''Slade Smashes'' is a compilation album by the British rock band

Slade Slade are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British H ...

. It was released 1 November 1980 and reached No. 21 on the UK charts. The album was issued by Polydor in the wake of new interest in the band following their successful appearance at the 1980

Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

, filling in for

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

. The album featured most of the band's big hits from their early and mid 1970s heyday in the UK as well as three of the band's singles from post-1977. This collection, alongside the band's subsequent 1981 studio release ''

We'll Bring the House Down ''We'll Bring The House Down'' is the ninth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 13 March 1981 and reached No. 25 in the UK. The album was produced by Slade, except "My Baby's Got It" which was produced by Chas Chandl ...

'', further cemented

's comeback in the UK and Europe. The compilation was compiled by Polydor and has little input from the band. According to the Slade fan club, Polydor spent £250,000 on promotion of ''Slade Smashes!''. The album was a success in the UK, reaching No. 21 and gaining a Gold certification in December for selling 200,000 copies. In a 1980 fan club interview, lead vocalist

Noddy Holder Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder c ...

commented of the compilation's release: "It's not been the Reading Festival that has prompted the release of the album – they had already made plans to release the album before we decided to do the show.Slade International Fan Club newsletter November-December 1980
/ref> In a 1980 interview with ''Sounds'', Holder further added: "This compilation will be great for the fans, a chance to get all the hits on one record. But we don't relate to them in the same way any more, the way we play them now is bugger all like the records anyway." Prior to the release of the album, all of the band's singles had been deleted except "

Merry Xmas Everybody "Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and ...

". In December 1984, guitarist

Dave Hill David John Hill (born 4 April 1946) is an English rock musician. He is the lead guitarist, a backing vocalist and the sole continuous member in the English band Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. Early life B ...

sold his own ''Slade Smashes!'' UK Gold Disc award for charity. It sold for £385 and was shown on the UK television show ''Saturday Starship''.

Track listing

Critical reception

Upon release, ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' wrote of the compilation: "Songs like "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", "Cum on Feel the Noize", "Take Me Bak 'Ome", "Gudbuy T'Jane" and the others contained on this 20 track precis of the time when Slade and the record buying public connected are the best reminders of the power some felt and others ignored. Those who have realised the power of Slade will already have the majority of the songs on this collection. Those who have only recently caught up will find this set a useful but ultimately unsatisfying reminder of the joy and exuberance of the Birmingham quartet. Those who have yet to find out had better start here and then grasp the opportunity to 'feel the noize' at the first chance."Record Mirror – 27 November 1980 '' Sounds'' described the album as a "mighty meaty big and bouncy collection of twenty timeless Slade faves". They added: "This collection is a perfect reminder of the glories that were, marrying raucous rock and singalong pop in a superb celebration of unpretentious goodtimes. They're all here, the rowdy faultless chart-toppers."Sounds – 29 November 1980

Chart performance

Personnel

;Slade *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

– lead guitar, backing vocals * Jim Lea – bass, piano, violin, backing vocals *

Don Powell Donald George Powell (born 10 September 1946) is an English musician who was the drummer for glam rock and later hard rock group Slade for over fifty years. Early life As a child, Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the ...

– drums ;Additional personnel *

Chas Chandler Bryan James "Chas" Chandler (18 December 1938 – 17 July 1996) was an English musician, record producer and manager, best known as the original bassist in The Animals, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He ...

- producer

References

{{Authority control 1980 compilation albums Slade compilation albums Polydor Records compilation albums