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A review by modernwysewoman
So Here It Is: How the Boy from Wolverhampton Rocked the World with Slade by Dave Hill
4.0
Full review: http://lauramorningstar.com/review-so-here-it-is/
“It's Christmas!”
One of the most memorable moments of the festive season when I was a kid is Noddy Holders, iconic holler. Each year as the tree was put up my dad would pop an LP of christmas tunes on the stereo, and this was the first song up.
At 5 years old I didn’t realise at first that the crazy looking geezer who sang the song that signalled Christmas for us, was the same crazy dude from Slade. My parents were massive fans of rock, and my mum especially was a fan of glam-rock. Their were Sweet albums, T-Rex albums, Kiss albums and of course Slade albums (as well as many many others).
Watching old re-runs of Top Of The Pops shows and seeing these glam rock bands perform they seemed a little bonkers, it was always the singer who was the focusl. The other members just seemed to fade into the background. You knew they were there but didn’t know who they were.
Slade was like this, everyone know Noddy Holder, but outside of him most would struggle to know the other members. Fortunately being brought up by music loving olds, I knew who Dave Hill was, so jumped at the chance of reviewing So Here It Is.
So Here It Is is a heartwarming autobiography, where you can see the boy from Wolverhampton is still the boy from Wolverhampton. Dave Hill’s down to earth nature comes across in every page and that makes this book a really easy read. This isn’t necessarily a warts and all book, there are no scandalous accusations and that’s actually really refreshing.
What So Here It Is gives you is an understanding of how life changes for successful artists. How you can be on Top Of The Pops one night and the next be back in your local pub.
I loved the narrative style of So Here It Is, not necessarily informal but relaxed enough that it felt as if I was sitting with an old mate who was telling me anecdotes about their life.
As a child of the 80s I wasn’t alive when Slade were at the height of their fame, so didn't realise they had actually formed in the late sixties. I found it interesting to see how many singles they released in the early seventies and how many hit singles their was among them.
I liked how Dave shared the difficult times the band had been through including the tragedy of the car crash that injured the bands drummer Don Powell and killed his girlfriend.
Throughout So Here It Is Dave also shares his personal stories, including those about his parents, his wife Jan and his family and friends. He shares about his health troubles and brushes with depression. This I found particularly brave and a very insightful part of the book.
In many ways So Here It Is is an interesting historical account of the music industry at that time. Now with YouTube, social media and Spotify, their is instant access to platforms to not only hear music but also to share it. Their are very few tales of bands slogging their guts out on the club circuit as bands such as Slade had to do.
I really enjoyed So Here It Is, it is an interesting, insightful and enjoyable autobiography of a Seventies music icon. I think if your a music lover of any age then this is a great book to add to your shelf.
“It's Christmas!”
One of the most memorable moments of the festive season when I was a kid is Noddy Holders, iconic holler. Each year as the tree was put up my dad would pop an LP of christmas tunes on the stereo, and this was the first song up.
At 5 years old I didn’t realise at first that the crazy looking geezer who sang the song that signalled Christmas for us, was the same crazy dude from Slade. My parents were massive fans of rock, and my mum especially was a fan of glam-rock. Their were Sweet albums, T-Rex albums, Kiss albums and of course Slade albums (as well as many many others).
Watching old re-runs of Top Of The Pops shows and seeing these glam rock bands perform they seemed a little bonkers, it was always the singer who was the focusl. The other members just seemed to fade into the background. You knew they were there but didn’t know who they were.
Slade was like this, everyone know Noddy Holder, but outside of him most would struggle to know the other members. Fortunately being brought up by music loving olds, I knew who Dave Hill was, so jumped at the chance of reviewing So Here It Is.
So Here It Is is a heartwarming autobiography, where you can see the boy from Wolverhampton is still the boy from Wolverhampton. Dave Hill’s down to earth nature comes across in every page and that makes this book a really easy read. This isn’t necessarily a warts and all book, there are no scandalous accusations and that’s actually really refreshing.
What So Here It Is gives you is an understanding of how life changes for successful artists. How you can be on Top Of The Pops one night and the next be back in your local pub.
I loved the narrative style of So Here It Is, not necessarily informal but relaxed enough that it felt as if I was sitting with an old mate who was telling me anecdotes about their life.
As a child of the 80s I wasn’t alive when Slade were at the height of their fame, so didn't realise they had actually formed in the late sixties. I found it interesting to see how many singles they released in the early seventies and how many hit singles their was among them.
I liked how Dave shared the difficult times the band had been through including the tragedy of the car crash that injured the bands drummer Don Powell and killed his girlfriend.
Throughout So Here It Is Dave also shares his personal stories, including those about his parents, his wife Jan and his family and friends. He shares about his health troubles and brushes with depression. This I found particularly brave and a very insightful part of the book.
In many ways So Here It Is is an interesting historical account of the music industry at that time. Now with YouTube, social media and Spotify, their is instant access to platforms to not only hear music but also to share it. Their are very few tales of bands slogging their guts out on the club circuit as bands such as Slade had to do.
I really enjoyed So Here It Is, it is an interesting, insightful and enjoyable autobiography of a Seventies music icon. I think if your a music lover of any age then this is a great book to add to your shelf.