably excludes the UK, while teasing a new album and single. Slade, fresh from Australia, prepare to release “Cum On Feel The Noiz,” with a Top of the Pops preview and a run of British dates.


It’s a page that captures the full spectrum of 1973: political tension, global ambition, and the unstoppable momentum of glam rock.


🔘 Key Highlights

  • Tory MP Harold Soref attacks the Strawbs’ “Part of the Union” as “harmful” and “subversive.”

  • Trade unions publicly support the single and launch a national poster campaign.

  • Labour Weekly praises the song’s political impact.

  • T. Rex announce a six‑week European tour with no UK dates planned.

  • New T. Rex album and single expected soon.

  • Slade prepare to release “Cum On Feel The Noiz” on February 23.

  • Slade to preview the single on Top of the Pops and play Manchester Hardrock on February 27.


🔘 Article Text

POLITICAL ROW AS UNIONS RALLY TO SUPPORT STRAWBS HIT SINGLE


Following the action of Tory MP Harold Soref in declaring the Strawbs’ current hit single “Part of the Union” — which jumps to No. 3 in this week’s NME Chart — as “generally harmful,” Trades Union leaders have come out in strong support of the record. They have even launched a poster campaign throughout Britain urging young people to “become part of the Union,” and, as a result, a political controversy seems to be brewing over the single.


Soref, who is chairman of the Monday Club, has complained to the BBC about the record being played on the air. He claims that it “misrepresents the Unions, and its tone could lead to industrial troubles.” It is, he says, “typical of the subversive propaganda put out by the BBC.”


In reply, Jack Jones, secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, commented: “This is a fine song and hits the nail on the head. I can see young Trades Unionists singing this at meetings. We’re behind it one hundred per cent, and I hope it encourages young people to join unions.”


In an editorial this week, Labour Weekly, the official organ of the Labour Party, states: “If the record captures the political imagination of young people, it will have been worthwhile.”


But apart from Mr. Soref’s outburst, the Tory Party has not revealed its official attitude to the record — if, indeed, it has one. All the NME could obtain from the Conservative Central Office on Monday was a brusque “No comment.”


Group member John Ford, who wrote the controversial single, says: “It’s in accordance with the Strawbs’ policy of combining pop with a message of social enlightenment. We comment on what we see around us, and no one can ignore what is going on between the Government and the Unions.”


REX WORLD TOUR: NO HOME GIGS


T. Rex commence a six‑week European tour in Berlin next Tuesday (13). Venues confirmed so far include Essen (16), Hamburg (17), Nuremberg (18), Vienna (19), Frankfurt (20), Saarbrücken (22), Munich (23) and Mannheim (25). Further dates for March are being finalised, taking in France, Scandinavia and Holland.


The group will tour the Far East during April and May, and a return visit to the United States begins in early summer. There are, as yet, no plans for any dates in Britain, but a spokesman told the NME that T. Rex will probably play some British dates in the late summer.


A new T. Rex album, consisting of 13 new tracks, will be issued in Britain next month. It will be preceded at the end of this month by a new single, with titles to be decided after Marc Bolan returns from Los Angeles.


SLADE: NEW SINGLE


Slade return from their current Australian tour in time for the release of a new single titled “Cum On Feel The Noiz,” which Polydor are to issue on February 23. The group will preview it on BBC‑1’s Top of the Pops the previous evening.


It is expected that Slade will undertake several British concerts to promote the new single, prior to their departure for a European tour starting on March 23 and running through into April. The first of these home gigs to be confirmed is at Manchester Hardrock on February 27.


🔘 Closing Notes

A vivid cross‑section of early 1973: political tension, glam‑rock dominance, and the ever‑shifting relationship between pop music and public life. Page 3 captures the moment with sharp clarity.


🔘 Sources & Copyright

All original text and images remain the copyright of their respective publishers and creators.

This post is presented for historical, educational, and archival purposes only.



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