David John Hill (born 4 April 1946, in Flete House Hospital, Holbeton, near Kingsbridge, Devon, England, UK) is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English glam rock group, Slade.
Born in Devon the son of a mechanic, he moved with his parents to Wolverhampton when he was only a year old. There he attended Springdale Primary school and Highfields Secondary Modern school. He bought his first guitar from a mail order catalogue and received some guitar lessons from a science teacher at his school. He then formed a band called 'The Young Ones' with some school friends. upon leaving school he worked in an office of the firm Tarmac for over two years.
He originally played with drummer Don Powell in a band called The Vendors. The Vendors changed their name to The N'Betweens, met bass player Jimmy Lea and singer Noddy Holder, whereafter Slade was born.
Money was tight when the young Hill started playing, and right-handed guitars were much cheaper than left-handed ones, so even though Hill was left-handed, he played and still plays guitar right-handed. Hill's best known guitar was the "John Birch Superyob" that was built in 1973 (now owned by Marco Pirroni of Adam and the Ants). It became a vital part of Hill's image, just like his huge platform boots, his broad grin, the fringes and the outrageous costumes.
Hill was known as the class clown of the band, and his bizarre costumes and antics led to some friction with the more serious Lea. This led to an alleged show-down in a BBC dressing room before a recording of Top of the Pops where Hill replied to Lea's repeated criticism of his dress by saying "You write 'em Jim, I'll sell em!". He also did not do as well financially from Slade as Lea and Holder, who as the principal songwriters commanded more royalties.
In 1989 Dave Hill and Noddy Holder put out a single "Crying in the Rain" / "Wild Nites" on the Mooncrest label under the group name, Blessings In Disguise. In 1991, Hill followed it up with a further Blessings In Disguise single "Chance To Be" / "You're The Reason I'm Strong" - which did not feature Holder at all. "Chance To Be" was a charity record composed by Daniel Somers & Colin Baines to raise money for Queen Alexandra College for the Blind in Birmingham.
Slade finally split up in 1991, but Dave Hill decided to carry the group on as 'Slade II. Don Powell joined him and the band has continued to this day with various lineups. In 1997 the name of Slade II was shortened back to Slade. The band has released the album Keep on Rockin' , which has also been re-packaged as Superyob, and also as Cum On Let's Party!
Dave has embraced the notion of a "yob" culture. As well as the references to "Superyob" above, Dave, since a young age used the numberplate "YOB 1" on his cars. The most famous of these was a silver Jensen
Hill married his wife Jan in Mexico City in the 1970s, and they have three children: Jade, Bibi and Sam. Hill and his wife have embraced the Jehovah's Witness faith. They live in Lower Penn, Staffordshire, England, where Hill occasionally teaches music at Lower Penn School and Penn Hall School.
In December 2005 Hill appeared in the Channel 4 TV documentary - Bring Back...The Christmas Number One.
References
^ Plymouth, Flete House Maternity Hospital
^ BBC - Devon - Entertainment - Slade star's Devon roots
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Hill"
Categories: English rock musicians | English guitarists | 1946 births | Living people | Lead guitarists | English Jehovah's Witnesses
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