By Jim Rowland
The sound of Noddy Holder screaming ‘It’s Chriiiistmaaaaas’ has been embedded in the nation’s yuletide consciousness since Slade first released arguably the greatest Christmas record of all time back in 1973. It’s a fact not lost on BMG, who round up the latest batch of deluxe vinyl Slade reissues with a very special issue of said Xmas classic, along with the opinion-splitting 1985 Christmas album, ‘Crackers’.
There’s not really anything new you can say about ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, but this edition has to be hands down the best issue there has been, which is just as well considering the price it’s retailing at. Released in 12” EP format, it has a cracking cover, with a printed Slade logo inner sleeve and pressed on ‘snowflake marble’ vinyl which is very nice, although I’m not sure I’ve seen too many dark grey marbled snowflakes. That aside, it really is an edition worthy of the greatness of its lead track. As for the other three songs contained on the EP, they’re all taken from…
‘Crackers – The Christmas Party Album’, to give it its full title, was an album that really did split opinion at the time of its release in 1985. Many fans and critics considered it a cheap and tacky move for a band of Slade’s stature, and indeed if you look at the title of the album, along with its atrocious cover, it’s not surprising. I for one, as a huge Slade fan, have never given this album much thought, and probably subconsciously pretended it didn’t exist. Up until now, I’ve never actually heard it. However, a title and a cover alone do not make a bad album, and on giving it a proper listen, it’s actually surprisingly good.
For a start you get the original versions of bit hits like ‘We’ll Bring The House Down’, ‘All Join Hands’, ‘My Oh My’, ‘Run Runaway’ and of course ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’, with re-recorded, and very decent, ‘Crackers’ versions of big Slade hitters ‘Get Down & Get With It’ and ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’. In addition, there’s a series of mostly very good cover versions recorded specifically for the project. ‘Let’s Dance’, ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’, ‘Okey Cokey’, ‘Let’s Have A Party’ and ‘Auld Lang Syne’ are all very decent rocked up Slade-style renditions that are a lot of fun, and yes, fit for a party. For me, however, there’s two that let it down a bit. I’ve always hated Jeff Beck’s ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’, and like most others, Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’, despite it’s obvious good cause at the time. Here Slade give both a good go, but even the mighty Slade can’t polish a Christmas turd.
As I stated, ‘Crackers’, all in all, is surprisingly good and there’s enough on here to make this a very worthy addition to your Slade collection, even if it’s nothing to rival the likes of ‘Slayed?’, ‘Old, New Borrowed and Blue’ or ‘In Flame’. Pressed in a very nice transparent and smokey white vinyl, it’s fun and worth a punt for your Christmas party, which is what it was designed for in the first place.
There’s been so much Slade activity in terms of deluxe reissues, as well this year’s quite superb ‘All The World Is A Stage’ live box set, over the past couple of years, you do wonder if there’s something on the horizon in terms of a reunion of Noddy, Dave, Don & Jim, one that’s been talked about and hoped for for many years now. That would be the best Xmas present of them all.