Hundreds of guitarists have amassed at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, United Kingdom in a bid to help Slade guitarist and backing vocalist Dave Hill break the world record for most guitar amplifiers used simultaneously.
Hill commented on the attempt in a recent interview with the BBC: “I imagine there will be one or two people doubling up on one amplifier, so I think it’s going to be quite a melay or cacophony, as they say, of sound… I am just interested to know what tune they are going to be playing!”
While the event, which was held to raise money for Childline, was Hills first world record attempt, it isn’t the first by a member of Slade: “I know our drummer Don Powell had been in the ‘largest ensemble of drummers’ and they all had to play one particular beat to a certain record and Don Powell was so loud that some of the drummers had to move away from him,” Hill explained.
Despite racking up a string of number one hits in the seventies, Hill recently told the Telegraph that most of Slade’s earnings were spent on tax: “Although we spent money on ourselves, most of our earnings seemed to go on tax. Around 1973, we were paying extraordinary amounts – up to 90pc…”
He added that at one point later in their career the band was forced to play small clubs to make ends meet: “…people stopped buying and it became a difficult time for me. We continued playing live to keep things turning, but until making a big comeback in the Eighties we found ourselves playing at universities and ballrooms – what I call ‘chicken in the basket’ gigs.”
Stay tuned for the outcome of the world record attempt.
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