Don Powell (Slade)

Glam band Slade ruled England in the early 1970s, with six No. 1 singles, including “Mama Weer All Crazee Now,” “Cum on Feel the Noize” and “Merry Xmas Everybody.” Drummer Don Powell supplied the stomping beat but in 1973 was in a horrific car crash that killed his girlfriend and left him seriously injured and with amnesia. He returned to the band within two months. Powell takes us through Slade’s early skinhead phase, the glam peak, his recovery and the band’s frustrating attempts to crack the U.S. market—which finally happened after Quiet Riot had a top-5 hit with its 1983 “Noize” cover. Powell also explains wot’s up with those phonetic spellings and recalls how Sharon Osbourne and a shotgun prompted him to quit drinking.