Slade

Slade built their wall of sound on Dave Hill's Gibson Les Paul routed through a Marshall stack at punishing volume, delivering riffs with a blunt-force directness that made them the loudest band in glam. Noddy Holder's rhythm work on a Fender Telecaster added percussive bite to the low end, cutting through the distortion with a trebly snap that gave their recordings an almost live energy. The combination of Marshall saturation and raw, unprocessed guitar tone made Slade's singles hit harder than anything else on Top of the Pops.