Dave Hill
Encyclopedia
Dave Hill is an English
musician
, who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English
glam rock
group
, Slade
. The music journalist
, Stuart Maconie
, commented "he usually wore a jumpsuit made of the foil that you baste your turkeys in and platforms of oil-rig-derrick height. All of this though paled in comparison with his coffure, a sort of demented tonsure with a great scooping fringe. He looked like a glam rock version of a medieval monk".
, Wolverhampton
when he was only a year old. There he attended Springdale Junior school and Highfields Secondary school
. He bought his first guitar from a mail order catalogue and received some guitar lessons from a science teacher at his school. He then formed a band called 'The Young Ones' with some school friends. Upon leaving school he worked in an office of the firm Tarmac
for over two years.
Don Powell
in a band called The Vendors. The Vendors changed their name to The 'N Betweens, met bass
player Jimmy Lea and singer Noddy Holder
, whereafter Slade was born.
Money was tight when the young Hill started playing, and right-handed guitars were much cheaper than left-handed ones, so even though Hill is left-handed, he played and still plays guitar right-handed. Hill's best known guitar was the "John Birch
Superyob" that was built in 1973. The guitar was used by Madness
guitarist Chris Foreman
in the video for Madness' song Shut Up
and is now owned by Marco Pirroni
of Adam and the Ants
. It became a vital part of Hill's image, just like his huge platform boots, his broad grin, the fringes and the outrageous costumes.
Hill stated he felt his guitar work and costumes helped compliment his apparent lack of stature at only 5" 6'. He could find neat catchy rifts, but surprisingly most often left guitar solos out of Slade's big hits altogether. He wrote an effective instrumental track on Slades 1981 heavy rock LP "Till deaf us do part". Hill once broke an ankle when leaving stage in his 6 inch platform boots. A lively performer on stage, he and Lea helped present Slade's always strong stage presence.
Hill was known as the class clown of the band, and his bizarre costumes and antics led to some friction with the more serious Lea. His Metal Nun outfit being an early seventies infamous example. This led to an alleged show-down in a BBC dressing room before a recording of Top of the Pops
where Hill replied to Lea's repeated criticism of his dress by saying "You write 'em Jim, I'll sell em!". By the 1980s his image had sobered down somewhat helping develop the band's image. He also did not do as well financially from Slade as Lea and Holder, who as the principal songwriters commanded more royalties.
In 1989, Hill formed his own group Blessings in Disguise featuring Holder, Ex-Wizzard
keyboard player, Bill Hunt, Craig Fenney and Bob Lamb. The debut single, released in 1989 for the Christmas market was a cover of The Everly Brothers "Crying in the Rain
" , backed by a Hill/Hunt composition, "Wild Nights". The record was a commercial failure. The band also recorded a cover of the Elvis Presley
song "A Fool Such As I" which wasn't released. The final single, "Chance to Be" was composed by Daniel Somers and Colin Baines and unlike the first single, did not feature Holder on vocals but a little known female vocalist. The b-side was a track written by Hill entitled "You're the Reason that I'm Strong". Released in 1990, the single was a charity record intended to raise money for Queen Alexandra College
for the Blind in Birmingham
.
Originally, Hill attended the launch of a £2 million appeal to raise funds for the Birmingham Institute where he heard a song called "A Chance to Be", sung by the blind and visually impaired children. Hill was so moved by the occasion that he agreed to perform and produce the recording of the song. The two writers of the song were staff at the institute. Ex-Shakatak vocalist Norma Lewis, local singer Michael Ryan, Hill and the children took several hours to record the song which was later engineered and produced by Hill. The b-side "You're The Reason I'm Strong" again featured Lewis on lead vocal and was written by Hill. Hill's band name "Blessing in Disguise" was picked as the group name.
joined him and the band has continued to this day with various lineups. In 1997 the name of Slade II was shortened back to Slade. The band has released the album Keep on Rockin' , which has also been re-packaged as Superyob, and also as Cum On Let's Party!
He embraced the notion of a yob
culture. As well as the references to "Superyob" above, Hill, since a young age used the numberplate "YOB 1" on his cars. The most famous of these was a silver Jensen
.
Hill married his wife Jan in Mexico City
in the 1970s, and they have three children: Jade, Bibi and Sam. Hill and his wife have embraced the Jehovah's Witnesses
faith. They live in Lower Penn
, Staffordshire
, England
, where Hill occasionally teaches music at Lower Penn School and Penn Hall School.
Hill was known to date a number of groupies in the seventies, and dated Sable Starr, Lori Maddox, Queenie Glam and Geraldine Edwards, the inspiration for Penny Lane in Almost Famous
. He mentioned in a 2002 interview taking Geraldine Edwards to the Polo Lounge
as a celebration of her graduating from high-school in 1975 and throwing a three-day party at the Sunset Marquis Hotel
afterwards.
In November 2003, XFM
radio producer Karl Pilkington
jokingly referred to his girlfriend as looking like Dave Hill out of Slade, on the Ricky Gervais Show, after she had her hair cut.
In December 2005, Hill appeared in the Channel 4
TV documentary
, Bring Back...The Christmas Number One.
Dave Hill features in the Slade biographies, Slade by George Tremlet, Feel the Noize by Chris Charlesworth and Holder's autobiography Who's Crazee Now.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
group
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
. The music journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week , alongside Mark Radcliffe, called the Radcliffe...
, commented "he usually wore a jumpsuit made of the foil that you baste your turkeys in and platforms of oil-rig-derrick height. All of this though paled in comparison with his coffure, a sort of demented tonsure with a great scooping fringe. He looked like a glam rock version of a medieval monk".
Early life
Born in Devon the son of a mechanic, he moved with his parents to PennPenn, West Midlands
Penn is an area now divided between Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and South Staffordshire. Originally, it was a village in the historic county of Staffordshire. There is considerable confusion about exactly which areas fall within Penn...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
when he was only a year old. There he attended Springdale Junior school and Highfields Secondary school
Highfields Science Specialist School
Highfields Science Specialist School is a secondary school in Wolverhampton, England. It was formed in 1957 and accommodates nearly 1,500 pupils. The school has five years , then an additional two years for sixth form which is optional...
. He bought his first guitar from a mail order catalogue and received some guitar lessons from a science teacher at his school. He then formed a band called 'The Young Ones' with some school friends. Upon leaving school he worked in an office of the firm Tarmac
Tarmac (company)
Tarmac is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived...
for over two years.
Slade
He originally played with drummerDrummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Don Powell
Don Powell
Don Powell is a drummer who founded the English glam rock group, Slade.- Biography :As a child Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the drums after being asked to join the band on a Sunday morning parade. After Etheridge Secondary Modern School he studied Metallurgy at...
in a band called The Vendors. The Vendors changed their name to The 'N Betweens, met bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
player Jimmy Lea and singer Noddy Holder
Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
, whereafter Slade was born.
Money was tight when the young Hill started playing, and right-handed guitars were much cheaper than left-handed ones, so even though Hill is left-handed, he played and still plays guitar right-handed. Hill's best known guitar was the "John Birch
John Birch (luthier)
John Birch was an English luthier mainly known for his electric guitars. His customers included Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Brian May of Queen, Dave Hill and Jim Lea of Slade, Gerry Shephard of The Glitter Band, and Roy Orbison.-Early life and career:John Birch was born in West...
Superyob" that was built in 1973. The guitar was used by Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
guitarist Chris Foreman
Chris Foreman
Chris Foreman , nicknamed Chrissy Boy, is an English guitarist, best known as a member of a second wave ska band, Madness.Foreman started Madness with Mike Barson and Lee Thompson in 1976...
in the video for Madness' song Shut Up
Shut Up (Madness song)
"Shut Up" is a pop song written by Suggs and Chris Foreman. It was recorded by British pop/ska band Madness, and was featured on the band's third album 7. It was released as a single on September 11, 1981, spending 10 weeks in the UK Singles Chart...
and is now owned by Marco Pirroni
Marco Pirroni
Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer...
of Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
. It became a vital part of Hill's image, just like his huge platform boots, his broad grin, the fringes and the outrageous costumes.
Hill stated he felt his guitar work and costumes helped compliment his apparent lack of stature at only 5" 6'. He could find neat catchy rifts, but surprisingly most often left guitar solos out of Slade's big hits altogether. He wrote an effective instrumental track on Slades 1981 heavy rock LP "Till deaf us do part". Hill once broke an ankle when leaving stage in his 6 inch platform boots. A lively performer on stage, he and Lea helped present Slade's always strong stage presence.
Hill was known as the class clown of the band, and his bizarre costumes and antics led to some friction with the more serious Lea. His Metal Nun outfit being an early seventies infamous example. This led to an alleged show-down in a BBC dressing room before a recording of Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
where Hill replied to Lea's repeated criticism of his dress by saying "You write 'em Jim, I'll sell em!". By the 1980s his image had sobered down somewhat helping develop the band's image. He also did not do as well financially from Slade as Lea and Holder, who as the principal songwriters commanded more royalties.
In 1989, Hill formed his own group Blessings in Disguise featuring Holder, Ex-Wizzard
Wizzard
Wizzard was a Birmingham-based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings were Paul McCartney."-Biography:...
keyboard player, Bill Hunt, Craig Fenney and Bob Lamb. The debut single, released in 1989 for the Christmas market was a cover of The Everly Brothers "Crying in the Rain
Crying in the Rain
"Crying in the Rain" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Carole King and was originally recorded by The Everly Brothers. The single peaked at #6 on the U.S. pop charts.-Track listing:-Chart performance:-A-ha version:...
" , backed by a Hill/Hunt composition, "Wild Nights". The record was a commercial failure. The band also recorded a cover of the Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
song "A Fool Such As I" which wasn't released. The final single, "Chance to Be" was composed by Daniel Somers and Colin Baines and unlike the first single, did not feature Holder on vocals but a little known female vocalist. The b-side was a track written by Hill entitled "You're the Reason that I'm Strong". Released in 1990, the single was a charity record intended to raise money for Queen Alexandra College
Queen Alexandra College
Queen Alexandra College is an independent specialist college of further education based in Harborne, Birmingham for students aged 16 plus with visual impairment and other disabilities. Students can develop their academic, social and independent skills through individualised programmes...
for the Blind in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
Originally, Hill attended the launch of a £2 million appeal to raise funds for the Birmingham Institute where he heard a song called "A Chance to Be", sung by the blind and visually impaired children. Hill was so moved by the occasion that he agreed to perform and produce the recording of the song. The two writers of the song were staff at the institute. Ex-Shakatak vocalist Norma Lewis, local singer Michael Ryan, Hill and the children took several hours to record the song which was later engineered and produced by Hill. The b-side "You're The Reason I'm Strong" again featured Lewis on lead vocal and was written by Hill. Hill's band name "Blessing in Disguise" was picked as the group name.
Recent years
Slade finally split up in 1991, but Hill decided to carry the group on as Slade II. Don PowellDon Powell
Don Powell is a drummer who founded the English glam rock group, Slade.- Biography :As a child Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the drums after being asked to join the band on a Sunday morning parade. After Etheridge Secondary Modern School he studied Metallurgy at...
joined him and the band has continued to this day with various lineups. In 1997 the name of Slade II was shortened back to Slade. The band has released the album Keep on Rockin' , which has also been re-packaged as Superyob, and also as Cum On Let's Party!
He embraced the notion of a yob
Yobbo
Yobbo or yob is a slang term for an uncouth or thuggish working-class person. The word derives from a back slang reading of the word "boy" .-Britain:Dr. C. T...
culture. As well as the references to "Superyob" above, Hill, since a young age used the numberplate "YOB 1" on his cars. The most famous of these was a silver Jensen
Jensen Motors
Jensen Motors Ltd was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles, based in the Lyng – West Bromwich...
.
Hill married his wife Jan in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
in the 1970s, and they have three children: Jade, Bibi and Sam. Hill and his wife have embraced the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
faith. They live in Lower Penn
Lower Penn
Lower Penn is a village in South Staffordshire, situated to the south-west of Wolverhampton, West Midlands.The Civil Parish covers the area of the historic Parish of Penn that is not now covered by the city of Wolverhampton and thus covers a wider area than that immediately surrounding the village...
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where Hill occasionally teaches music at Lower Penn School and Penn Hall School.
Hill was known to date a number of groupies in the seventies, and dated Sable Starr, Lori Maddox, Queenie Glam and Geraldine Edwards, the inspiration for Penny Lane in Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
. He mentioned in a 2002 interview taking Geraldine Edwards to the Polo Lounge
Polo Lounge
The Polo Lounge is located inside the Beverly Hills Hotel at 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California.-Description:The Lounge has been described as "done up in peachy pink , with deep carpets and dark green booths, each booth featuring a plug-in phone...
as a celebration of her graduating from high-school in 1975 and throwing a three-day party at the Sunset Marquis Hotel
Sunset Marquis Hotel
Sunset Marquis Hotel is a hotel in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California. Owned by George Rosenthal, and located at 1200 Alta Loma Road, it is situated just off the Sunset Strip, several hundred yards northeast of the Viper Room. Described by Time as "an old rock-"n"-roll hotel", it is...
afterwards.
In November 2003, XFM
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
radio producer Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington is a British podcaster, author, television personality and former radio producer. He is best known for the Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which was also presented in the United States on the Science Channel, in Canada on Discovery Channel and in Australia on One HD, and The...
jokingly referred to his girlfriend as looking like Dave Hill out of Slade, on the Ricky Gervais Show, after she had her hair cut.
In December 2005, Hill appeared in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
TV documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Bring Back...The Christmas Number One.
Dave Hill features in the Slade biographies, Slade by George Tremlet, Feel the Noize by Chris Charlesworth and Holder's autobiography Who's Crazee Now.