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Noddy Holder

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Noddy Holder
A man with curly hair holds a microphone to his face. He wears a black hat and jacket.
Holder in 1981
Background information
Birth nameNeville John Holder
GenresGlam rock, hard rock
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, actor, musician, writer, television & radio broadcaster, voice over artist
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1966–present

Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE (born 15 June 1946, Walsall, Staffordshire, England)[1] is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade.

Holder co-wrote most of Slade's material with bassist, occasional keyboard player and violinist Jim Lea. Holder has been praised for his distinctive vocal style.

Early life and career

The son of a window cleaner, Holder passed the Eleven plus exam and attended a grammar school for a year until it closed.[1] He then attended the new T. P. Riley Comprehensive School and passed 6 GCE O-level exams.[2] He formed a group called The Rockin' Phantoms with school friends at the age of 13, and with money earned from a part time job, he bought a guitar and an amplifier.[2] Holder turned professional with a band called The Memphis Cutouts and then with Steve Brett & the Mavericks in the early 60s made four singles for Columbia Records.

He was born in the Caldmore area, near Walsall town centre, but moved to the Beechdale council estate in the north of the town as a child during the early 1950s.

Slade

In 1966 Don Powell (drummer) persuaded Holder to join The 'NBetweens. The group already included guitarist / bass guitarist Dave Hill and bass guitarist / keyboard player / violinist / songwriter Jim Lea and the four of them went on to eventually become Slade, one of Britain's top selling rock bands worldwide. The sheer power of Holder's rock vocals has rarely been equalled, but Slade also recorded some sensational ballads,"Everyday" & "How Does It Feel?" in particular being widely acclaimed.

Lea and Holder turned out to be the group's most successful song-writing partnership, composing almost all of the band's songs.The band clocked up 40 hit singles and released well over twenty albums in their 25 year career as the original line - up.

A man walks down a flight of stairs. He holds a guitar and wears a black hat studded with round metal plates. His vest and pants are chequered. His coat and shirt are plain red. His socks are striped.
Holder in 1973

Slade are best remembered for the single "Merry Xmas Everybody"[3] written by Holder and Lea. Holder recorded the single with Slade in 1973, and the song became the band's sixth number one and the third Slade single to go straight in at number one in the UK chart.[4] "Merry Xmas Everybody" has remained seasonally popular ever since and is a festive classic. It is regularly voted the most popular Xmas song of all time. To date, in the UK alone, sales of this song have exceeded several million copies.[4]

After twenty five years with Slade, Noddy left to pursue a solo career.

Post Slade career

Birmingham Walk of Stars on Broad Street, Birmingham

Since his departure from Slade in 1991, Noddy has appeared on hundreds of TV shows, most notably the ITV comedy/drama series The Grimleys (1996–2001) as classical music teacher Neville Holder, which ran until 2001.[5] For the series, Holder recorded acoustic versions of the Slade songs "Coz I Luv You", "Cum On Feel the Noize", "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"and " Everyday".[6]

He had his own radio shows on Piccadilly 1152 and Key 103 in Manchester,which were syndicated around the country in the 1990s, then on Century and Capital Radio syndication from 2000 to 2004.

Holder also presented 31 episodes of Noddy's Electric Ladyland, a surreal television quiz show. He was a team captain in BBC1's music series A Question of Pop[1] and was immortalised as a puppet character Banger on the TV show Bob the Builder.

In 1999 Holder's autobiography, Who's Crazee Now?, was published by Ebury. Updated in paperback in 2001 it is still available online.

Noddy was awarded the MBE in 2000 honours list for his services to showbusiness. In his 50th year the singer was the subject of the This Is Your Life TV show.[1]

On 8 December 2000, Holder made a cameo appearance on the live episode of Granada Television's Coronation Street, as a character called Stan, saving the cobbles from being replaced on the street. This helped mark the 40th anniversary of the soap.[7]

Holder's voice is famously used in the lift announcements at the Walsall New Art Gallery.

In November 2004, Noddy made a guest appearance in Peter Kay's Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere - where he played a garage mechanic called Mick Bustin.

Also for the past 20 years Holder has voiced, sang and appeared in many adverts for TV, film and radio worldwide.

In 2006, Holder made a guest appearance in a music video for the Misty's Big Adventure single, "Fashion Parade".[8][9] Holder also occasionally appeared on the BBC show Grumpy Old Men.[10] Holder is a regular TV critic and reviewer for The Radcliffe and Maconie Show on BBC Radio 2, and the three often talk about rock star gossip from all eras. Radcliffe often refers to Holder as 'Sir Nodward of Holdershire'.

Holder was the third celebrity to be inducted onto the Birmingham Walk of Stars. 27,000 people turned out to his induction ceremony, which took place on 9 December 2007 at Birmingham's 2007 Canal Boat Light Parade.[11][12]

For Christmas 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011 Noddy has recorded a TV show countdown of hit Christmas tunes.

Holder also made an appearance on a Xmas edition of BBC's humorous news quiz show, Have I Got News for You as a member of Paul Merton's team.

In January 2010 Holder and his wife appeared on All Star Mr. and Mrs. on ITV where they won the £30,000 jackpot for charity.

In 2011 Noddy as King Of The Sizzle has fronted British Sausage Week, touring the country to find the Best British Bangers.

Personal life

Noddy married TV producer Suzan Price in 2004, with whom he has a son, Django (named after Django Reinhardt). From his previous marriage, to Leandra, Holder has two daughters, Jessica and Charisse.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Noddy Holder (1999). Noddy Holder - Who's Crazee Now?. Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-187503-X.
  2. ^ a b Slade: Feel the Noize! an Illustrated Biography by John Charlesworth, (1984), Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-0538-X
  3. ^ All-Time Biggest Hits about Christmas and The Festive Season, a list of hits about the festive season, EveryHit.com.
  4. ^ a b Merry Xmas Everybody - Slade, Sold on Song, BBC Radio 2.
  5. ^ The Grimleys (TV Series 1999–2001) - IMDb
  6. ^ "Slade - Weer All Crazee Noddy Holder". Slade-weerallcrazee.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  7. ^ "Noddy to make Street cameo, BBC". BBC News. 2000-12-05. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  8. ^ "Misty's Big Adventure (Featuring Noddy Holder) - Fashion Parade / Crumpled Up Guy - Sunday Best - SBESTS 40". 45cat. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  9. ^ "Sunday Best-Releases:Misty'S Big Adventure - Fashion Parade - Feat. Noddy Holder". Sundaybest.net. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  10. ^ "Noddy Holder Agent | Book Noddy Holder Speaker | Hire Noddy Holder as a Presenter for your event through Prime Performers UK". Primeperformers.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  11. ^ Elkes, Neil (2007-10-31). "Noddy to get a Broad Street star - Birmingham Mail". Icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  12. ^ "BBC Black Country - Noddy gets his star". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-04.

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