Slik

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Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid 1970s, following in the footsteps of the Bay City Rollers. Nowadays they would be referred to as a boy band.

Contents

[edit] History

Slik were formed as the Glasgow based band "Salvation" in 1970, comprising Kevin & Jim McGinlay,Nod Kerr, Mario Tortolano and Ian Kenny.Brian Deniston replaced Ian Kenny,and Nod Kerr departed shortly afterwards followed by Mario and they were replaced by Matt Cairns on drums and Robin Birrel on Keyboards.Brian left shortly after this change and we were forced to continue as a four piece outfit for about a year.Robin and Matt left and we recruited Kenny Hyslop on drums, Billy McIsaac on Keyboards and Jim Ure on guitar Midge Ure (who would subsequently achieve greater notability as the frontman of Ultravox) and keyboard. They reverted to a four-piece band when Kevin McGinlay left in April 1974.

They changed their name to Slik in November 1974, and linked up with the pop songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, who were also writing for the Bay City Rollers. Now signed to Polydor, the band members all adopted pseudonyms - Midge, Oil Slik (Kenny Hyslop), Jim Slik (Jim McGinlay) and Lord Slik (Billy McIsaac), though these were dropped after the failure of Boogiest Band in Town, their debut single (which was also on the soundtrack of the Glam rock movie Never Too Young To Rock), and their suits were exchanged for 1950s-style baseball outfits. A change of record label also saw them signing with Bell Records, seen as a more 'trendy' label.

This was followed by their greatest success when their single "Forever And Ever" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in February 1976. The song is unusual in that it has a lush, faintly gothic production with organs and chanting, quite out of keeping with the prosaic lyrics.

As a result of the single, readers of The Sun newspaper voted Slik the best new band of the year, and the song formula was repeated with their next hit, "Requiem", which however failed to repeat the success of the earlier record, reaching only #24. This was largely because Midge was injured in a car accident shortly after the release of the single, resulting in the cancellation of television appearances and an up-coming U.K. tour. "Requiem" opens with the first accordes of Joaquín Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez", which in fact had been a #3 hit just two months before in the UK for Geoff Love's orchestra "Manuel & the Music of the Mountains". Subsequent singles failed to chart.

With the advent of punk they recorded under the name PVC2, releasing the single "Put You In The Picture". This song joined the repertoire of The Rich Kids, Ure's next band. Slik/PVC2 disbanded in September 1977.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

  • "Boogiest Band in Town" (1975)
  • "Don't Take Your Love Away" (1976)
  • "Forever And Ever" (1976) — UK number 1.
  • "Requiem" (1976) — UK number 24.
  • "The Kid's a Punk" (1976)
  • "Dancerama" (1977)
  • "It's Only a Matter of Time" (1977)

[edit] Album

  • Slik — UK number 58

[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited, p. 507. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

[edit] External links

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