Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

, the band later changed their style to soft rock/

bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

. It was the first band with whom singer and guitarist Midge Ure began to experience musical success, before joining new wave band

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

History

Slik were formed as the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

based band 'Salvation' in June 1970, comprising brothers Kevin McGinlay (vocals) and

Jim McGinlay James Anthony McGinlay (born 9 March 1949 in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland) is a Scottish bass guitarist who formed along his elder brother Kevin McGinlay, Kevin a hard-rock band called Salvation, in Glasgow, which after numerous line-up ch ...

(bass), Nod Kerr (drums), Mario Tortolano (keyboards), and Ian Kenny (guitar). Brian Deniston replaced Ian Kenny in December 1970 and Nod Kerr departed in May 1971, followed by Tortolano and they were replaced by Matt Cairns on drums and Robin Birrel on

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. Deniston left shortly after this change and they were forced to continue as a four-piece outfit for almost a year, with Kevin McGinlay taking up guitar duties. Birrel and Cairns then left in March 1972 and they recruited

Kenny Hyslop Kenneth John Hyslop (born 14 February 1951 in Helensburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish drummer. He joined the band Salvation with Midge Ure, which later became Slik and, after Ure's departure, some of the remaining members formed the Zones. He also ...

on drums,

Billy McIsaac Billy McIsaac (born William McIsaac, 12 July 1949 in Rothesay, Scotland) is a musician, who played mainly keyboards since his early days with different pop bands. Biography Previously, he worked as a telephone engineer and played with a band c ...

on keyboards and Jim "Midge" Ure on guitar. They reverted to a four-piece band when Kevin McGinlay left in April 1974 to pursue a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

career, with Midge Ure becoming the band's lead vocalist. They changed their name to Slik in November 1974, and linked up with the pop songwriters Bill Martin and

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

, who were also writing for the Bay City Rollers. Now signed to

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

, the band members all adopted pseudonyms - Midge, Oil Slik (Kenny Hyslop), Jim Slik (Jim McGinlay) and Lord Slik (Billy McIsaac). These were dropped after the failure of " Boogiest Band in Town", their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

(which was also on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

of the film ''Never Too Young To Rock''), and their suits were exchanged for baseball shirts. A change of

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

also saw them signing with Bell Records. This was followed by their greatest success when their single " Forever And Ever" reached

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in February 1976. As a result of the single, readers of '' The Sun'' newspaper voted Slik the best new band of the year. The song formula was repeated with their next single, "Requiem", which made the UK top 30 but failed to repeat the success of "Forever and Ever". Ure was injured in a car accident shortly after the release of the single, resulting in the cancellation of television appearances and a planned UK

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

. "Requiem" opens with the first chords of

Joaquín Rodrigo Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the '' Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical gu ...

's "

Concierto de Aranjuez The ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' (, "Aranjuez Concerto") is a classical guitar concerto by the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo. Written in 1939, it is by far Rodrigo's best-known work, and its success established his reputation as one of the mos ...

", which had been a number 3 hit just two months before in the UK for

Geoff Love Geoffrey Love (4 September 1917 – 8 July 1991) was a prolific British arranger and composer of easy listening and pop versions of film themes. He became famous in the late 1950s, playing under the pseudonym of Manuel and The Music of The Mo ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, billed as 'Manuel & the Music of the Mountains'. Following the "Requiem" single, the band's self-titled album was released but this was a commercial failure, peaking only at number 58 in the UK. Subsequent Slik singles failed to chart. In March 1977, Jim McGinlay left the group and was replaced by Russell Webb, a university drop-out, who continued for the final Slik gigs.

PVC2

Shortly after Webb joined and a last tour, the band decided to change both genre and name. They chose to call themselves PVC2, and play punk music which was growing in popularity at that time. In the latter half of 1977, PVC2 released "

Put You in the Picture "Put You in the Picture" is a song written by Russell Webb, and performed by his group PVC2, who comprised Ure on guitar and lead vocals, Kenny Hyslop on drums, Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Webb on bass guitar. The song was released on 30 Augus ...

", on Zoom Records, a song which joined the repertoire of the

Rich Kids Rich Kids were a short-lived new wave band from London, founded in 1977 by Glen Matlock following his departure from the Sex Pistols. The band also included future Ultravox member Midge Ure and Rusty Egan, who both later founded Visage toget ...

, Ure's next band. Slik/PVC2 disbanded in September 1977. Following Ure's departure, Webb, Hyslop and McIsaac added Alex Harvey's cousin

Willie Gardner Willie Gardner is a Scottish musician, who formed part of various pop and rock bands in the 1970s and 1980s, playing guitar. He was a cousin of Alex Harvey. His earliest known band was The Hot Valves, formed in 1976. The band was influenced b ...

to their next band, called

Zones Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

; they released some singles and an album, ''

Under Influence ''Under Influence'' was the only album of new wave band Zones, released by Arista Records on June 1, 1979. The album contained multi-genred songs, being very far from the early punkier stuff, like in the case of 7" single " Stuck with You". Jim ...

'' (1979) (which credited Midge Ure among the collaborators), but went their separate ways shortly afterwards. Webb and Hyslop joined

The Skids Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jo ...

, and McIsaac retired from the

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

scene. In the 1990s he formed the Billy McIsaac Band.

Discography

Albums

*''

Slik Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and g ...

'' (

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

, 1976) — UK number 58, AUS number 54 *''The Best of Silk'' (

Repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a ...

, 1999) *''Forever and Ever'' ( Rotation, 2000) (Netherlands-only release)

Singles

List of songs

The following is a sortable table of all songs by Slik: *The column Song list the song title. *The column Writer(s) lists who wrote the song. *The column Time shows the length of the title. *The column Album lists the album the song is featured on. *The column Producer lists the producer of the song. *The column Year lists the year in which the song was released.

Cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s

Slik songs covered by others

Band Members (Salvation/ Slik/ PVC2/ Zones)

* Kevin McGinlay — lead vocals (June 1970-April 1974), guitars (mid 1971-March 1972) * Ian Kenny — guitars (June–December 1970) * Mario Tortolano — keyboards (June 1970-May 1971) *

— bass, backing vocals (June 1970-March 1977) * Nod Kerr — drums (June 1970-May 1971) * Brian Deniston — guitars (December 1970-mid 1971) * Robin Birrel — keyboards (May 1971-March 1972) * Matt Cairns — drums (May 1971-March 1972) * Midge Ure — guitars, backing vocals (March 1972-September 1977), lead vocals (April 1974-September 1977) *

— keyboards, backing vocals (March 1972-late 1979) *

— drums (March 1972-late 1979) * Russell Webb — bass, backing vocals (March-late 1979) *

— guitars, lead vocals (late 1977-late 1979)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:22 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:130 top:0 right:05 DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Alignbars = justify Period = from:01/06/1970 till:01/10/1979 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1971 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1971 Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 Colors = id:v value:red legend:Vocals id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:k value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:d value:orange legend:Drums id:a value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:15/07/1976 layer:back color:black at:01/07/1979 layer:back color:black PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left bar:SALVATION from:start till:15/11/1974 color:tan1 bar:SLIK from:15/11/1974 till:15/06/1977 color:tan1 bar:PVC2 from:15/06/1977 till:15/10/1977 color:tan1 bar:ZONES from:15/10/1977 till:end color:tan1 bar:Kevin McGinlay from:start till:15/04/1974 color:v bar:Kevin McGinlay from:01/07/1971 till:15/03/1972 color:g bar:Kevin McGinlay from:01/07/1971 till:15/03/1972 color:v width:3 bar:Ian Kenny from:start till:15/12/1970 color:g bar:Brian Deniston from:15/12/1970 till:01/07/1971 color:g bar:Midge Ure from:15/03/1972 till:15/10/1977 color:g bar:Midge Ure from:15/04/1974 till:15/10/1977 color:v width:3 bar:Willie Gardner from:15/10/1977 till:end color:g bar:Willie Gardner from:15/10/1977 till:end color:v width:3 bar:Mario Tortolano from:start till:15/05/1971 color:k bar:Robin Birrel from:15/05/1971 till:15/03/1972 color:k bar:Billy McIsaac from:15/03/1972 till:end color:k bar:Jim McGinlay from:start till:15/03/1977 color:b bar:Russell Webb from:15/03/1977 till:end color:b bar:Nod Kerr from:start till:15/05/1971 color:d bar:Matt Cairns from:15/05/1971 till:15/03/1972 color:d bar:Kenny Hyslop from:15/03/1972 till:end color:d

References

External links

* Slik biographyat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{Authority control Scottish glam rock groups Musical groups established in 1970 Scottish pop music groups Musical groups from Glasgow Polydor Records artists Bell Records artists Arista Records artists Epic Records artists