Dave Hill

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For other people named Dave Hill, see Dave Hill (disambiguation).
Dave Hill
A man with shoulder-length hair wears a black t-shirt and a white cowboy hat. His guitar sling sports studs.
Dave Hill in 1981
Background information
Birth name David John Hill
Born (1946-04-04) 4 April 1946 (age 78)
Holbeton, Devon, England
Origin Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Genres Glam rock, hard rock
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Guitar, bass guitar, vocals
Years active 1966–present
Associated acts Slade

David John Hill (born 4 April 1946)[1][2] is an English musician, who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English glam rock group, Slade. Hill is known for his flamboyant stage clothes and hairstyle. 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 coiffure, a sort of demented tonsure with a great scooping fringe. He even had one around 1973 outfit famously called his 'Metal Nun' suit but later styles were much toned down."[3]

Early life

Born in Holbeton, Devon, the son of a mechanic, he moved with his parents to Penn, Wolverhampton when he was 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. He worked in an office for Tarmac Limited for over two years after leaving school.[4]

Slade

He originally played with drummer Don Powell in a band called The Vendors, whose name was then changed to The N' Betweens. The pair then met bass player Jimmy Lea and singer Noddy Holder, whereafter Slade was born.[4]

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.[5]

Hill is known for his outrageous costumes.[6] His costumes and antics causing some friction with the more serious Lea. This led to a 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!".[6]

During 1983, both Hill and Powell were working on a Dave Hill solo project with local musicians around the Midlands area. By 1984, the project had not been completed. The then editor of the Slade fan club,[7] Haden Donovan, described the project as "very interesting and very un-Slade-like."[8]

In 1989, Hill formed his own group, Blessings in Disguise. This featured Holder, ex-Wizzard keyboard player, Bill Hunt, Craig Fenney and Bob Lamb.[9] The debut single, released in 1989 for the Christmas market was a ballad cover of The Everly Brothers' Crying in the Rain with Holder drafted in for lead vocals, backed by a Hill/Hunt composition, Wild Nights.[10] The record was a commercial failure. The band also recorded a cover of the Elvis Presley song A Fool Such As I which was unreleased.[11][12]

Hill had attended the launch of a £2 million appeal to raise funds for Queen Alexandra College for the Blind in Birmingham. There he heard a song called A Chance to Be, sung by 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, Daniel Somers and Colin Baines. Hill's band name, Blessing in Disguise, was picked as the group name and the single featured ex-Shakatak female vocalist Norma Lewis rather than Holder. The b-side was a track written by Hill entitled You're the Reason that I'm Strong. It was the last recording made by the group and was released in 1991.[13][14]

Slade finally split up in 1991, but Hill decided to carry the group on as Slade II. Don Powell joined him and the band has continued to this day with various line-ups. 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![15]

Personal life

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.[16] Hill married his wife Jan in Mexico City in the 1970s, and they have three children: Jade, Bibi and Sam. They live in Lower Penn, Staffordshire, England, where Hill occasionally teaches music at Lower Penn School and Penn Hall School.[17] In 2010 during a concert in Nuremberg, Germany, Hill suffered a stroke from which he recovered to continue touring and recording.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ BBC – Devon – Entertainment – Slade star's Devon roots
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ [1][dead link]
  9. ↑ 7" vinyl single of Crying in the Rain sleeve notes
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ [2][dead link]
  12. ↑ Slade International Fan Club newsletter July – August – September 1989
  13. ↑ [3][dead link]
  14. ↑ Slade International Fan Club newsletter July – August – September 1991
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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