Wild Winds Are Blowing and Slade Before the Image Took Shape
The early television performance of Wild Winds Are Blowing offers a rare and revealing look at Slade at a moment when their future identity was still undefined. Believed to be the band’s first television appearance, the performance dates from nineteen sixty nine, the same year the single was released. Although the record failed to reach the charts, the footage has since become an important historical document, capturing Slade before fame, confidence, and visual trademarks transformed them into one of Britain’s most recognizable rock acts.
At this point in their career, Slade were still operating under the name Ambrose Slade and were very much a band in transition. The sound of Wild Winds Are Blowing reflects the late sixties British rock landscape, drawing on elements of psychedelia and blues rather than the bold, chant driven style that would later define their success. The song is darker in tone and more restrained, showing a group still exploring its musical boundaries.
One of the most striking aspects of the performance is the appearance and delivery of Noddy Holder. Viewers familiar with his later persona may be surprised to see him without the iconic mirror hat and without the powerful roar that would soon become his signature vocal trait. His singing here is noticeably lighter and more controlled, revealing a vocalist still developing the commanding presence that would later dominate Slade’s biggest records.
Dave Hill’s appearance is equally revealing. The guitarist had not yet adopted the flamboyant stage outfits and exaggerated visual style that would later become inseparable from his image. Instead, he appears dressed simply, focused entirely on playing rather than performance theatrics. This visual restraint reinforces the sense of authenticity captured in the footage. The band is presented as a working rock group, not yet shaped by commercial expectations or a defined image.
Despite its lack of chart success, Wild Winds Are Blowing has gained renewed importance through its inclusion on the recently reissued and remastered two in one album Beginnings and Play It Loud. This release allows listeners to hear Slade’s earliest recordings alongside their breakthrough material, highlighting how rapidly and dramatically the band evolved within a short period of time.
As a historical artifact, this television performance is valuable precisely because of what it is not. It is not polished, not theatrical, and not iconic in the way later Slade performances would become. Instead, it documents a formative moment, showing Noddy Holder, Dave Hill, Jim Lea, and Don Powell before their defining characteristics fully emerged. In doing so, Wild Winds Are Blowing preserves an honest snapshot of Slade at the very start of their journey.