Hill, Dave

Born in Devon, in the family of a mechanic. When he was one year old, the family moved to Penn , Wolves . Dave attended Springdale Elementary School and Highfields High School in Wolverhampton.

Dave ordered his first guitar through a mail catalog. Hill is left - handed , but he did not have enough money for a left-handed guitar, so he learned to play with his right hand. The first lessons of the game were given to him by a school chemistry teacher. Dave created the school band The Young Ones. After graduating from school, he worked for two years in the office of Tarmacor.

Hill met drummer Don Powell on The Vendors. Later they created the band '' N Betweens ”, inviting bass guitarist Jimmy Lee and vocalist Noddy Holder to collaborate. So there was a group that went down in history called "Slade".

Like all glam rockers , Slade created vivid stage images for themselves. Hill was especially distinguished, which was considered the main clown in the team. His weird costumes led to some controversy with the more serious Jim Lee. Once, Lee made another remark to Hill in the dressing room before shooting the video for the BBC 's Top of the Pops , and Hill replied: “Write songs, Jim, and I will sell them!”

Music columnist Stuart Maconey spoke of Hill: “He wore overalls made of foil in which you wrap turkeys and platforms the height of an oil rig . But all this looked pale in comparison with his hairstyle - something like an idiotic tonus with a bang cut in an arc. He looked like a glam rock version of a medieval monk . ” (S. Maconi, Cider With Roadies, 2004).

Hill's most famous guitar is the 1973 John Birch Superyob. It was played by Madness guitarist Chris Forman in the video for the song Shut Up. Its current owner is Marco Pirroni from the Adam and the Ants group.

In 1989, Hill created a third-party project, “Blessings in Disguise,” with Noddy Holder, former Wizzard keyboardist Bill Hunt, Craig Fenny, and Bob Lamb. Their debut single, released on Christmas Day 1989 , was a cover of the song “ Everly Brothers ” “Crying in the Rain,” with Hill and Hunt's track “Wild Nights” on B.'s side. The band also recorded a cover of Elvis Presley’s song “A Fool Such” As I, ”but it was not published. The last single, “Chance to Be,” was written by Daniel Somers and Colin Baines and, unlike the first single, was performed not by Holder, but by a little-known vocalist. On B's side was Hill’s song “You're the Reason that I'm Strong,” performed by former Shakatak vocalist Norma Lewis. The single was released in 1990 , revenue from it went to Queen Alexandra College for the Blind in Birmingham .

“Slade” broke up in 1991 , but Hill continued to work with Don Powell. Until 1997, their new band with vocalist Steve Wally and bassist Craig Fenny was called “Slade II”, after which they reduced the name to “Slade”. The group released the album “Keep on Rockin '”, later reissued with the names “Superyob” and “Cum On Let's Party!”.

The band continues to perform with the old Slade repertoire.

In the 1970s, Dave met with various groups , such as Sable Starr, Laurie Maddox, Queenie Glam and Geraldine Edwards. In 2002, he mentioned in an interview that in 1975 he invited Geraldine to the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and had a three-day party at the Sunset Marquis Hotel to mark her graduation.

Hill lives in Lower Penn in Staffordshire with his wife Jan, they have three children - Jade, Bibi and Sam. They accepted the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses . From time to time, Hill gives music lessons at Lower Penn and Penn Hall.

• Official Slade Website
• Dave Hill: “Most of our earnings went to taxes” - interview with The Telegraph, September 2012.
• Where are they now? Slade guitarist Dave Hill. Express, December 2014.