SLADE - FAR FAR AWAY

FAR FAR AWAY

SLADE

SONGWRITERS: NODDY HOLDER & JIM LEA

COUNTRY: U. K.

ÁLBUM: SLADE IN FLAME

LABEL: POLYDOR RECORD

GÊNERO: GLAM ROCK

YEAR: 1974

Slade are an English 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 Hit Singles & Albums names them the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles. They were the first act to have three singles enter the charts at number one; all six of the band's chart-toppers were penned by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea. As of 2006, total UK sales stand at 6,520,171, and their best-selling single, "Merry Xmas Everybody", has sold in excess of one million copies. According to the 1999 BBC documentary It's Slade, the band have sold over 50 million records worldwide.

Following an unsuccessful move to the U.S. in 1975, Slade's popularity in the UK waned, but was unexpectedly revived in 1980 when they were last-minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne at the Reading Rock Festival. The band later acknowledged this to have been one of the highlights of their career. The original line-up split in 1992, but reformed later in the year as Slade II. The band have continued, with a number of line-up changes, to the present day. They have also shortened the group name back to Slade.

A number of artists from diverse genres have cited Slade as an influence, including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Undertones, The Runaways, The Clash, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Oasis, and Quiet Riot(who covered Slade songs for two of their three biggest hits). The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Music tells of Holder's powerful vocals, guitarist Dave Hill's equally arresting dress sense, and the deliberate misspelling of their song titles (such as "Cum On Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now") for which they became well known.

Slade in Flame is the first soundtrack album and fifth studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 29 November 1974, reached Nº. 6 in the UK and was certified Gold by BPI in February 1975. The album was produced by Chas Chandler and contains songs featured in the band's film of the same name. The band tried to give the album a "sixties" feel, as the film was set in 1966.

In the US, the album was released on the Warner Bros. label, with "The Bangin' Man" replacing "Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)" & "Thanks for the Memory" replacing "Heaven Knows". The most recent re-issue of the album was in 2015, when Salvo Sound & Vision released a repackaged CD + DVD version of the album and film.

"So Far So Good" was covered by Alice Cooper songwriter Mike Bruce on his 1975 solo album In My Own Way. In a 1989 fan club interview, drummer Don Powell singled out "Standin' On the Corner" as one of the band's best efforts on record: "It's got a great swing to it and it's the first time we even used brass."

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

I've seen the bridges of the world and they are for real/I've had a red light off-the-wrist without me even getting kissed

It still seems so unreal

I've seen the morning in the mountains of Alaska

I've seen the sunset in the East and in the West /

I've sang the glory that was Rome And passed the 'Hound Dog' singer's home

It still seems for the best

And I'm far, far a-way

With my head up in the clouds

And I'm far, far a-way

With my feet down in the crowds

Letting loose around the world

But the call of home is loud

Still as loud

I've seen the Paris lights from high upon Montmartre

And felt the silence hanging low in No Man's Land/

And though those Spanish nights were fine It wasn't only from the wine

It still seems all in hand

And I'm far, far away, &c...

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

The Grand Bahama Island stories carry on

And though those aligator smiles Stay in your memory for a while

There still seems more to come

And I'm far, far away &c...