The hits kept coming for Slade and Skweeze Me Pleeze Me was as great as any of them. It gave them their fifth chart topper, making them the undisputed kings of Glam.

Like their last one, it went straight in at No.1, a feat that – until they did it with Cum On Feel The Noize – had not been achieved since The Beatles with Get Back back in 1969.

In classic Slade fashion, bassist Jim Lea got the idea for the song in the band’s local pub – and if you’re thinking, how on earth did the country’s most famous pop group manage to pop down to their local for a pint, then I’m with you there.

Yet there he was, pint in hand at The Trumpet in Bilston, watching the pub pianist, Reg Kierle when the song came to him. Best not to dwell on the inspiration for those lyrics: “And I thought you might like to know / When a girl’s meaning ‘yes’ she says ‘no'”. No, Jim. Just no. She really isn’t.

It was while this song topped the charts, in July 1973, that Slade’s drummer Don Powell was involved in a fatal car crash on his way back from a birthday party in a Wolverhampton nightclub. I still remember the headlines at the time, and the fear that Don’s demise might mean the end of one of my favourite groups.

His fiancee Angela died when his new white Bentley skidded off the road and through a hedge, smashing into a wall and throwing both of them out of the vehicle. He fractured his skull, both ankles and five ribs and was in a coma for six days – but, incredibly, left hospital three weeks after regaining consciousness. A fortnight later he was back in the studio to start work on Slade’s next album.

To this day he has no memory of the accident, or even who was driving (witnesses told the inquest it was Angela). He never recovered his sense of smell or taste and still suffers from short-term memory loss. He had to re-learn Slade’s entire repertoire before going back on tour with them.