F2K Ep. 25: Jim Slade of Nixon's Head

Fun 2 Know Podcast

On today's show, musician blogger and label owner, Jim Slade. I met Slade back in the mid-80s, when his band Nixon's Head was a regular in Philadelphia area clubs. A five-piece rock and roll titan, The Head specialized in loud rock and roll inspired by 60s garage pop nuggets and the early New Wave all brought to life by a quintet of close-knit friends. Their shows are some of the most joyous rock and roll shows I've ever witnessed and they were a big part of a under-documented Philly scene of the mid to late 80s, sharing gigs with similarly-minded bands like The Ben Vaughn Combo, Baby Flamehead, Sky-Grits, The Wishniaks, Electric Love Muffin as well as the Dead Milkmen, whose reputation spread world-wide. You can check out all these bands and more on a compilation called “You're Soaking in It” a compilation produced by New York rocker Palmyra Delran, released in 1988 on Apex Records Although the Head broke-up for a few years in the early 90s they soon reformed and have continued on for over three decades now, recording a number of releases, their most recent being the 2014's MOD!, a dual disc with the band The Donuts. In late April, the band will play a one-time only gig at The Boot & Saddle in Philly as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, performing a set of your favorite Clash tunes, as long as your favorites are pre-COMBAT ROCK. Outside of his time with The Head, Slade is the Moderator on the popular music blog ROCKTOWNHALL, a spirited forum to discuss the aesthetics of classic rock and roll, you can find them at rocktownhall.com. Slade also founded the Groove Disques label, which besides releasing Nixon's Head music has distributed releases from the bands Trollyvox, The Knife and Fork Band, Dave Ragsdale and the Stiff Records tribute disc, "The Stiff Generation." You can find out more at groovedisques.com I met with Slade a few weeks back at the Fun 2 Know kitchen studio, our conversation fueled by Jim's as-yet unfinished memoir, entitled AND IT WAS ALRIGHT, named after a line form the Velvet Underground tune “Rock And Roll.” It is an inspiring honest and intimate look at growing up in love with rock and roll in the 70s and 80s that also touches on family strife and the struggle of a young man to forge a place in the world. It's a music-drenched, extended conversation between two rock and roll disciples, littered with many asides and a batch of great tunes from across Nixon's Head's discography, hope you enjoy it.