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thedeathmaven's review against another edition
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.
toofondofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted on my blog: https://rathertoofondofbooks.com/
I couldn’t resist the opportunity to read and review So Here It Is for the blog tour as I grew up hearing Slade all the time as my Mum was a huge fan. Obviously I love Merry Christmas Everyone, and that song has been a part of Christmas ever since I was a young child, but my Mum loved everything they ever did so I feel like I know their music fairly well. I was also a huge Oasis fan back in the day so to hear Noel Gallagher say that without Slade there would be no Oasis made this book an absolute must-read for me. I’m so pleased to say that I loved it.
It was fascinating to read about Dave Hill’s early years growing up on a council estate. I was impressed that his dad was ultimately so agreeable to him joining a band and throwing everything into it. I really enjoyed reading about how Slade got together and how they became famous. It’s funny to get your head around the fact that they had songs in the charts and had appeared on Top of the Pops but Dave Hill was still living with his parents. It’s also hard to comprehend the fact that they were still doing gigs up and down the country, perfecting their craft and growing their fan base after they were deemed to be breaking through in the music industry. It clearly took a lot of very hard work to reach a level of success in the industry back then but it obviously paid off for Slade.
I really loved discovering snippets of info and interesting facts about Slade, and other bands and people they came into contact with over the years that I hadn’t heard before. It made me smile every time they bumped into someone who was either famous then, or about to be famous. It never ever felt like name dropping though, it’s written in such a way as it’s just who they happened to meet at any given time. It’s also fascinating to pick up on just how many bands have said that Slade had influence on them.
Slade had their tough times too. Dave Hill writes about the horrific accident that seriously injured drummer Don Powell and that killed Powell’s girlfriend. I knew about the accident but I didn’t realise the impact it had on Powell and how the band had to adapt to the issues it left him with. I also hadn’t realised that Slade had such a tough time trying to break America and the effect it had on their fan base in the UK while they were off in the USA. Dave Hill is very open about how difficult it was for him when Noddy Holder decided enough was enough as far as Slade was concerned. It clearly left Hill at quite a crossroads and unsure what to do next. Thankfully, he was given some good advice and he took it, and Slade continues to this today!
Dave Hill is very candid in this book. I didn’t know that his mum had struggled so much with mental illness and to read about the effect this had on him was very moving. His love for his mum really comes through, it’s obvious her illness had a profound affect on him but also that she loved him and he loved her. Hill is also very open about his own struggles with depression later on in his own life, and how he worked to get himself healthy again.
So Here It Is is a warm, candid and all-round brilliant memoir and I highly recommend it! It’d be a perfect read for Slade fans, music fans in general and actually for anyone who enjoys reading fascinating memoirs! Just go read it, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
I couldn’t resist the opportunity to read and review So Here It Is for the blog tour as I grew up hearing Slade all the time as my Mum was a huge fan. Obviously I love Merry Christmas Everyone, and that song has been a part of Christmas ever since I was a young child, but my Mum loved everything they ever did so I feel like I know their music fairly well. I was also a huge Oasis fan back in the day so to hear Noel Gallagher say that without Slade there would be no Oasis made this book an absolute must-read for me. I’m so pleased to say that I loved it.
It was fascinating to read about Dave Hill’s early years growing up on a council estate. I was impressed that his dad was ultimately so agreeable to him joining a band and throwing everything into it. I really enjoyed reading about how Slade got together and how they became famous. It’s funny to get your head around the fact that they had songs in the charts and had appeared on Top of the Pops but Dave Hill was still living with his parents. It’s also hard to comprehend the fact that they were still doing gigs up and down the country, perfecting their craft and growing their fan base after they were deemed to be breaking through in the music industry. It clearly took a lot of very hard work to reach a level of success in the industry back then but it obviously paid off for Slade.
I really loved discovering snippets of info and interesting facts about Slade, and other bands and people they came into contact with over the years that I hadn’t heard before. It made me smile every time they bumped into someone who was either famous then, or about to be famous. It never ever felt like name dropping though, it’s written in such a way as it’s just who they happened to meet at any given time. It’s also fascinating to pick up on just how many bands have said that Slade had influence on them.
Slade had their tough times too. Dave Hill writes about the horrific accident that seriously injured drummer Don Powell and that killed Powell’s girlfriend. I knew about the accident but I didn’t realise the impact it had on Powell and how the band had to adapt to the issues it left him with. I also hadn’t realised that Slade had such a tough time trying to break America and the effect it had on their fan base in the UK while they were off in the USA. Dave Hill is very open about how difficult it was for him when Noddy Holder decided enough was enough as far as Slade was concerned. It clearly left Hill at quite a crossroads and unsure what to do next. Thankfully, he was given some good advice and he took it, and Slade continues to this today!
Dave Hill is very candid in this book. I didn’t know that his mum had struggled so much with mental illness and to read about the effect this had on him was very moving. His love for his mum really comes through, it’s obvious her illness had a profound affect on him but also that she loved him and he loved her. Hill is also very open about his own struggles with depression later on in his own life, and how he worked to get himself healthy again.
So Here It Is is a warm, candid and all-round brilliant memoir and I highly recommend it! It’d be a perfect read for Slade fans, music fans in general and actually for anyone who enjoys reading fascinating memoirs! Just go read it, I promise you won’t be disappointed!
stephend81d5's review
4.0
thanks to the publishers and netgalley for a free copy for an open and honest review.
So here it is : the story of the guitarist Dave Hill from Slade a band formed in the black country area of the west midlands who talks about growing in the Warstones area of Wolverhampton (in the same council estate where later caitlin Moran grew up).
talks openly about his mother mental health problems and how he feared later on in life he maybe going the same way and how to a degree it was hard work and luck which helped slade become a big band. Interesting how he discusses life after the Original slade with his own health problems and a very close family.
overall the book is quite open and humble gives an insight into slade
So here it is : the story of the guitarist Dave Hill from Slade a band formed in the black country area of the west midlands who talks about growing in the Warstones area of Wolverhampton (in the same council estate where later caitlin Moran grew up).
talks openly about his mother mental health problems and how he feared later on in life he maybe going the same way and how to a degree it was hard work and luck which helped slade become a big band. Interesting how he discusses life after the Original slade with his own health problems and a very close family.
overall the book is quite open and humble gives an insight into slade
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