Punk is defunct: Long live de funk

by David James I have a confession to make and I would appreciate it if we keep it between ourselves. Tell no one. OK, here it is. When I was a teenager I used to spend hours listening to Slade. I even owned a Slade record at a time when owning records was a big deal. I would sing along to lead singer Nobby Holder’s musical chunder – and, yes, I really got into it. True, there wasn’t much else to do in Bennettswood, perhaps the closest thing in the known universe to nowhere in particular. And, in my defence, I did also have B.B. King records – which had a massive influence on my later musical development, whereas Slade had absolutely none. But I am afraid that, when it…