Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Slade, and they’re in town at the right time!
“It’s Chrisssssstmassssssss!” hollered out a lone voice to a vast, giddy crowd on Parker’s Piece at last year’s Big Weekend, accompanied by those immortal, nostalgia-inducing, chunky opening chords. Nobody was sure if they would crack out their festive monster hit Merry Xmas Everybody – being, as it was, a baking hot day in July. But, born crowd-pleasers that they are (and no matter how much it must make them want to bash their heads against a wall at this point) they belted it out like it was Top of the Pops, Christmas 1973. As anyone who was there will remember, the assembled crowd completely lost their minds, screeching the words and stomping along with the band, reveling in how surreal the whole thing was.
Though best known for this seasonal classic, Slade were far from one-hit wonders. In fact, Merry Xmas Everybody was their third number one of that year, part of a run of 17 consecutive top 20 hits, which included a total of six number ones. Known for their flamboyant outfits, gutsy glam rock sound and misspellings that would make your English teacher weep, they cemented themselves in the annals of British music history with tracks like Cum On Feel The Noize, Take Me Bak ’Ome, Skweeze Me Pleeze Me and Mama Weer All Crazee Now.
Catch them at Cambridge Junction this month reliving the hits, including, we’re sure, a rousing rendition of Merry Xmas Everybody (much more seasonally appropriate this time), on 21 December. Tickets are £26 adv.
