Slik

Formed in Glasgow back in 1970 by brothers Jim McGinlay on guitar and Kevin McGinlay on vocals, the outfit later known as Slik began life as Salvation and supplied Midge Ure with his earliest exposure to widespread recognition. Initially operating as a heavy metal unit modeled on Deep Purple, the group pivoted toward a more commercial Top 40 style aimed at nightclubs after a 1972 split reduced the lineup to the McGinlay siblings alone. They brought in guitarist and vocalist James Ure, drummer Kenny Hyslop, and guitarist Billy McIsaac, then spent the bulk of the following two years working the Scottish disco circuit. Their closest brush with a major break occurred when they supported the Sweet at Glasgow Apollo in November 1973.

Kevin McGinlay exited in April 1974, increasingly at odds with the band’s commercial trajectory. Slik lore records his final remark to his colleagues as, “if you carry on like this, you’ll end up recording Martin-Coulter songs,” a nod to the songwriting pair then fueling Bay City Rollers hits. Mere weeks afterward, Bill Martin and Phil Coulter approached Salvation, who had just adopted the name Slik and assigned themselves collective pseudonyms to reinforce group identity—vocalist Ure became Midge, drummer Kenny Hyslop became Oil Slik, bassist Jim McGinlay became Jim Slik, and guitarist Billy McIsaac became Lord Slik.

Now steered by Martin and Coulter, Slik secured a Polydor deal late in 1974 and issued their debut single, “The Boogiest Band in Town,” the following January; the track also appeared on the soundtrack to Never Too Young to Rock. When neither the record nor the film connected, Martin and Coulter bought back the contract and moved the band to Bell, a label more attuned to the British teen market. They overhauled the presentation as well: by December 1975 the tailored suits gave way to 1950s-style baseball uniforms, the stage names were dropped, and the group began performing “Forever and Ever,” a somber yet striking number Martin and Coulter had already cut as an album track with Kenny.

The same month the pair launched an intensive publicity drive that placed Slik in front of virtually every teenager in the country. High-profile television slots were lined up before the single reached stores, the teen press received treatment on par with the Bay City Rollers, and mainstream outlets received a steady stream of reports detailing the disorder that accompanied every live date. By deliberately routing early concerts through some of the circuit’s smallest clubs, the team ensured that rising visibility would trigger overcrowding and teen riots, after which the band graduated to larger rooms such as Glasgow Apollo and London’s New Victoria Theater.

The strategy succeeded. Within weeks of release, readers of The Sun voted Slik the year’s best new band, “Forever and Ever” sat atop the U.K. chart, and author George Tremlett had already begun work on the first full-length biography. Even the group’s harshest skeptics conceded that Slik appeared positioned for an extended run. That prospect proved short-lived.

Bell released the follow-up single, the dirge-like “Requiem,” in April 1976. On May 20 Ure sustained serious injuries in a car accident. The scheduled U.K. tour was scrapped, television exposure vanished, and “Requiem” stalled at number 24. The self-titled debut album, split among carefully selected covers, original compositions, and prime Martin-Coulter material, lingered only a week at the lower reaches of the British chart. Plans for an American tour that autumn were abandoned even as Arista issued the record stateside. By the time Ure recovered sufficiently to resume work, all forward momentum had evaporated.

Slik played one final show, supporting Hello in Berlin, then retreated to Glasgow. Their own fortunes were not the only element transformed; punk had arrived during Ure’s absence and reshaped the national music scene. Little more than a year after topping the chart, Slik already registered as relics of a distant era.

In an attempt to regroup, the band adopted the name PVC2 and recorded a single for the local Zoom label. The maneuver convinced no one, and by late 1977 the group had dissolved. Ure subsequently joined ex-Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock in Rich Kids, later fronting Ultravox and establishing a solo career. His former colleagues became the Zones and later released the album Under Pressure on Arista. Drummer Kenny Hyslop, who subsequently played with Simple Minds, died on December 17, 2024 at the age of 73.